as they reachedthe bottom, they had to cross a meadow which was rather swampy, so thattheir feet sank in some parts over the ankles.
"I say, guide," observed Maikar, who, like his nautical commander, hadsmall respect for rank, and addressed the prince by what he deemed anappropriate title, "it has just come into my head that we are leaving atremendous trail behind us. We seafaring men are not used to troubleour heads on that score, for our ships leave no track on the waves, butit is not so on the land. Won't these naked fellows follow us up andkill us, mayhap, when we're asleep?"
"Doubtless they will try," answered Bladud, "but we land-faring men arein the habit of troubling our heads on that score, and guarding againstit. Do you see yonder stream, or, rather, the line of bushes that markits course?"
"Ay, plainly."
"Well, when we reach that, you shall see and understand withoutexplanation."
On reaching the stream referred to, they found that it was a small,shallow one, with a sluggish current, for the plain through which itflowed was almost flat.
"You see," said Bladud, pausing on the brink, "that it flows towards thesea in the direction we have come from. Now step into the water andfollow 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 onboard ship, do you expect to have them questioned, or obeyed?"
"Lead on, guide," returned the captain, stepping promptly into thewater.
For about a quarter of a mile the prince led his followers in silenceand with much care, for it was growing very dark. Presently they cameto a place where the banks were swampy and the stream deep. Here theirguide landed and continued to walk a short distance down the bank,ordering his followers to conceal their track as much as possible, byclosing the long grass over each footprint. The result, even to theunpractised eyes of the seamen, did not seem satisfactory, but theirleader made no comment. After proceeding about fifty yards further, here-entered the stream and continued the descent for about a mile. Thenhe stopped abruptly, and, turning round, said, "Now, comrades, we willland for a moment, then re-enter the stream and ascend."
The astonishment of Captain Arkal was so great, that he was again on thepoint of asking an explanation, for it seemed to him that wandering downthe 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 suppositionthat 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, butheld straight on, though the water reached nearly to their armpits.They were somewhat cooled, but not disagreeably so, for the night waswarm.
In course of time they reached the spot where they had first entered thestream. Passing it, without landing, they held on their course for aconsiderable distance, until they came to a place where the stream wasnot more than ankle-deep. Here Bladud paused a few moments and turnedto his companions.
"Now, captain," he said, with a smile that may be said to have beenalmost audible though not visible, "do you understand my proceedings?"
"Not quite, though, to say truth, I begin to think you are not just somad as you seemed at first."
"Don't you see," continued the prince, "that when we first came to thestream, I entered it so that our footprints on the bank would showclearly that we had gone downwards. This will show our pursuers, whenthey arrive here, that, though we are wise enough to take to the waterbecause it leaves no footprints, we are not experienced enough to becareful as to concealing the direction we have taken. When they reachthe swampy bank and deep water, they will be led to think we did notlike getting wet, and the effort made to cover our footprints, will makethem think that we are very ignorant woodsmen. Then, with muchconfidence, they will continue to follow down stream, looking on thebanks now and then for our footprints, until they begin to wonderwhether we intend to make a highroad of the river all the way to thesea. After that they will become perplexed, astonished, suspicious asto our stupidity, and will scurry round in all directions, or hold acouncil, 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 settingsun."
"Good!" ejaculated Maikar, when this explanation was finished.
"Good!" echoed the captain, with an approving nod. "You understand yourbusiness, I see. Shove out your oars. We follow."
Without further remark Bladud continued his progress up stream. It wasnecessarily slow at first, but as night advanced the moon rose, in herfirst quarter, and shed a feeble but sufficient light on their waterypath.
At last they came to a place where the leader's sharp eye observed signsof the presence of man. Stopping short and listening intently, theyheard subdued voices not far from the spot where they stood.
"Stay where you are," whispered Bladud. "Don't move. I'll returnimmediately."
He entered the bushes cautiously and disappeared. Standing therewithout moving, and in profound silence, under the dark shadow of anoverhanging bush, it is no wonder that the captain and his comrade beganto think the time very long, yet it was only a few minutes after he hadleft them that their guide returned.
"Only a single family," he whispered--"three men, two women, and fourchildren. We have nothing to fear, but we must pass on in silence."
The discovery of those natives obliged them to continue the march up thebed of the stream much longer than they had intended, and the night wasfar advanced before they thought it prudent to leave the water andpursue 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 notthought safe to take rest until they had placed many a mile between themand the natives, who, it was thought probable, would be started inpursuit of them by the youth to whom Bladud had given chase.
Much wearied, and almost falling asleep while they advanced, thetravellers halted at last in a dense thicket, and there, lying downwithout food or fire, they were soon buried in profound repose.
CHAPTER NINE.
HOMECOMING.
It is beyond the scope of this tale to describe minutely all that befellour adventurers on their long, fatiguing, and dangerous march throughancient Gaul, which land at that time had neither name nor history.
Suffice it to say that, after numerous adventures with savage beasts,and scarcely less savage men, and many hair-breadth escapes andthrilling incidents by flood and field, they at last found themselves onthe shores of that narrow channel which separated the northern coast ofGaul from the white cliffs of Old Albion. They were guided thereto, aswe have said, by the Pole-star, which shone in our sky in those dayswith its wonted brilliancy, though, probably, astronomers had not yetgiven to it a local habitation in their systems or a distinctive name.
Of course their passage through the land had been attended with greatvariety of fortune, good and bad. In some parts they met with nativeswho received them hospitably and sent them on their way rejoicing.Elsewhere they found banditti, fortunately in small bands, with whomthey had to fight, and once they were seized and imprisoned by a tribeof inhospitable savages, from whom they escaped, as it were, by the skinof their teeth.
In all these vicissitudes the gigantic frame and the mild, kindly looksof Bladud went far to conciliate the uncertain, attract the friendly,and alarm the savage, for it is a curious fact, explain it how we may,that the union of immense physical power with childlike sweetness ofcountenance, has a wonderful influence in cowing angry spirits. It maybe that strong, angry, blustering men are capable only of understandingeach other. When they meet with strong men with womanlike tendernessthey are puzzled, and puzzlement, we think, goes a long way to shake thenerves even of the brave. At all events it is well known that a suddenburst of wrath from one whose state of temper is usually serene, exertsa surprising
and powerful effect on average mankind.
Whatever be the truth as to these things, it is certain that nearlyevery one who looked up at the face of Bladud liked him, and more thanonce when his ponderous sword sprang from its sheath, and his blue eyesflashed, and his fair face flushed, and his magnificent teeth wenttogether with a snap, he has been known to cause a dozen men to turn andflee rather than encounter the shock of his onset.
Little Maikar, who was himself as brave as a lion, nearly lost his lifeon one occasion, because he was so taken up and charmed with the sightof one of Bladud's rushes, that he utterly forgot what he was about, andwould have been crushed by the smite of a savage club, if the captainhad not promptly turned aside the blow and struck the club-man down.
"At last!" exclaimed the prince, with a gaze of