already the birds had been plucked, split open at the breast, laid flat,
and their interiors scraped out in a summary manner. The plucking was
not, indeed, all that could be wished, but what fingers failed to do a
singe in the flames accomplished to the perfect satisfaction of men who
were in no way particular. Sharp-pointed sticks were then thrust
through the expanded carcases, and they were stuck up in front of the
blaze to roast.
Underdone meat is an abomination to some, a luxury to others--reminding
one of that very ancient proverb, "Tastes differ." We cannot say
whether on this occasion the uniformity of action in our heroes was the
result of taste or haste, but certain it is that before the fowls were
only half-roasted on one side, they were turned over so as to let the
fire get at the other, and breakfast was begun while the meat was yet
frightfully underdone.
Thereafter the three men arose, like giants refreshed--if we may say so,
for Maikar was indeed mentally, though not physically, a giant--buckled
on their swords, slung bows and quivers on their backs, along with the
turkey remains, and took up shields and javelins. Having laid their
course by the stars the night before, they set out on their journey
through the unknown wilderness.
The part of the country through which they passed at the beginning of
the march was broken and diversified by hill and dale; in some places
clothed with forests, in others covered with grass, on which many wild
animals were seen browsing. These, however, were remarkably timid, and
fled at the first sign of the approaching travellers, so that it was
impossible to get within bow-shot of them.
"From this I judge that they are much hunted," said Bladud, halting on a
ridge to note the wild flight, of a herd of deer which had just caught
eight of them.
"If so, we are likely to fall in with the hunters before long, I fear,"
remarked the captain.
"Why do you fear?" asked Maikar.
"Because they may be numerous and savage, and may take a fancy to make
slaves of us, and as we number only three we could not resist their
fancy without losing our lives."
"That would be a pity," returned Maikar, "for we have only one life to
lose."
"No; we have three lives to lose amongst us," objected the captain.
"Which makes one each, does it not?" retorted the seaman.
"True, Maikar, and we must lose them all, and more if we had them,
rather than become slaves."
"You are right, captain. We never, _never_ shall be slaves," said
Bladud.
They say that history repeats itself. Perhaps sentiment does the same.
At all events, the British prince gave utterance that day to a
well-known sentiment, which has been embalmed in modern song and shouted
by many a Briton with tremendous enthusiasm--though not absolute truth.
"Captain Arkal," said the little seaman, as they jogged quietly down the
sunny slope of a hill, at the bottom of which was a marsh full of
rushes, "how do you manage to find your way through such a tangled
country as this?"
"By observing the stars," answered the captain.
"But I have observed the stars since I was a little boy," objected
Maikar, "and I see nothing but a wild confusion of shining points. How
can these guide you? Besides, there are no stars in the daytime."
"True, Maikar; but we have the sun during the day."
Maikar shook his head perplexedly.
"Listen," said the captain, "and I will try to enlighten your dark mind;
but don't object else you'll never understand. All stars are not
alike--d'ye understand that?"
"Any fool could understand that!"
"Well, then, of course _you_ can understand it. Now, you have noticed,
no doubt, that some stars are in groups, which groups may alter their
position with regard to other groups, but which never change with regard
to each other."
"Each other," repeated Maikar, checking off each statement with a nod
and a wave of his javelin.
"Well," continued the captain, "there's one group of stars--about six--
plainly to be seen on most fine nights, two stars of which are always
pretty much in a line with a little star a short way in front of them--
d'ye see?"
"Yes."
"Well, that star shows exactly where the cold regions lie--over _there_
(extending his arm and pointing), and of course if you know that the
cold regions lie _there_, you know that the hot regions must lie at your
back--there, and it follows that the Pillars of Hercules lie _there_
(pointing west), and home lies somewhere about _there_ (pointing
eastward)."
"Stop!" cried Maikar in great perplexity--for although a seaman he was
densely ignorant. "Hot regions, _there_, cold, _there_, home and the
Pillars, _there_, and _there_, and _there_ (thrusting his arms out in
all directions). I've no more idea of where you've got me to now than--
than--"
"Oh, never mind," interrupted the captain, "it doesn't matter, as you
are not our guide. But, ho! look! look! down in the hollow there--among
the rushes. What's that?"
