END.
I thought that Evan had forgotten to gag me, but before we went to
the gate of the stockade he came and did it well. I could not see a
soul near but my captors, and it would have been little or no good
to shout. So I bore it as well as I might, being helpless. Then,
within arrow shot of the gate, one of the men blew a harsh horn,
and we waited for a moment until a man, armed with an axe and
sword, lounged through the stockade and looked at us, and so made a
gesture that bid us enter, and went his way within. I hope that I
may never feel so helpless again as I did at the time when I passed
this man, who stared at me in silence, unable to call to him for
help.
Then we crossed the green without any one paying much heed to us,
though I saw the women at the doors pitying me, and so we came to
the wharf, alongside which a ship was lying. There were several men
at work on her decks, and it was plain that she was to sail on this
tide, for her red-and-brown striped sail was ready for hoisting,
and there was nothing left alongside to be stowed. She was not yet
afloat however, though the tide was fast rising.
Evan hailed one of the men, and he came ashore to him. The bearers
set down my litter and waited.
"Where is the shipmaster?" Evan asked.
The man jerked his thumb over his shoulder, and lifted his voice
and shouted "Ho Thorgils, here is the Welsh chapman."
I saw the head of my friend rise from under the gunwale amidships,
and when he saw who was waiting he also came ashore. Evan met him
at the gangway.
"I thought you were not coming, master chapman," he said. "A little
later and you had lost your voyage. Tide waits for no man, and
Thorgils sails with the tide he waits. Therefore Thorgils waits for
no man."
Just for a moment a thought came to me that Thorgils was in league
with the outlaws, and that was hard. But Evan's next words told me
that in this I was wrong. It would seem that the taking of his
ill-gotten goods across the channel had been planned by Evan before
he fell in with me, and maybe that already made plan was the saving
of my life, by putting the thought of an easy way to dispose of me
to some profit into the outlaw's head.
"I had been here earlier," he said, "but for a mischance to my
friend here. I want to take him with me, if you will suffer it."
He pointed to me as he spoke, and Thorgils turned and looked at me
idly. I was some twenty yards from him as I lay, and I tried to cry
out to him as his eyes fell on me, but I could only fetch a sort of
groan, and I could not move at all.
"He seems pretty bad," said Thorgils, when he heard me. "What is
amiss with him? I can have no fevers or aught of that sort aboard,
with the young lady as passenger, moreover."
"There is nothing of that," Evan answered hastily. "It is but the
doing of a fall from his horse. The beast rolled on him, and he has
a broken thigh, slipped shoulder, and broken jaw, so that it will
be long before he is fit for aught again, as I fear. Now he wants
to get back to his wife and children at Lanphey, hard by Pembroke,
and our leech said that he would take no harm from the voyage. It
is calm enough, and not so cold but that we may hap him up against
it. If I may take him, I will pay well for his passage."
Thorgils looked at me again for a moment.
"Well," he said, "if that is all, I do not mind. It would be better
if the after cabin was empty, but of course the princess has that.
There is room for him to be stowed comfortably enough under the
fore deck with your bales, however, and it will be warm there. Ay,
we will take the poor soul home, for his mind will be easier, and
that will help his healing. It is ill to be laid up in a strange
land. Get him on board as soon as you can, for there is but an hour
to wait for tide. I will ask no pay for his passage, for he is but
another bale of goods, as it were, swaddled up in that wise, and I
told you that I would take all you liked to bring for what we
agreed on."
Evan thanked him, and Thorgils laughed, turning away to go up the
town, and saying that he would be back anon. I groaned again as he
passed me, and he looked straight in my eyes, which were all that
he could see of me.
"Better on board than in that litter, poor fellow," he said kindly;
"it is a smooth sea, and we shall see Tenby in no long time if this
breeze holds."
He passed on with a nod and smile, and I could almost have wept in
my rage and despair. I could not have thought of anything more
cruel than this, and there was a sour grin on Evan's face, as if he
knew what was passing in my mind.
