THE KNIGHTS OF THE JOYOUS VENTURE
It was too hot to run about in the open, so Dan asked their friend, oldHobden, to take their own dinghy from the pond and put her on the brook atthe bottom of the garden. Her painted name was the _Daisy_, but forexploring expeditions she was the _Golden Hind_ or the _Long Serpent_, orsome such suitable name. Dan hiked and howked with a boat-hook (the brookwas too narrow for sculls), and Una punted with a piece of hop-pole. Whenthey came to a very shallow place (the _Golden Hind_ drew quite threeinches of water) they disembarked and scuffled her over the gravel by hertow-rope, and when they reached the overgrown banks beyond the garden theypulled themselves up stream by the low branches.
That day they intended to discover the North Cape like 'Othere, the oldsea-captain,' in the book of verses which Una had brought with her; but onaccount of the heat they changed it to a voyage up the Amazon and thesources of the Nile. Even on the shaded water the air was hot and heavywith drowsy scents, while outside, through breaks in the trees, thesunshine burned the pasture like fire. The kingfisher was asleep on hiswatching-branch, and the blackbirds scarcely took the trouble to dive intothe next bush. Dragon-flies wheeling and clashing were the only things atwork, except the moor-hens and a big Red Admiral who flapped down out ofthe sunshine for a drink.
When they reached Otter Pool the _Golden Hind_ grounded comfortably on ashallow, and they lay beneath a roof of close green, watching the watertrickle over the floodgates down the mossy brick chute from themill-stream to the brook. A big trout--the children knew him well--rolledhead and shoulders at some fly that sailed round the bend, while once injust so often the brook rose a fraction of an inch against all the wetpebbles, and they watched the slow draw and shiver of a breath of airthrough the tree-tops. Then the little voices of the slipping water beganagain.
'It's like the shadows talking, isn't it?' said Una. She had given uptrying to read. Dan lay over the bows, trailing his hands in the current.They heard feet on the gravel-bar that runs half across the pool and sawSir Richard Dalyngridge standing over them.
'Was yours a dangerous voyage?' he asked, smiling.
'She bumped a lot, sir,' said Dan. 'There's hardly any water this summer.'
'Ah, the brook was deeper and wider when my children played at Danishpirates. Are you pirate-folk?'
'Oh, no. We gave up being pirates years ago,' explained Una. 'We're nearlyalways explorers now. Sailing round the world, you know.'
'Round?' said Sir Richard. He sat him in the comfortable crotch of the oldash-root on the bank. 'How can it be round?'
'Wasn't it in your books?' Dan suggested. He had been doing geography athis last lesson.
'I can neither write nor read,' he replied. 'Canst _thou_ read, child?'
'Yes,' said Dan, 'barring the very long words.'
'Wonderful! Read to me, that I may hear for myself.'
Dan flushed, but opened the book and began--gabbling a little--at 'TheDiscoverer of the North Cape.'
'Othere, the old sea captain, Who dwelt in Helgoland, To Alfred, lover of truth, Brought a snow-white walrus tooth, That he held in his right hand.'
'But--but--this I know! This is an old song! This I have heard sung! This isa miracle,' Sir Richard interrupted. 'Nay, do not stop!' He leanedforward, and the shadows of the leaves slipped and slid upon hischain-mail.
'I ploughed the land with horses, But my heart was ill at ease, For the old sea-faring men Came to me now and then With their Sagas of the Seas.'
His hand fell on the hilt of the great sword. 'This is truth,' he cried,'for so did it happen to me,' and he beat time delightedly to the tramp ofverse after verse.
'"And now the land," said Othere, "Bent southward suddenly, And I followed the curving shore, And ever southward bore Into a nameless sea."'
'A nameless sea!' he repeated. 'So did I--so did Hugh and I.'
'Where did you go? Tell us,' said Una.
'Wait. Let me hear all first.' So Dan read to the poem's very end.
'Good,' said the knight. 'That is Othere's tale--even as I have heard themen in the Dane ships sing it. Not in those same valiant words, butsomething like to them.'
'Have you ever explored North?' Dan shut the book.