"A boar!" said Bladud, in a low whisper, as he unslung his bow. "Come,
now, it will take all our united force to slay that brute, for, if I
have not lost my power of judging such game, I'm pretty sure that he's a
very big old boar with formidable tusks."
While the prince was speaking, his comrades had also prepared their
weapons, and looked to their guide for directions.
These were hastily but clearly given. As the boar was evidently asleep
in his lair, it was arranged that the three friends should stalk him, as
the broken ground was specially favourable for such a mode of attack.
"We will advance together," said Bladud, "with our bows ready. I will
lead; you follow close. When we get within range you will do as you see
me do, and be sure that you aim at the brute's side--not at his head.
Send your arrows with all the force you can. Then drop the bows and get
your javelins ready."
With eager looks the captain and little sailor nodded assent. They were
much excited, having often heard tales of boar-hunting, though neither
of them had ever taken part in that work.
A few minutes' walk brought them to the edge of the rushes, where they
had a fair view of the monstrous animal as it lay fully extended on its
side, and not more than thirty yards distant.
"Take him just behind the fore-leg," whispered Bladud, as he drew his
bow. His companions followed his example. Two of the bows twanged
simultaneously, but the third--that of Maikar--was pulled with such
vigour that it broke with a crash that would have awakened the sleepiest
of wild boars, had there been nothing else to arouse him. As it was,
other things helped to quicken his sensibilities. Bladud's unfailing
arrow went indeed straight for the heart, but a strong rib caught and
checked its progress. The captain's shaft, probably by good luck,
entered deep into the creature's flank not far from the tail.
To say that the forest was instantly filled with ear-splitting shrieks
is to express the result but feebly. We might put it as a sort of
indefinite question in the rule of three, thus--if an ordinary civilised
pig with injured feelings can yell as we all know how, what must have
been the explosion of a wild-boar of the eighth century BuCu, in
circumstances such as we have described? Railway whistles of the
nineteenth century, intermittently explosive, is the only possible
answer to the question, and that is but an approximation to the truth.
For one instant the infuriated creature paused to look for its
assailants. Catching sight of them as they were fitting arrows to their
bows, it gave vent to a prolonged locomotive-express yell, and charged.
Bladud's arrow hit it fair between the eyes, but stuck in the
impenetrable skull. The shaft of the captain missed, and the javelin of
Maikar went wildly wide of the mark.
By order of Bladud the three had separated a few yards from each other.
Even in its rage the monster was perplexed by this, for it evidently
perceived the impossibility of attacking three foes at the same moment.
Which to go for was the question. Like an experienced warrior it went
for the "little one."
Maikar had drawn his last weapon--the short sword of bronze--and, like a
brave man as he was, "prepared to receive boarelry." Another instant
and the enemy was upon him. More than that, it was over him, for,
trusting to his agility--for which he was famed--he tried to leap to one
side, intending to make a vigorous thrust at the same moment. In doing
so his foot slipped; he fell flat on his side, and the boar, tripping
over him, just missed ripping him with its fearful tusks. It fell, with
a bursting squeak, beyond.
To leap up and turn was the work of an instant for the boar, and would
have been the same for the man if he had not been partially stunned by
the fall. As it was, the captain, who was nearest, proved equal to the
emergency, for, using his javelin as a spear, he plunged it into the
boar's side. But that side was tougher than he had expected. The spear
was broken by a sharp twist as the animal turned on its new foe, who now
stood disarmed and at its mercy. Bladud's ponderous sword, however,
flashed in the air at that moment, and fell on the creature's neck with
a force that would have made Hercules envious if he had been there.
Deep into the brawn it cut, through muscle, fat, and spine, almost
slicing the head from the trunk, and putting a sudden stop to the last
yell when it reached the windpipe. The boar rolled head over heels like
a shot hare, almost overturning Bladud as it wrenched the sword from his
hand, and swept the captain off his legs, carrying him along with it in
a confusion of blood and bristles.