Now they lifted me once more and carried me to the ship, setting me
down amidships while they got the bales of goods on board. She was
a stout trading vessel, built for burden more than speed, but she
seemed light in the water, as though she had little cargo for this
voyage. She had raised decks fore and aft, and there were low doors
in the bulkheads below them that seemed to lead to some sort of
cabins. Under the forward of these decks the outlaws began to stow
their bales, the man who had called Thorgils ashore directing them.
I lay just at the gangway, and a little on one side so as not to
block it, and I watched all that went on, helplessly. There was no
one near me, or I think that I should have made some desperate
effort to call a Norseman to my help. Maybe Evan thought me safer
here than nearer the place where all were busy, as yet, but
presently I heard voices on the wharf as if some newcomers were
drawing near, and Evan heard them also, and left his cargo to
hasten to my side. I saw that he looked anxious, and a little hope
of some fresh chance of escape stirred in me, though, as they had
carried me on board feet foremost, I could not see who came.
When they were close at hand their voices told me that one at least
was a lady, and that she and her companions were Welsh. I supposed
that this was the princess of whom I had heard Thorgils speak just
now. I should know in a moment, for the first footsteps were on the
long gangplank and pattering across it, while Evan began to smile
and bow profoundly.
Then there came past my litter, stepping daintily across the
planks, a most fair and noble lady, tall and black haired and
graceful, wrapped against the sea air in the rare beaver skins of
the Teifi River, and wonderful stuffs that the traders from the
east bring to Marazion, such as we Saxons seldom see but as
priceless booty, paid for with lives of men in war with West Wales
in days not long gone by.
She half turned as she saw me, and it gave me a little pang, as it
were, to see her draw her dress aside that it might by no means
touch me, no doubt with the same fear of fever that had been in the
mind of my friend at the first. But then she stayed and looked at
me and at Evan, who was yet cringing in some Welsh way of respect
as she passed. Her companions stopped on the gangplank, and they
were silent.
"Why is this sick man on the ship," she said to my captor, with
some little touch of haughtiness. "And why is he swathed thus? What
is wrong with him?"
Evan bowed again, and at once began his tale as he had told it to
Thorgils. But he did not say that I came from near Pembroke at all.
Now he named some other place whose name began with "Llan--" as my
home.
"The good shipmaster has suffered me to take him home, Lady,
subject to your consent," he ended. "I pray you let it be so."
Now the eyes of the princess had grown soft as she heard the tale,
and when Evan ended it there was pity in her voice as she answered.
"Surely he may come, and if there is no fitting place for him he
shall even have the cabin to himself. I can be well content in
these warm things of mine on deck in this calm air, and he must
have all shelter."
"Nay, Lady, but there is the fore cabin, where he will be well
bestowed," Evan said hastily, beckoning at the same time to his
comrades that they might take me from this too unsafe place at
once.
He kept himself between me and her as much as he could all this
time, and I made no sign. It seemed to me that I could not, even in
my trouble, bring more pain to this soft-eyed princess by raising
the groan which was all that I could compass. What good would it
do? I could tell her nothing, and she could not dream of the true
reason that made me try to cry out. Maybe she would listen through
all the long hours to come to hear if the poor wretch she felt for
was yet in that dire pain that made him moan so terribly.
"Is he well bandaged?" she said, then. "It is ill if broken bones
are not closely set and splinted, and the ship will plunge and rock
presently."
Evan assured her with many words that all was well done, and yet
she lingered.
"I must see him well and softly bestowed in his place," she said,
half laughing, and turning to some who stood yet beyond my range of
sight. "Else I shall have no peace at all till we come to land
again."
Evan turned to me at that saying, to hide his face. He was growing
ashy pale, and the sweat was breaking out on his forehead. And that
made me glad to see, for he was being punished. Even yet the
princess might wish to see that my swathings were comfortable, and
if I once had my mouth freed for a moment all was lost to him.
He signed to his comrades to lift me carefully, and then put a bold
face on the matter, and thanked the princess for her kindness.
"Lady, I may be glad to beg a warm wrap or two from your store," he
said. "If it pleases you, we will shew you where he is to lie."