'Nay. My venture was South. Farther South than any man has fared, Hugh andI went down with Witta and his heathen.' He jerked the tall sword forward,and leaned on it with both hands; but his eyes looked long past them.
'I thought you always lived here,' said Una, timidly.
'Yes; while my Lady AElueva lived. But she died. She died. Then, my eldestson being a man, I asked De Aquila's leave that he should hold the Manorwhile I went on some journey or pilgrimage--to forget. De Aquila, whom theSecond William had made Warden of Pevensey in Earl Mortain's place, wasvery old then, but still he rode his tall, roan horses, and in the saddlehe looked like a little white falcon. When Hugh, at Dallington overyonder, heard what I did, he sent for my second son, whom being unmarriedhe had ever looked upon as his own child, and, by De Aquila's leave, gavehim the Manor of Dallington to hold till he should return. Then Hugh camewith me.'
'When did this happen?' said Dan.
'That I can answer to the very day, for as we rode with De Aquila byPevensey--have I said that he was Lord of Pevensey and of the Honour of theEagle?--to the Bordeaux ship that fetched him his wines yearly out ofFrance, a Marsh man ran to us crying that he had seen a great black goatwhich bore on his back the body of the King, and that the goat had spokento him. On that same day Red William our King, the Conqueror's son, diedof a secret arrow while he hunted in a forest. "This is a cross matter,"said De Aquila, "to meet on the threshold of a journey. If Red William bedead I may have to fight for my lands. Wait a little."
'My Lady being dead, I cared nothing for signs and omens, nor Hugh either.We took that wine-ship to go to Bordeaux; but the wind failed while wewere yet in sight of Pevensey; a thick mist hid us, and we drifted withthe tide along the cliffs to the west. Our company was, for the most part,merchants returning to France, and we were laden with wool and there werethree couple of tall hunting-dogs chained to the rail. Their master was aknight of Artois. His name I never learned, but his shield bore goldpieces on a red ground, and he limped much as I do, from a wound which hehad got in his youth at Mantes siege. He served the Duke of Burgundyagainst the Moors in Spain, and was returning to that war with his dogs.He sang us strange Moorish songs that first night, and half persuaded usto go with him. I was on pilgrimage to forget--which is what no pilgrimagebrings. I think I would have gone, but....
'Look you how the life and fortune of man changes! Towards morning a Daneship, rowing silently, struck against us in the mist, and while we rolledhither and yon Hugh, leaning over the rail, fell outboard. I leaped afterhim, and we two tumbled aboard the Dane, and were caught and bound ere wecould rise. Our own ship was swallowed up in the mist. I judge the Knightof the Gold Pieces muzzled his dogs with his cloak, lest they should givetongue and betray the merchants, for I heard their baying suddenly stop.
'We lay bound among the benches till morning, when the Danes dragged us tothe high deck by the steering-place, and their captain--Witta, he wascalled--turned us over with his foot. Bracelets of gold from elbow toarmpit he wore, and his red hair was long as a woman's, and came down inplaited locks on his shoulder. He was stout, with bowed legs and longarms. He spoiled us of all we had, but when he laid hand on Hugh's swordand saw the runes on the blade hastily he thrust it back. Yet hiscovetousness overcame him and he tried again and again, and the third timethe Sword sang loud and angrily, so that the rowers leaned on their oarsto listen. Here they all spoke together, screaming like gulls, and aYellow Man, such as I have never seen, came to the high deck and cut ourbonds. He was yellow--not from sickness, but by nature. Yellow as honey,and his eyes stood endwise in his head.'
'How do you mean?' said Una, her chin on her hand.
'Thus,' said Sir Richard. He put a finger to the corner of each eye, andpushed it up till his ey
es narrowed to slits.
'Why, you look just like a Chinaman!' cried Dan. 'Was the man a Chinaman?'
'I know not what that may be. Witta had found him half dead among ice onthe shores of Muscovy. _We_ thought he was a devil. He crawled before usand brought food in a silver dish which these sea-wolves had robbed fromsome rich abbey, and Witta with his own hands gave us wine. He spoke alittle in French, a little in South Saxon, and much in the Northman'stongue. We asked him to set us ashore, promising to pay him better ransomthan he would get price if he sold us to the Moors--as once befell a knightof my acquaintance sailing from Flushing.