It was truly a terrific encounter, and as the prince stood observing the
effect of his blow, he would probably have burst into a fit of laughter,
had he not been somewhat solemnised by Captain Arkal's fearful
appearance, as he arose ensanguined, but uninjured, from the ground.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
DISCOVERY AND FLIGHT.
Being now provided with material for making shields, they resolved to
spend a day in camp. This was all the more necessary, that the shoes or
sandals which they had worn at sea were not well suited for the rough
travelling which they had now to undertake.
Accordingly they selected a spot on the brow of a hill from which the
surrounding country could be seen in nearly all directions. But they
were careful also to see that several bushes shielded themselves from
view, for it was a matter of uncertainty whether or where natives might
make their appearance.
Here, bathed in glorious sunshine, with a lovely prospect of land and
water, tangled wood and flowery plains, to gladden their eyes, and the
savoury smell of pork chops and turkey to tickle their nostrils, they
spent two days in manufacturing the various necessary articles. Captain
Arkal provided himself with a new javelin.
Maikar made another bow, and both fabricated tough round shields with
double plies of the boar's hide. Out of the same substance Bladud made
a pair of shoes for each of them.
"The sandals you wear at home," he said, "are not so good as those used
by us in Albion. They don't cover the feet sufficiently, and they
expose the toes too much. Yet our sandals are easily and quickly made.
Look here--I will show you."
His companions paused in their labour and looked on, while the prince
took up an oblong piece of boar-hide, over a foot in length and six
inches broad, which had been soaking in water till it had become quite
soft and limp. Placing one of his feet on this he drew the pattern of
it on the skin with a pointed stick. Around this pattern, and about a
couple of inches from it, he bored a row of holes an inch or so apart.
Through these holes he rove a thong of hide, and then rounded away the
corners of the piece.
"There," said he, placing his foot in the centre of it and drawing the
thong, "my sandal is ready."
The tightening of the thong drew up the edges of the shoe until they
overlapped and entirely encased his foot.
"Good," said the captain, "but that kind of sandal is not new to me.
I've seen it before, not only in your country, but in other lands."
"Indeed? Well, after all, it is so simple, and so likely to hit the
minds of thoughtful men, that I doubt not it is used wherever travelling
is bad or weather cold. We shall need such sandals in this land, for
there is, no doubt, great variety of country, also of weather, and many
thorns."
While our travellers were thus labouring and commenting on their work,
unseen eyes were gazing at them with profound interest and curiosity.
A boy, or youth just emerging from the state of boyhood, lay low in a
neighbouring thicket with his head just elevated sufficiently above the
grass to enable his black eyes to peer over it. He was what we of the
nineteenth century term a savage. That is to say, he was unkempt,
unwashed, and almost naked--but not uneducated, though books had nothing
to do with his training.
The prince chanced to look round, and saw the black eyes instantly, but
being, as we have said, an adept in woodcraft--including savage
warfare--he did not permit the slightest evidence of recognition to
escape him. He continued his gaze in the same direction, allowing his
eyes slowly to ascend, as if he were looking through the tree-tops at
the sky. Then turning his head quietly round he resumed his work and
whistled--for whistling had been invented even before that time.
"Comrades," he said, after a few minutes, "don't look up from your work,
but listen. We are watched. You go on with your occupations as if all
was right, and leave me to deal with the watcher."
His comrades took the hint at once and went quietly on with their
labours, while the prince arose, stretched himself, as if weary of his
work. After a few minutes of looking about him, as though undecided
what to do next, he sauntered into the bush at the side of their
encampment opposite to that where the watcher lay.
The moment he got out of range of the boy's eyes, however, his careless
air vanished, and he sped through the underwood with the quietness and
something of the gait of a panther--stooping low and avoiding to tread
on dead twigs. Making a wide circle, he came round behind the spot
where the watcher was hid. But, trained though he had been in the art
of savage warfare, the boy was equal to him. From the first he had
observed in Bladud's acting the absence of that "touch of nature which
makes the whole world kin," and kept a bright look-out to his rear as
well as in his front, so that when Bladud, despite his care, trod on a
dry stick the boy heard it. Next moment he was off, and a moment after
that he was seen bounding down the hill like a wild-cat.