So they went forward, I on my litter first, and the lady and her
people following. Evan knew well enough that little fault could be
found with the warm place that was ready for me among the bales
under the deck, and he was eager to get me out of sight before
Thorgils returned. They had made a place ready with some of the
softer bales for me to lie on, and there they lifted me from the
litter, very carefully indeed, that they might not have to
rearrange any of my bonds. Then the princess looked in through the
low doorway and seemed content.
"It is as well as one can expect on board a ship, I suppose," she
said, with a little sigh. "But I will send him somewhat to cover
him well."
And then she bade me farewell, bidding me be patient for the little
while of the voyage, and also adding that presently, when she was
at home, she would ask Govan the hermit to pray for me; and so went
her way, with the two maidens who were with her, and followed by a
couple of well-armed warriors, all of whom I could see now for the
first time.
Then Evan drew his hand over his forehead and cursed. As for the
other Welshmen, they looked at one another, saying nothing, but I
could see that they also had been fairly terrified. One of the men
of the princess came with a warm blanket to cover me, and he stayed
to see it put over me. It was as well that he did so, for Evan had
no time to see that my arm was yet loose, unless he had forgotten
that it ever had been so. Then they all went out, shutting the door
after them, and I was left to my thoughts, which were not happy.
I began to blame myself as a fool for not trying to let the
princess see that all was not right. But still I could not lose
hope, for Thorgils might yet wish to see me, or the princess might
send her men to look in on me. There were more chances now than a
little while ago, as I thought.
I began to think over all that were possible, presently, and I
tried to get the gag from my mouth. I could not reach it with my
free hand, however, my elbows being too tightly fastened back even
after all the shaking of the journey. Then I thrust that free hand
and forearm well among the bandages across my chest, so that either
of my captors who thought of it might think that the other had
bound it, for I dared not try to loosen myself more yet. There
would be time for that when we were fairly at sea.
After that I lay still, and so spied the bale in which my sword had
been put, and that gave me some sort of hope by its nearness to me,
though indeed it did not seem likely that I should ever get it.
I heard Thorgils come on board before very long, and I could hear
also the voice of the princess as she talked to him, though with
the length of the vessel between us, and the wash of the ripples
alongside in my ears, I did not make out if they spoke of me. Evan
spoke with them also, and it is likely that they did so.
Presently I could tell by the sway of the ship that she was afloat,
and the men began to bustle about the deck overhead, while Thorgils
shouted some orders now and then. Soon the sides of the ship grated
along the wharf as she was hauled out, and then the shore warps
were hove on board with a thud above me. I felt the lift of a
little wave and heard the rattle of the halliards as the sail was
hoisted and the ship heeled a little, and then began the cheerful
wash and bubble of the wave at her bows as she went to sea. The men
hailed friends on shore with last jests and farewells, and then
fell to clearing up the shore litter from the decks.
Then Evan came and looked at me. Through the door I could see the
hills and the harbour beyond the high stern, and on that Thorgils
was steering, with his eyes on the vane at the masthead. His men
were coiling down ropes, and Evan's two men were sitting under the
weather gunwale aft, talking with the guards of the princess. She
was in the after cabin, I suppose, out of the way of the wind, with
her maidens. I could not see her.
"Art all well, friend?" said Evan, loudly enough for the nearest
Norseman to hear. "Well, that is good."
Then he sunk his voice to a whisper, and said: "That gag bides in
your mouth, let me tell you. I will risk no more calling to the
shipmaster."
He cast his eyes over me and grunted, and went out, leaving the low
door open so that he could see me at any time. It was plain that he
thought his men had fastened my arm.
Now I tried to get rid of the gag again, and I will say that the
outlaw knew how to manage that business. It filled my mouth, and
the bandage round the jaw held it firmly. In no way could I get it
out, or so much as loosen it enough to speak. And then I was worn
out, and the little heave of the ship lulled me, and I forgot my
troubles in sleep that came suddenly.
I was waked by the clapping to of the cabin door and the thunder of
the wind in the great square sail as the ship went on the other
tack. We had a fair breeze from the southwest over our quarter as
the tide set up channel, but now it had turned and Thorgils was
wearing ship. The new list of the deck flung the door to, and none
noticed it, for it was dark now except for the light of the rising
moon, and I suppose that the other noises of the ship prevented
Evan hearing that the door had closed.