'"Not by my father Guthrum's head," said he. "The Gods sent ye into myship for a luck-offering."
'At this I quaked, for I knew it was still the Dane's custom to sacrificecaptives to their gods for fair weather.
'"A plague on thy four long bones!" said Hugh. "What profit canst thoumake of poor old pilgrims that can neither work nor fight?"
'"Gods forbid I should fight against thee, poor Pilgrim with the SingingSword," said he. "Come with us and be poor no more. Thy teeth are farapart, which is a sure sign thou wilt travel and grow rich."
'"What if we will not come?" said Hugh.
'"Swim to England or France," said Witta. "We are midway between the two.Unless ye choose to drown yourselves no hair of your head will be harmedhere aboard. We think ye bring us luck, and I myself know the runes onthat Sword are good." He turned and bade them hoist sail.
'Hereafter all made way for us as we walked about the ship, and the shipwas full of wonders.'
'What was she like?' said Dan.
'Long, low, and narrow, bearing one mast with a red sail, and rowed byfifteen oars a side,' the knight answered. 'At her bows was a deck underwhich men might lie, and at her stern another shut off by a painted doorfrom the rowers' benches. Here Hugh and I slept, with Witta and the YellowMan, upon tapestries as soft as wool. I remember'--he laughed tohimself--'when first we entered there a loud voice cried, "Out swords! Outswords! Kill, kill!" Seeing us start Witta laughed, and showed us it wasbut a great-beaked grey bird with a red tail. He sat her on his shoulder,and she called for bread and wine hoarsely, and prayed him to kiss her.Yet she was no more than a silly bird. But--ye knew this?' He looked attheir smiling faces.
'We weren't laughing at you,' said Una. 'That must have been a parrot.It's just what Pollies do.'
'So we learned later. But here is another marvel. The Yellow Man, whosename was Kitai, had with him a brown box. In the box was a blue bowl withred marks upon the rim, and within the bowl, hanging from a fine thread,was a piece of iron no thicker than that grass stem, and as long, maybe,as my spur, but straight. In this iron, said Witta, abode an Evil Spiritwhich Kitai, the Yellow Man, had brought by Art Magic out of his owncountry that lay three years' journey southward. The Evil Spirit stroveday and night to return to his country, and therefore, look you, the ironneedle pointed continually to the South.'
'South?' said Dan, suddenly, and put his hand into his pocket.
'With my own eyes I saw it. Every day and all day long, though the shiprolled, though the sun and the moon and the stars were hid, this blindSpirit in the iron knew whither it would go, and strained to the South.Witta called it the Wise Iron, because it showed him his way across theunknowable seas.' Again Sir Richard looked keenly at the children. 'Howthink ye? Was it sorcery?'
'Was it anything like this?' Dan fished out his old brass pocket-compass,that generally lived with his knife and key-ring. 'The glass has gotcracked, but the needle waggles all right, sir.'
The knight drew a long breath of wonder. 'Yes, yes. The Wise Iron shookand swung in just this fashion. Now it is still. Now it points to theSouth.'
'North,' said Dan.
'Nay, South! There is the South,' said Sir Richard. Then they bothlaughed, for naturally when one end of a straight compass-needle points tothe North, the other must point to the South.
'Te,' said Sir Richard, clicking his tongue. 'There can be no sorcery if achild carries it. Wherefore does it point South--or North?'
'Father says that nobody knows,' said Una.