The prince, knowing the danger of letting the boy escape and carry
information to his friends, dashed after him at full speed--and the rate
of his running may be estimated when it is remembered that many a time
he had defeated men who had been victors at the Olympic games. But the
young savage was nearly his match. Feeling, however, that he was being
slowly yet surely overtaken, the boy doubled like a hare and made for a
ridge that lay on his left. By that time the chase was in full view of
the two men in camp, who rose and craned their necks in some excitement
to watch it.
"He's after something," said the captain.
"A boy!" said Maikar.
"Ay, and running him down, hand over hand."
"There seems to be no one else in sight, so we don't need to go to his
help."
"If he needs our help he'll come for it," returned the captain with a
laugh, "and it will puzzle the swiftest runner in the land to beat his
long legs. See, he's close on the lad now."
"True," responded the other, with a sigh of disappointment, "but we
shan't see the end of it, for the boy will be over the ridge and out of
sight before he is caught."
Maikar was right. Even while he spoke the youthful savage gained the
summit, where his slim, agile figure was clearly depicted against the
sky. Bladud was running at full speed, not a hundred yards behind him,
yet, to the amazement of the spectators, the boy suddenly stopped,
turned round, and waved his hand with a shout of defiance. Next moment
he was over the ridge and gone. A few seconds later the prince was seen
to halt at the same point, but instead of continuing the pursuit, he
remained immovable for a few minutes gazing in front of him. Then he
returned toward the encampment with a somewhat dejected air.
"No wonder you look surprised," he said, on arriving. "The other side
of that ridge is a sheer precipice, down which I might have gone if I
had possessed wings. There was no track visible anywhere, but of course
there must have been a well-concealed one somewhere, for soon after I
reached the top I saw the young wild-cat running over the plain far
below. On coming to the edge of a long stretch of forest, he stopped
and capered about like a monkey. I could see, even at that distance,
that he was making faces at me by way of saying farewell. Then he
entered the woods, and that was the end of him."
"I wish it was the end of him," observed the captain, with something
like a growl--for his voice was very deep, and he had a tendency to
mutter when disturbed in temper. "The monkey will be sure to run home
and tell what he's seen, and so bring all his tribe about our ears."
"Ay, not only his tribe," remarked Maikar, "but his uncles, brothers,
fathers, nephews, and all his kin to the latest walkable generation."
"Are your weapons ready?" asked Bladud, taking up his sword and putting
on his helmet.
"All ready," answered the captain, beginning to collect things--"I have
just finished two head-pieces out of the boar-hide for myself and
Maikar, which will turn an arrow or a sword-cut, unless delivered by a
strong arm. Don't you think them handsome?"
"They are suitable, at any rate," said Maikar, "for they are as ugly as
our faces."
"Come, then, we must make haste, for wild men are not slow to act,"
rejoined Bladud. "By good fortune our way does not lie in the direction
the boy took. We shall get as far away from them as possible, and
travel during the night."
In a few minutes the little party--by that time fully equipped for the
chase or war--were hurrying down the hillside in the direction of the
setting sun. It was growing late in the evening, and as they reached
the bottom, they had to cross a meadow which was rather swampy, so that
their feet sank in some parts over the ankles.
"I say, guide," observed Maikar, who, like his nautical commander, had
small respect for rank, and addressed the prince by what he deemed an
appropriate title, "it has just come into my head that we are leaving a
tremendous trail behind us. We seafaring men are not used to trouble
our heads on that score, for our ships leave no track on the waves, but
it is not so on the land. Won't these naked fellows follow us up and
kill us, mayhap, when we're asleep?"
"Doubtless they will try," answered Bladud, "but we land-faring men are
in the habit of troubling our heads on that score, and guarding against
it. Do you see yonder stream, or, rather, the line of bushes that mark
its course?"
"Ay, plainly."
"Well, when we reach that, you shall see and understand without
explanation."
On reaching the stream referred to, they found that it was a small,
shallow one, with a sluggish current, for the plain through which it
flowed was almost flat.
"You see," said Bladud, pausing on the brink, "that it flows towards the
sea in the direction we have come from. Now step into the water and
follow me down stream."