I felt rested with the short sleep, and now seemed the time to try
to get free if ever. I got my left hand out of the bandages where I
had hidden it, and began to claw at my chin to try to free it from
the swathings that kept my mouth closed, but I could hardly get at
them, so tightly were my elbows lashed behind my back, and it
became plain that I must get them loose first if I could. It was
easy to get the bandages loose, but the knotted cord was a
different matter, for the men who tied it knew something of the
work, and the cord was not a new one and would not stretch.
Then I heard two of the Norseman talking close to the cabin
bulkhead.
"This is as good a passage as we shall ever make in the old keel,"
one said; "but we shall not fetch Tenby on this tide. Will Thorgils
put in elsewhere, I wonder?"
"We could make the old landing place in an hour," was the answer,
"and we had better wait for tide there than box about in the open
channel in this cold. There is snow coming, I think."
I heard the man flap his arms across his chest, and the other said:
"Where do these merchants want to get ashore? I expect that
Thorgils will do as they think best. He is pretty good natured."
They went away, and it seemed that I might have an hour before me.
I was sure that if he had a chance Evan would land as soon as he
could, and at some other place than at the Danes' town if possible,
so that he might get me away without questions that might be hard
to answer.
So I strained at the cords which bound my elbows with all my might,
but I only hurt myself as the lashings drew tighter. I twisted from
side to side as I did this, and presently hit my elbow hard against
some metal fitting of the ship that seemed very sharp. Just at
first I did not heed this, but by and by, when I had fairly tired
myself with struggling, I minded it again, and so turned on my side
and set my free hand to work to find out what it was.
There was a stout post which came from beneath and through the
rough flooring of the cabin on which I lay, and went upward to the
deck. I daresay it was to make the cable fast to, but I could not
see that, nor did it matter to me what it might be for. But what I
had felt was a heavy angle iron that was bolted by one arm to the
post and by the other to a thick beam that crossed the ship from
side to side, so as to bind the two together. It had a sharp edge
on the part which crossed the floor, and it seemed to me as if it
had been set there on purpose, for if I could manage to reach it
rightly I might chafe through the cords at my back. Of course,
there was the chance of Evan coming in and seeing what I was at,
but I could keep my covering on me, maybe, and if Thorgils came, so
much the better. He would see that something was amiss.
It was no easy task to get myself in such wise that the cord was
fairly on the edge of the iron, but I did it at last, and,
moreover, I got the thick blanket that was over me to cover me
afresh. Then I started to try to chafe the cord through, and of
course I could only move a little at a time, and I could not be
sure that I was always rubbing it on the same place. And the great
post was sorely in my way, over my shoulder more or less, so that I
must needs hurt myself now and then against it. But as this seemed
my one chance I would not give up until I must.
Every now and then I stayed my sawing and had a great tug at the
cords, in hopes that they would give way, but at last I knew I must
saw them through almost to the last strand. It would have been easy
if I could keep at work on the same spot, but that was impossible,
for I could not see behind me, and the post kept shifting me as I
struck it.
I wondered now that I had seen nothing of Evan for so long. Maybe
if I had not been so busy the wonder would have passed, for I
should have been seasick as he was. There was some sea over on this
coast, and quite enough to upset a landsman. However, I was content
that he did not come, without caring to know why.
Then I became aware that the movement of the ship had changed in
some way. There was less of it, and the roll was longer. Soon I
heard Thorgils calling to his men, and then the creak of the blocks
and the thud of folds of canvas on deck told me that the sail was
lowered. After that the long oars rattled as they were run out, and
their even roll and click in the rowlocks seemed to say that they
were making up to some anchorage or wharf. The end of the voyage
was at hand, and I worked harder than ever at my bonds. I began to
fear that the cords would never chafe through enough for me to snap
them, and my heart fell terribly.
Now there was a shout from Thorgils, and his men stopped rowing. I
heard another shout from on shore, as it seemed, and the sound of
breakers on rocks was not so very distant as we slipped into smooth
water. The men trampled across the deck over my head and cast the
mooring ropes ashore, and then the ship scraped along a landing
stage of some sort and came to rest. I worked wildly at the rope.