Sir Richard looked relieved. 'Then it may still be magic. It was magic to_us_. And so we voyaged. When the wind served we hoisted sail, and lay allup along the windward rail, our shields on our backs to break the spray.When it failed, they rowed with long oars; the Yellow Man sat by the WiseIron, and Witta steered. At first I feared the great white-floweringwaves, but as I saw how wisely Witta led his ship among them I grewbolder. Hugh liked it well from the first. My skill is not upon the water;and rocks, and whirlpools such as we saw by the West Isles of France,where an oar caught on a rock and broke, are much against my stomach. Wesailed South across a stormy sea, where by moonlight, between clouds, wesaw a Flanders ship roll clean over and sink. Again, though Hugh labouredwith Witta all night, I lay under the deck with the Talking Bird, andcared not whether I lived or died. There is a sickness of the sea which,for three days, is pure death! When we next saw land Witta said it wasSpain, and we stood out to sea. That coast was full of ships busy in theDuke's war against the Moors, and we feared to be hanged by the Duke's menor sold into slavery by the Moors. So we put into a small harbour whichWitta knew. At night men came down with loaded mules, and Witta exchangedamber out of the North against little wedges of iron and packets of beadsin earthen pots. The pots he put under the decks, and the wedges of ironhe laid on the bottom of the ship after he had cast out the stones andshingle which till then had been our ballast. Wine, too, he bought forlumps of sweet-smelling grey amber--a little morsel no bigger than athumbnail purchased a cask of wine. But I speak like a merchant.'
'No, no! Tell us what you had to eat,' cried Dan.
'Meat dried in the sun, and dried fish and ground beans, Witta took in;and corded frails of a certain sweet, soft fruit, which the Moors use,which is like paste of figs, but with thin, long stones. Aha! Dates is thename.
'"Now," said Witta, when the ship was loaded, "I counsel you strangers, topray to your gods, for from here on our road is No Man's road." He and hismen killed a black goat for sacrifice on the bows; and the Yellow Manbrought out a small, smiling image of dull-green glass and burned incensebefore it. Hugh and I commended ourselves to God, and Saint Bartholomew,and Our Lady of the Assumption, who was specially dear to my Lady. We werenot young, but I think no shame to say, when as we drove out of thatsecret harbour at sunrise over a still sea, we two rejoiced and sang asdid the knights of old when they followed our great Duke to England. Yetwas our leader an heathen pirate; all our proud fleet but one galleyperilously overloaded; for guidance we leaned on a pagan sorcerer; and ourport was beyond the world's end. Witta told us that his father Guthrum hadonce in his life rowed along the shores of Africa to a land where nakedmen sold gold for iron and beads. There had he bought much gold, and nofew elephants' teeth, and thither by help of the Wise Iron would Witta go.Witta feared nothing--except to be poor.
'"My father told me," said Witta, "that a great Shoal runs three days'sail out from that land, and south of the shoal lies a Forest which growsin the sea. South and east of the Forest my father came to a place wherethe men hid gold in their hair; but all that country, he said, was full ofDevils who lived in trees, and tore folk limb from limb. How think ye?"
'"Gold or no gold," said Hugh, fingering his sword, "it is a joyousventure. Have at these devils of thine, Witta!"
'"Venture!" said Witta, sourly. "I am only a poor sea-thief. I do not setmy life adrift on a plank for joy, or the venture. Once I beach ship againat Stavanger, and feel the wife's arms round my neck, I'll seek no moreventures. A ship is heavier care than a wife or cattle."
'He leaped down among the rowers, chiding them for their little strengthand their great stomachs. Yet Witta was a wolf in fight, and a very fox incunning.
'We were driven South by a storm, and for three days and three nights hetook the stern-oar and threddled the longship through the sea. When itrose beyond measure he brake a pot of whale's oil u
pon the water, whichwonderfully smoothed it, and in that anointed patch he turned her head tothe wind and threw out oars at the end of a rope, to make, he said, ananchor at which we lay rolling sorely, but dry. This craft his fatherGuthrum had shown him. He knew, too, all the Leech-Book of Bald, who was awise doctor, and he knew the Ship-Book of Hlaf the Woman, who robbedEgypt. He knew all the care of a ship.
'After the storm we saw a mountain whose top was covered with snow andpierced the clouds. The grasses under this mountain, boiled and eaten, area good cure for soreness of the gums and swelled ankles. We lay thereeight days, till men in skins threw stones at us. When the heat increasedWitta spread a cloth on bent sticks above the rowers, for the wind failedbetween the Island of the Mountain and the shore of Africa, which is eastof it. That shore is sandy, and we rowed along it within three bowshots.Here we saw whales, and fish in the shape of shields, but longer than ourship. Some slept, some opened their mouths at us, and some danced on thehot waters. The water was hot to the hand, and the sky was hidden by hot,grey mists, out of which blew a fine dust that whitened our hair andbeards of a morning. Here, too, were fish that flew in the air like birds.They would fall on the laps of the rowers, and when we went ashore wewould roast and eat them.'