"Down?" exclaimed the captain in surprise, and with some hesitation.
"We don't want to return to the sea whence we have just come, do we?"
"Captain Arkal," returned Bladud, sternly, "when you give orders on
board ship, do you expect to have them questioned, or obeyed?"
"Lead on, guide," returned the captain, stepping promptly into the
water.
For about a quarter of a mile the prince led his followers in silence
and with much care, for it was growing very dark. Presently they came
to a place where the banks were swampy and the stream deep. Here their
guide landed and continued to walk a short distance down the bank,
ordering his followers to conceal their track as much as possible, by
closing the long grass over each footprint. The result, even to the
unpractised eyes of the seamen, did not seem satisfactory, but their
leader made no comment. After proceeding about fifty yards further, he
re-entered the stream and continued the descent for about a mile. Then
he stopped abruptly, and, turning round, said, "Now, comrades, we will
land for a moment, then re-enter the stream and ascend."
The astonishment of Captain Arkal was so great, that he was again on the
point of asking an explanation, for it seemed to him that wandering down
the bed of a stream for the mere purpose of turning and wandering up it,
when haste was urgent, could only be accounted for on the supposition
that the prince had gone mad. Remembering his previous rebuff, however,
he kept silence.
On reaching the swampy part of the bank their leader did not land, but
held straight on, though the water reached nearly to their armpits.
They were somewhat cooled, but not disagreeably so, for the night was
warm.
In course of time they reached the spot where they had first entered the
stream. Passing it, without landing, they held on their course for a
considerable distance, until they came to a place where the stream was
not more than ankle-deep. Here Bladud paused a few moments and turned
to his companions.
"Now, captain," he said, with a smile that may be said to have been
almost audible though not visible, "do you understand my proceedings?"
"Not quite, though, to say truth, I begin to think you are not just so
mad as you seemed at first."
"Don't you see," continued the prince, "that when we first came to the
stream, I entered it so that our footprints on the bank would show
clearly that we had gone downwards. This will show our pursuers, when
they arrive here, that, though we are wise enough to take to the water
because it leaves no footprints, we are not experienced enough to be
careful as to concealing the direction we have taken. When they reach
the swampy bank and deep water, they will be led to think we did not
like getting wet, and the effort made to cover our footprints, will make
them think that we are very ignorant woodsmen. Then, with much
confidence, they will continue to follow down stream, looking on the
banks now and then for our footprints, until they begin to wonder
whether we intend to make a highroad of the river all the way to the
sea. After that they will become perplexed, astonished, suspicious as
to our stupidity, and will scurry round in all directions, or hold a
council, and, finally they will try up stream; but it will be too late,
for by that time we shall be far away on our road towards the setting
sun."
"Good!" ejaculated Maikar, when this explanation was finished.
"Good!" echoed the captain, with an approving nod. "You understand your
business, I see. Shove out your oars. We follow."
Without further remark Bladud continued his progress up stream. It was
necessarily slow at first, but as night advanced the moon rose, in her
first quarter, and shed a feeble but sufficient light on their watery
path.
At last they came to a place where the leader's sharp eye observed signs
of the presence of man. Stopping short and listening intently, they
heard subdued voices not far from the spot where they stood.
"Stay where you are," whispered Bladud. "Don't move. I'll return
immediately."
He entered the bushes cautiously and disappeared. Standing there
without moving, and in profound silence, under the dark shadow of an
overhanging bush, it is no wonder that the captain and his comrade began
to think the time very long, yet it was only a few minutes after he had
left them that their guide returned.
"Only a single family," he whispered--"three men, two women, and four
children. We have nothing to fear, but we must pass on in silence."
The discovery of those natives obliged them to continue the march up the
bed of the stream much longer than they had intended, and the night was
far advanced before they thought it prudent to leave the water and
pursue the journey on dry land.
Fortunately the country was open and comparatively free from underwood,
so that they made progress much more rapidly; nevertheless, it was not
thought safe to take rest until they had placed many a mile between them
and the natives, who, it was thought probable, would be started in
pursuit of them by the youth to whom Bladud had given chase.