Judging from the voices I heard, there seemed to be a number of
people on shore, and soon I heard steps coming along the deck
towards the cabin door. Hastily I straightened myself, and got a
fold of my blanket over my free forearm just as it opened, and Evan
peered in. Past his shoulder I could see that it was bright
moonlight, and I had a glimpse of tall snow-covered cliffs that
towered over us.
"How goes it, friend?" he cried in a loud voice. "Hast slept well?
We are in your own land, and will be ashore soon."
That was for others to hear. Then he stood aside to let a little
more light into the cabin, and it seemed that he had no suspicions
that all was not as he would have it. He came inside and felt me
carelessly enough.
"Well," he said. "You are warm in here, and no mistake. If I
mistake not, you have been trying to wriggle out of these bonds."
He set his hand under some of the lashings and pulled them without
uncovering me much, though it would not have mattered if he had
done so, as it was very dark in here.
As I knew only too well, they were fast as ever, and he said:
"Well, we can tie a knot fairly. Presently we will loosen you a
bit--in the morning maybe."
He went and closed the door, and I fell to work again. He would
leave me now for a while.
There was a long talk from ship to shore before the gangplank was
run out, and presently Thorgils spoke to Evan, seemingly close to
the cabin door:
"Here's a bit of luck for your princess," he said. "Her father is
up in the camp yonder, with his guards behind him. Maybe there is
trouble with the Tenby Danefolk, or going to be some. It is as well
that we put in here. Now he bids us take the lady up to him and
bide to feast with him, Will you come with me?"
"I stay by my goods," answered Evan, with a laugh. "If there is a
levy in the camp there will be men who will need watching among
them."
"Why, then, we six Norsemen can go, and leave you to tend the
ship."
"That will be all right," said Evan, somewhat gladly, as I thought;
"so long as we are here you need have no fear. Every one knows that
a chapman will fight for his goods if need be. But a Welshman will
not meddle with a Welshman's goods."
"So long as he is there to mind them," laughed Thorgils. "Then we
can go. I do not know how soon we can be back, though."
"That is no matter. We are used to keeping watch."
"Ay. How is that hurt friend of yours after the voyage?"
"Well as one could expect," answered Evan, "He says he has slept
almost all the way. He is comfortable where he is."
They went aft, and soon I heard the princess speaking with them.
Then the well-known click and clash of armed men marching in order
came to me, as the chief sent a guard for his daughter. It was
terrible to hear the voices of honest men so close to me and to be
helpless, and I worked at the rope feverishly.
I heard the princess and her party leave the ship, and almost as
the last footstep left the deck one strand of the cord went. I
worked harder yet, with a great hope on me.
"Presently the Norsemen will be full of Howel's mead," I heard Evan
say to one of his men. "Then we will get ashore and leave swiftly.
I think we need not stay to pay Thorgils for the voyage."
"Let us tell some of the shore men to bide here to help us," said
the other--"we have the Saxon to carry."
"That is a good thought."
They clattered over the plank ashore, and another strand of the
rope went at that time. I thought it was but one of another turn of
the line, however. Five minutes more of painful sawing and
straining and I felt another strand give way. That made three, and
now one of the two turns of line that held my arms could have but
one strand left, and that ought to be no more than I could break by
force. Then I wrestled with it with little care if my struggles as
I bent and strove made noise that might call attention to me, for
it was my last chance. The lines bruised and cut me sorely, even
through my mail, but I heeded that no more than I did the hardness
of the timbers against which I rolled; and at last it did snap,
with a suddenness that let my elbow fly against the iron that had
been my saving, almost forcing a cry from me.
I was yet bound to my splints, but with my arms free it was but the
work of a few seconds to cast off the last of my bonds, and within
five minutes after the strand had parted I was on my feet, and
rubbing and stretching my bruised and cramped limbs into life
again. Then I felt in the darkness for the bale that held my gear,
and found it and tore it open.
How good it was to gird the sword on me again, and to feel the cold
rim of the good helm round my hot forehead! I was myself again, and
as I slipped Gerent's gold ring on my arm I thought that it was
almost worth the bondage to know what pleasure can be in the
winning of freedom. I forgot that I was troubled with thirst and
hunger, having touched nothing since I broke my fast with Owen;
though, indeed, there was little matter in that, for I had done
well at that meal with the long ride before me, and one ought to be
able to go for a day and a night without food if need be, as a
warrior.