The knight paused to see if the children doubted him, but they only noddedand said, 'Go on.'
'The yellow land lay on our left, the grey sea on our right. Knight thoughI was, I pulled my oar amongst the rowers. I caught seaweed and dried it,and stuffed it between the pots of beads lest they should break.Knighthood is for the land. At sea, look you, a man is but a spurlessrider on a bridleless horse. I learned to make strong knots in ropes--yes,and to join two ropes end to end, so that even Witta could scarcely seewhere they had been married. But Hugh had tenfold more sea-cunning than I.Witta gave him charge of the rowers of the left side. Thorkild of Borkum,a man with a broken nose, that wore a Norman steel cap, had the rowers ofthe right, and each side rowed and sang against the other. They saw thatno man was idle. Truly, as Hugh said, and Witta would laugh at him, a shipis all more care than a Manor.
'How? Thus. There was water to fetch from the shore when we could find it,as well as wild fruit and grasses, and sand for scrubbing of the decks andbenches to keep them sweet. Also we hauled the ship out on low islands andemptied all her gear, even to the iron wedges, and burned off the weed,that had grown on her, with torches of rush, and smoked below the deckswith rushes dampened in salt water, as Hlaf the Woman orders in herShip-Book. Once when we were thus stripped, and the ship lay propped onher keel, the bird cried, "Out swords!" as though she saw an enemy. Wittavowed he would wring her neck.'
'Poor Polly! Did he?' said Una.
'Nay. She was the ship's bird. She could call all the rowers by name....Those were good days--for a wifeless man--with Witta and his heathen--beyondthe world's end.... After many weeks we came on the Great Shoal whichstretched, as Witta's father had said, far out to sea. We skirted it tillwe were giddy with the sight and dizzy with the sound of bars andbreakers; and when we reached land again we found a naked black peopledwelling among woods, who for one wedge of iron loaded us with fruits andgrasses and eggs. Witta scratched his head at them in sign he would buygold. They had no gold, but they understood the sign (all the gold-tradershide their gold in their thick hair), for they pointed along the coast.They beat, too, on their chests with their clenched hands, and that, if wehad known it, was an evil sign.'
'What did it mean?' said Dan.
'Patience. Ye shall hear. We followed the coast eastward sixteen days(counting time by sword-cuts on the helm-rail) till we came to the Forestin the Sea. Trees grew out of mud, arched upon lean and high roots, andmany muddy water-ways ran allwhither into darkness under the trees. Herewe lost the sun. We followed the winding channels between the trees, andwhere we could not row we laid hold of the crusted roots and hauledourselves along. The water was foul, and great glittering flies tormentedus. Morning and evening a blue mist covered the mud, which bred fevers.Four of our rowers sickened, and were bound to their benches, lest theyshould leap overboard and be eaten by the monsters of the mud. The YellowMan lay sick beside the Wise Iron, rolling his head and talking in his owntongue. Only the Bird throve. She sat on Witta's shoulder and screamed inthat noisome, silent darkness. Yes; I think it was the silence we feared.'
He paused to listen to the comfortable home noises of the brook.
'When we had lost count of time among those black gullies and swashes, weheard, as it were, a drum beat far off, and following it we broke into abroad, brown river by a hut in a clearing among fields of pumkins. Wethanked God to see the sun again. The people of the village gave the goodwelcome, and Witta scratched his head at them (for gold), and showed themour iron and beads. They ran to the bank--we were still in the ship--andpointed to our swords and bows, for always when near shore we lay armed.Soon they fetched store of gold in bars and in dust from their huts, andsome great blackened elephant teeth. These they piled on the bank, asthough to tempt us, and made signs of dealing blows in battle, and pointedup to the tree tops, and to the forest behind. Their captain or chiefsorcerer then beat on his chest with his fists, and gnashed his teeth.
'Said Thorkild of Borkum: "Do they mean we must fight for all this gear?"and he half drew his sword.
'"Nay," said Hugh. "I think they ask us to league against some enemy."