Still, I was not yet out of the trouble. Thorgils had gone to some
place that I knew nothing of, and I had yet to learn if there was
any hope from Evan's shore going, which might make things easier or
might not. I could hear no one moving about the ship, so I pushed
the door open for an inch or two, and looked out into the
moonlight, with my drawn sword ready in my hand.
We were in a strange place. The ship's bows were landward, so that
as I looked aft I could see that we lay just inside the mouth of a
little cove, whose guarding cliffs towered on either side of the
water for not less than ten-score feet above the fringe of
breakers, falling sheer to the water with hardly so much as a
jutting rock at their feet. There was no sign of house or man at
the hilltop, so that it was plain that we were not at Tenby.
Then I was able to see that we were alongside a sort of landing
place that was partly natural and partly hewn and smoothed from the
living rock into a sort of wharf at the foot of the cliff. From
this landing place a steep road, hewn with untold labour at some
ancient day, slanted sharply upward and toward the head of the cove
along the face of the rocks, which were somewhat less steep on this
side than across the water. I could not see the top of this road,
but no doubt it was that along which Thorgils and the princess had
gone, and no doubt also Evan thought to carry me up it before long.
I had a hope that my friend would return too soon for that, but it
was a slender one. It was plain that he had gone too far for me to
call to him. Yet could I win clear of the ship I might find or
fight my way up after him, and that seemed easy with only these
three Welshmen against me, and they expecting no attack.
I looked for the two who were left if I slew Evan. One sat under
the weather gunwale, wrapped in a great cloak, and seemed to be
sleeping. The other was not far off on the landing place, watching
Evan, who was speaking with a dozen men at the foot of the
rock-hewn road. I suppose that the coming in of the ship had drawn
idlers from the camp I had heard of to see her, for they all had
arms of some sort.
This was bad, for it seemed certain that the whole crowd would join
with Evan in falling on me if he called on them. If I came forth
now I had full twenty yards to cover before I reached them from the
ship's side after I had settled with the men on watch. In that
space all would be ready for me, and they were too many for me to
cut through to the roadway. I thought too that I heard the voices
of more who came downward toward the ship, though I could not see
them whence I was.
Then it came into my mind that if there was any place where I could
hide myself on deck I would try to creep to it while none had their
eyes on the ship. Then Evan, as he went to the cabin to seek me,
would have to deal with me from the rear. But that I soon saw was
hopeless. The deck was clear of lumber big enough to shelter me,
and the moonlight was almost as bright as day on everything, and
all the clearer for the snow that covered all the land. So I began
to turn over many other plans in my mind, and at last it seemed
that the only thing was to wait in the cabin for the best chance
that offered. Most likely Evan would do even as he had said, and
try and get away at once, with all he could lay hands on. If so, I
thought it would be certain that in his hurry he would bring all
these men on board in order to get his goods, and maybe those
belonging to Thorgils also, out and away with all haste, and so I
could cut through them with a rush that must take them unawares,
and so win to the camp with none to hinder me. There might be
sentries who would stay me, but I should be within calling distance
of my friend. Moreover, a sentry would see that I was some sort of
a leader of men, and might help me. So I began to wish for Evan to
act, for my fingers itched to get one downward blow at him.
I had not long to wait. He finished his talk with the men, and they
all came to the ship, even as I had hoped. But only half of them
came on board, leaving the rest alongside on the rock so that they
might help the goods over the side. That was not all that I could
have wished, but I thought that I might get through them in the
surprise that was waiting for them. So I drew my sword, and for
want of shield wrapped the blanket from the floor round my left
arm, and stood by for the rush.
Evan walked in a leisurely way toward the door, talking to one of
the newcomers as he came. The rest straggled behind him.
"I wonder how my sick man fares now," he said, and set his hand to
the latch.
Then he opened the door and I shouted and sprung forth, aiming a
blow at him as I came. But I was not clear of the low deck, and my
sword smote the beam overhead so that I missed him, and he threw
himself on the deck out of reach of a second blow, howling. I was
sorry, but I could not stop, for I had to win to the shore and to
the road yet.
The other men shrank from me, and I went through them easily, and
so reached the shoreward gunwale. There I was stayed, for Evan had
never ceased to cry to his fellows to stop me, and there was a row
of ready swords waiting for me. And there were more men coming down
the path, Welshmen as I could see by their arms, and by their white
tunics which glimmered in the moonlight. So that was closed to me,
and it seemed that here I must fight my last fight.
Then as I could not go over the side I went to the high stern and
leapt on it, half hoping that the men on shore might not be quick
enough to stay me from a leap thence, but they were there alongside
before me. Evan was up now, and cheering on the men on deck to
attack me, but not seeming to care to lead them. They gathered
together and came aft to me slowly, planning, as it would seem, how
best to attack me, for the steering deck on which I was raised me
four feet or so above them. The men on shore could not reach me at
all unless I got too near the gunwale, when some of them who had
spears might easily end me.
Something alongside the ship caught my eyes, and I glanced at it
with a thought that here might be fresh foes. But it was only the
little boat that belonged to the ship. The wind had caught her, and
was drifting her at the length of her painter as if she wanted to
cross the cove to its far side. Perhaps the men saw that my eyes
were not on them for that moment, for they made a rush from the
deck to climb the steering platform.
Then I had a good fight for a few minutes, until I swept them back
to their place. Two had won to the deck beside me, and there they
stayed. Now I had a hope that the men on shore would come round to
the ship and leave the way clear for me, but Evan called to them to
bide where they were. He had not faced me yet, and I bade him do
so, telling him that this was his affair, and that it was nidring
to risk other men's lives to save his own skin. But even that would
not bring him on me.
Now the men whom I had seen coming down from the cliffs' top had
hurried to see what all the shouting meant, and I saw that they
were well-armed warriors and mostly spearsmen. Evan cried to them
to come and help, and they ranged up alongside. He told them that I
was a Norseman who had gone berserk, and must needs be slain.
"That is easily managed," said the leader. "Get to your bows, men."
I saw half a dozen unslinging them, and I knew that without shield
I was done, and in that moment a thought came to me. I suppose that
danger sharpens one's wits, for I saw that in the little boat was
my last chance. I had not time to draw her to the side, and so I
cut her painter, which was fast to a cleat close to me, and as I
did so the first arrow missed my head.
Then I shouted and leapt from the high stern straight among the
crowd at Evan, felling one of his outlaw comrades as I lit on the
deck. But I could not reach him, and in a few seconds I should have
been surrounded. So I cleared a way to the seaward side and went
overboard, amid a howl from my foes. I thought that I should never
stop sinking, for I had forgotten my mail; but I came to the
surface close to the ship, and looked for the boat. She was
drifting gently away from me, and I knew that I should have all
that I could do to reach her before the bowmen got to work again
from the ship's deck. Some one threw an axe at me as I swam, which
was waste of a good weapon, and I hoped that it was not Thorgils'
best. Strange what thoughts come to a man when in a strait.
The water struck icy cold to me, and I felt that I could not stand
it long, but I gained on the boat with every stroke, though it was
hard work swimming in my mail and with a sword in my hand. I got
rid of the blanket that was hampering my left arm, and by that time
I was far enough from the ship for my foes to be puzzled by it. The
moonlight was bright on the water, but the little waves tossed it
so that it must have been hard for them to know which was I and
which the floating stuff. Certainly, the first arrows that were
shot when the bowmen got a chance at me from the ship or over her
were aimed at the blanket, for I heard them strike it. Then one
leapt from wave to wave past me.
I won to the boat just in time, for I could not have held on much
longer. The cold was numbing me, and if I stopped swimming I must
have sunk with the weight of mail. None of our old summer tricks of
floating and the like were of any use with that weight on me. The
arrows were coming thickly by that time, and I was glad to get to
the far side of the boat and rest my hand on the gunwale, while I
managed to sheathe my sword. The men could not see plainly where I
was, and the arrows pattered on the planks of the boat and hissed
into the water still, on the chance of hitting me. So I thought it
well to get out of range before I tried to get on board, and so
held the gunwale with one hand and paddled on with the other, until
the arrows began to fall short, and at last ceased. A Welshman's
bow has no long range, so that I had not far to go thus. But all
the while I feared most of all to hear the plash of oars that would
tell me that they had put off another boat in chase of me.