'"I like this not," said Witta, of a sudden. "Back into midstream."
'So we did, and sat still all, watching the black folk and the gold theypiled on the bank. Again we heard drums beat in the forest, and the peoplefled to their huts, leaving the gold unguarded.
'Then Hugh, at the bows, pointed without speech, and we saw a great Devilcome out of the forest. He shaded his brows with his hand, and moistenedhis pink tongue between his lips--thus.'
'A Devil!' said Dan, delightfully horrified.
'Yea. Taller than a man; covered with reddish hair. When he had wellregarded our ship, he beat on his chest with his fists till it soundedlike rolling drums, and came to the bank swinging all his body between hislong arms, and gnashed his teeth at us. Hugh loosed arrow, and pierced himthrough the throat. He fell roaring, and three other Devils ran out of theforest and hauled him into a tall tree out of sight. Anon they cast downthe blood-stained arrow, and lamented together among the leaves. Witta sawthe gold on the bank; he was loath to leave it. "Sirs," said he (no manhad spoken till then), "yonder is that we have come so far and sopainfully to find, laid out to our very hand. Let us row in while theseDevils bewail themselves, and at least bear off what we may."
'Bold as a wolf, cunning as a fox was Witta! He set four archers on theforedeck to shoot the Devils if they should leap from the tree, which wasclose to the bank. He manned ten oars a side, and bade them watch his handto row in or back out, and so coaxed he them toward the bank. But nonewould set foot ashore, though the gold was within ten paces. No man ishasty to his hanging. They whimpered at their oars like beaten hounds, andWitta bit his fingers for rage.
'Said Hugh of a sudden, "Hark!" At first we thought it was the buzzing ofthe glittering flies on the water, but it grew loud and fierce, so thatall men heard.'
'What?' said Dan and Una.
'It was the sword.' Sir Richard patted the smooth hilt. 'It sang as a Danesings before battle. "I go," said Hugh, and he leaped from the bows andfell among the gold. I was afraid to my four bones' marrow, but forshame's sake I followed, and Thorkild of Borkum leaped after me. Noneother came. "Blame me not," cried Witta behind us, "I must abide by myship." We three had no time to blame or praise. We stooped to the gold andthrew it back over our shoulders, one hand on our swords and one eye onthe tree, which nigh overhung us.
'I know not how the Devils leaped down, or how the fight began. I heardHugh cry: "Out! out!" as though he were at Santlache again; I sawThorkild's steel cap smitten off his head by a great hairy hand, and Ifelt an arrow from the ship whistle past my ear. They say that till Wittatook his sword to the rowers he could not bring
his ship in shore; andeach one of the four archers said afterwards that he alone had pierced theDevil that fought me. I do not know. I went to it in my mail-shirt, whichsaved my skin. With long-sword and belt-dagger I fought for the lifeagainst a Devil whose very feet were hands, and who whirled me back andforth like a dead branch. He had me by the waist, my arms to my side, whenan arrow from the ship pierced him between the shoulders, and he loosenedgrip. I passed my sword twice through him, and he crutched himself awaybetween his long arms, coughing and moaning. Next, as I remember, I sawThorkild of Borkum bareheaded and smiling, leaping up and down before aDevil that leaped and gnashed his teeth. Then Hugh passed, his swordshifted to his left hand, and I wondered why I had not known that Hugh wasa left-handed man; and thereafter I remembered nothing till I felt sprayon my face, and we were in sunshine on the open sea. That was twenty daysafter.'
'What had happened? Did Hugh die?' the children asked.
'Never was such a fight fought by christened man,' said Sir Richard. 'Anarrow from the ship had saved me from my Devil, and Thorkild of Borkum hadgiven back before his Devil, till the bowmen on the ship could shoot itall full of arrows from near by; but Hugh's Devil was cunning, and hadkept behind trees, where no arrow could reach. Body to body there, bystark strength of sword and hand, had Hugh slain him, and, dying, theThing had clenched his teeth on the sword. Judge what teeth they were!'
Sir Richard turned the sword again that the children might see the twogreat chiselled gouges on either side of the blade.