A little later and I should have been helpless, as I found when I
tried to get into the boat. The cold was terrible, and it had hold
of my limbs in spite of the swimming. It was hard work climbing
over the bows, as I must needs do unless I wanted to capsize the
light craft as I had overset a fisher's canoe more than once, by
boarding her over the side, as we sported in the Glastonbury meres
in high summer; but I managed it, and was all the better for the
struggle, which set the blood coursing in my veins again. Then I
got out the oars and began to pull away from the ship, with no care
for direction so long as I could get away from her.
The foe had no boat, for they were all clustered in the ship or
close to her on the rock, and there was a deal of noise going on
among them. When I was fairly out of their way, and I could no
longer make out their forms, I began to plan where I had best go,
and at first I thought of a little beach that I had seen on the far
side of the cove, thinking that I could get up what seemed a gorge
to the cliff's top, and so hide inland somewhere. But when I could
see right into the gorge, I found that it was steep and higher than
I thought. My foes would be able to meet me by the time I was at
the top.
There was no other place that I could see, for none could climb
from the foot of the cliffs elsewhere, since if he reached the
rocks he would have to stay where he leapt to them. So as there was
no help for it, I headed for the open sea. No doubt, I thought, I
should find some landing place along the coast before I had gone
far, and meanwhile I was getting a fair start of the enemy, who
would have to follow the windings of the cliffs if they cared to
come after me.
I pulled therefore for the eastern end of the cove, opposite to the
place where the ship lay, and so rounded the point and was out in
the open and tossing on the waves in a way that tried my rowing
sorely, for I am but a fresh-water boatman. Lucky it was for me
that there was little sea on, or I should have fared badly. Then I
pulled eastward, and against the tide also, but that was a thing
that I did not know.
The boat was wonderfully light and swift, and far less trouble to
send along than any other I had seen. There are no better
shipwrights than the Norsemen, and we Saxons have forgotten the
craft.
The terrible numbness passed off as I worked, but now the wind grew
cold, and the clouds were working up from the southwest quickly,
with wind overhead that was not felt here yet. I knew that I must
make some haven soon, or it was likely that I should be frozen on
the sea, but the great cliffs were like walls, and at their feet
was a fringe of angry foam everywhere. I could see no hope as yet.
Far away to the east of me a great headland seemed to bar my way,
but I did not think that I should ever reach it. And all the while
I looked to see the black forms of men on the cliffs in the
moonlight, but they did not come. That was good at least.
Then at last my heart leapt, for I saw, as a turn of the cliffs
opened out to me, another white beach with a cleft of the rocks
running up from it, and I thought it best to take the chance it
gave me, for I feared the blinding snow that would be here soon,
and I felt that the sea was rising. If my foes were after me they
would have been seen before now, as they came to the edge of the
cliffs to spy me out, and anyway I dreaded them less than the
growing cold. Moreover, I thought that Evan would hardly get many
men to follow him on a chase of what he had told them was a madman,
and a dangerous one at that. He had his goods to see to also.
So I ran the boat into the black mouth of the gorge, and beached
her well by good chance. I had little time to lose, but I tied her
painter to a rock at the highest fringe of tide wrack, in hopes
that she might be safe. It was so dark here that I did not think
that Evan would see her from above. And then I began to climb up
the rugged path that led out of the gorge to the hilltops.
There were bones everywhere in it. Bones and skulls of droves of
cattle on all the strand above the tide mark for many score yards.
Their ribs stuck out from the snow everywhere, and the sightless
eye sockets grinned at me as I stumbled over them. But I had no
time to wonder how they came there, for I must get to the summit
before Evan and his men reached it by their way along the cliff. I
ate handfuls of the snow and quenched my thirst that was growing on
me again, and my strength began to come back to me as I hurried
upward. I was a better man when at last I reached the top of the
gorge than when I came ashore.