'Those same teeth met in Hugh's right arm and side,' Sir Richard went on.'I? Oh, I had no more than a broken foot and a fever. Thorkild's ear wasbitten, but Hugh's arm and side clean withered away. I saw him where helay along, sucking a fruit in his left hand. His flesh was wasted off hisbones, his hair was patched with white, and his hand was blue-veined likea woman's. He put his left hand round my neck and whispered, "Take mysword. It has been thine since Hastings, O, my brother, but I can neverhold hilt again." We lay there on the high deck talking of Santlache and,I think, of every day since Santlache, and it came so that we both wept. Iwas weak, and he little more than a shadow.
'"Nay--nay," said Witta, at the helm-rail. "Gold is a good right arm to anyman. Look--look at the gold!" He bade Thorkild show us the gold and theelephants' teeth, as though we had been children. He had brought away allthe gold on the bank, and twice as much more, that the people of thevillage gave him for slaying the Devils. They worshipped us as gods,Thorkild told me: it was one of their old women healed up Hugh's poorarm.'
'How much gold did you get?' asked Dan.
'How can I say? Where we came out with wedges of iron under the rowers'feet we returned with wedges of gold hidden beneath planks. There was dustof gold in packages where we slept; and along the side and crosswise underthe benches we lashed the blackened elephants' teeth.
'"I had sooner have my right arm," said Hugh, when he had seen all.
'"Ahai! That was my fault," said Witta. "I should have taken ransom andlanded you in France when first you came aboard, ten months ago."
'"It is over-late now," said Hugh, laughing.
'Witta plucked at his long shoulder-lock. "But think!" said he. "If I hadlet ye go--which I swear I would never have done, for I love ye more thanbrothers--if I had let ye go, by now ye might have been horribly slain bysome mere Moor in the Duke of Burgundy's war, or ye might have beenmurdered by land-thieves, or ye might have died of the plague at an inn.Think of this and do not blame me overmuch, Hugh. See! I will only take ahalf of the gold."
'"I blame thee not at all, Witta," said Hugh. "It was a joyous venture,and we thirty-five here have done what never men have done. If I live tillEngland, I will build me a stout keep over Dallington out of my share."
'"I will buy cattle and amber and warm red cloth for the wife," saidWitta, "and I will hold all the land at the head of Stavanger Fiord. Manywill fight for me now. But first we must turn North, and with this honesttreasure aboard I pray we meet no pirate ships."
'We did not laugh. We were careful. We were afraid lest we should lose onegrain of our gold for which we had fought Devils.
'"Where is the Sorcerer?" said I, for Witta was looking at the Wise Ironin the box, and I could not see the Yellow Man.
'"He has gone to his own country," said he. "He rose up in the night whilewe were beating out of that forest in the mud, and said that he could seeit behind the trees. He leaped out on to the mud, and did not answer whenwe called; so we called no more. He left the Wise Iron, which is all thatI care for--and see, the Spirit still points to the South!"
'We were troubled for fear that the Wise Iron should fail us now that itsYellow Man had gone, and when we saw the Spirit still served us we grewafraid of too strong winds, and of shoals, and of careless leaping fish,and of all the people on all the shores where we landed.'
'Why?' said Dan.
'Because of the gold--because of our gold. Gold changes men altogether.Thorkild of Borkum did not change. He laughed at Witta for his fears, andat us for our counselling Witta to furl sail when the ship pitched at all.
'"Better be drowned out of hand," said Thorkild of Borkum, "than go tiedto a deck-load of yellow dust."
'He was a landless man, and had been slave to some King in the East. Hewould have beaten out the gold into deep bands to put round the oars, andround the prow.
'Yet, though he vexed himself for the gold, Witta waited upon Hugh like awoman, lending him his shoulder when the ship rolled, and tying of ropesfrom side to side that Hugh might hold by them. But for Hugh, he said--andso did all his men--they would never have won the gold. I remember Wittamade a little, thin gold ring for our Bird to swing in. Three months werowed and sailed and went ashore for fruits or to clean the ship. When wesaw wild horsemen, riding among sand-dunes, flourishing spears we knew wewere on the Moors' coast, and stood over north to Spain; and a strongsouth-west wind bore us in ten days to a coast of high red rocks, where weheard a hunting-horn blow among the yellow gorse and knew it was England.
'"Now find ye Pevensey yourselves," said Witta. "I love not these narrowship-filled seas."
'He set the dried, salted head of the Devil, which Hugh had killed, highon our prow, and all boats fled from us. Yet, for our gold's sake, we weremore afraid than they. We crept along the coast by night till we came tothe chalk cliffs, and so east to Pevensey. Witta would not come ashorewith us, though Hugh promised him wine at Dallington enough to swim in. Hewas on fire to see his wife, and ran into the Marsh after sunset, andthere he left us and our share of gold, and backed out on the same tide.He made no promise; he swore no oath; he looked for no thanks; but toHugh, an armless man, and to me, an old cripple whom he could have flunginto the sea, he passed over wedge upon wedge, packet upon packet of goldand dust of gold, and only ceased when we would take no more. As hestooped from the rail to bid us farewell he stripped off his right-armbracelets and put them all on Hugh's left, and he kissed Hugh on thecheek. I think when Thorkild of Borkum bade the rowers give way we werenear weeping. It is true that Witta was an heathen and a pirate; true itis he held us by force many months in his ship, but I loved thatbow-legged, blue-eyed man for his great boldness, his cunning, his skill,and, beyond all, for his simplicity.'
'Did he get home all right?' said Dan.
'I never knew. We saw him hoist sail under the moon-track and stand away.I have prayed that he found his wife and the children.'
'And what did you do?'
'We waited on the Marsh till the day. Then I sat by the gold, all tied inan old sail, while Hugh went to Pevensey, and De Aquila sent us horses.'
Sir Richard crossed hands on his sword-hilt, and stared down streamthrough the soft warm shadows.
'A whole shipload of gold!' said Una, looking at the little _Golden Hind_.'But I'm glad I didn't see the Devils.'
'I don't believe they were Devils,' Dan whispered back.
'Eh?' said Sir Richard. 'Witta's father warned him they wereunquestionable Devils. One must believe one's
father, and not one'schildren. What were my Devils, then?'
Dan flushed all over. 'I--I only thought,' he stammered; 'I've got a bookcalled _The Gorilla Hunters_--it's a continuation of _Coral Island_,sir--and it says there that the gorillas (they're big monkeys, you know)were always chewing iron up.'
'Not always,' said Una. 'Only twice.' They had been reading _The GorillaHunters_ in the orchard.
'Well, anyhow, they always drummed on their chests, like Sir Richard'sdid, before they went for people. And they built houses in trees, too.'
'Ha!' Sir Richard opened his eyes. 'Houses like flat nests did our Devilsmake, where their imps lay and looked at us. I did not see them (I wassick after the fight), but Witta told me and, lo, ye know it also?Wonderful! Were our Devils only nest-building apes? Is there no sorceryleft in the world?'
'I don't know,' answered Dan, uncomfortably. 'I've seen a man take rabbitsout of a hat, and he told us we could see how he did it, if we watchedhard. And we did.'
'But we didn't,' said Una sighing. 'Oh! there's Puck!'
The little fellow, brown and smiling, peered between two stems of an ash,nodded, and slid down the bank into the cool beside them.
'No sorcery, Sir Richard?' he laughed, and blew on a full dandelion headhe had picked.
'They tell me that Witta's Wise Iron was a toy. The boy carries such anIron with him. They tell me our Devils were apes, called gorillas!' saidSir Richard, indignantly.
'That is the sorcery of books,' said Puck. 'I warned thee they were wisechildren. All people can be wise by reading of books.'
'But are the books true?' Sir Richard frowned. 'I like not all thisreading and writing.'
'Ye-es,' said Puck, holding the naked dandelion head at arm's length. 'Butif we hang all fellows who write falsely, why did De Aquila not begin withGilbert, the Clerk? _He_ was false enough.'
'Poor false Gilbert. Yet in his fashion, he was bold,' said Sir Richard.
'What did he do?' said Dan.
'He wrote,' said Sir Richard. 'Is the tale meet for children, think you?'He looked at Puck; but, 'Tell us! Tell us!' cried Dan and Una together.