第 8 页

I hate foreigners, but their ways are in many respects better than

ours. The Normans, it is true, may not be much better than we are,

but then they are but Northmen a little civilized; but I have heard

the earl say that the French, and still more the Italians, are

vastly ahead of us in all arts, and bear themselves with a courtesy

and gentleness to each other that puts to shame our rough manners."

"We should be neither happier nor better that I can see, Wulf, did

we adopt the manners of these Italians you speak of instead of our

own."

"Perhaps not, Beorn, but we should be able to make the people happier

and better if we could raise them."

"I will not even grant that, Wulf. Think you that the smith and the

shepherd, the bowmaker and the weaver, would be any the happier

could they read or even write than they are as they sing Saxon songs

over their work? I should like to be able to read, because Harold

thinks much of it, but except for that I see not that it would do

me much good. If the king makes me any further grant of land it

will be doubtless properly made out, and I can get a clerk or a

monk to read it to me. My steward will keep the tallies of the

tenants' payments. I can learn the history of our forefathers as

well from the songs and tales of the gleemen as from books."

"You are as bad as my man Osgod," Wulf said indignantly.

"Well, you need not get hot about it, good Wulf," Beorn laughed.

"When you come to see me I will have gleemen to sing the deeds of

our fathers to you. When I come to you I will sit as mum as a mouse

while you read to me from some monk's missal. I will force you

neither to eat nor to drink more than it pleases you, and you shall

give me as much to eat and drink as it pleases me, then we shall

be both well satisfied. As for your man Osgod, I wish I had such

a fellow. He will be well-nigh a giant one of these days, and in

strength may come to rival the earl, who is said to be the strongest

man on English soil."

"He is a good fellow, Beorn, and I could wish for no better to hold

a shield over me in the day of battle or to stand back to back with

me in a hand-to-hand fight."

"You should get him to stand in front of you," Beorn laughed. "He

would be a rare screen against arrows and javelins."

The friends were well pleased when they heard they were both to

accompany Harold to Bosham, which was one of the favourite abodes

of the Earls of Wessex. It had originally been built as a hunting-seat,

but Godwin had grown to love the place, with its woods extending

for miles back and its quiet landlocked harbour, and additions had

been made until it had grown to be, in point of size at least, a

residence worthy of the great earls, and Harold preferred it to any

of the many mansions belonging to him. It was a large and gay party

that rode down the road through the quiet woods of Surrey and Sussex.

They put up each night at the houses of thanes, where, as notice

had been sent of their coming, they were royally entertained, and

those selected were proud to afford hospitality to the earl.

For a week they stayed at Bosham, hunting in the forests, going off

in parties under the guidance of the foresters, some who cared not

for hard labour, hunting in the woods between Bosham and the hills,

while others went far inland into the weald, which was for the most

part covered by a great forest, with but a few scattered hamlets

here and there. Smoke rising among the trees showed where the

charcoal-burners were at work, or where the furnaces were glowing,

converting the ore into the tough iron that furnished arms and

armour for the greater portion of the men of the south. At the end

of the week the earl announced to his guests that he had provided

a new diversion for them.

"You see those three ships in the harbour," he said. "They were

brought here last night, and three hundred men have been at work

all day preparing them for our reception. I propose that we all

embark with our dogs and servants, and sail along the coast, landing

where we please and taking our sport. As we sail eastward there

are abundant forests, and the game is far more plentiful than here,

and our trip will partake of the character of an adventure in thus

dropping upon unknown places. Tents have been stored on board the

vessels, with abundance of good cheer of all kinds, so that we can

establish ourselves where we will, and sleep on shore instead of

rocking uneasily on the waves."

The proposal was received with acclamation, and the following morning

the whole party embarked upon the three ships. The largest was

occupied by Harold himself, his brother and nephew, and six or seven

of his principal thanes. In this craft too went Wulf and Beorn with

their men. On issuing from the harbour the ships' heads were turned

to the east. The wind was light and fitful, the sails therefore

were not loosed, and they proceeded under oars. There was but little

tide until they reached the extremity of the long point of Selsea,

past which they were hurried at great speed by the rapid current.

Rowing closer inshore they got into quieter water, and continued

their way until tide turned, when they anchored, and landing with

their dogs hunted in the woods for some hours.

On their return to the sea-shore they found the tents erected and

supper prepared, and the sport having been good they remained another

day. The tide took them the next day past the shore of Wulf's estate,

and he begged the earl to land there and to pass a day or two with

his company at Steyning; but all were bent upon the chase, and they

kept on until they reached the point where the white cliffs began

to rise from the edge of the water. Here they landed again, and

spent two or three days in hunting. Neither Wulf nor Beorn had been

to sea before, and the quiet motion of the ships with their bellying

sails and banks of sturdy oarsmen delighted them. There had been

scarcely any motion, and neither had felt the qualms which they had

been warned were generally experienced for a while by those who

went upon the sea for the first time.

When the journey was resumed Wulf was struck with surprise and

almost awe by the mighty cliffs that rose up from the water's edge.

Neither he nor Beorn had seen anything like this, for although both

their estates bordered the sea, the shores were flat, and vessels,

if needs be, could be hauled up on shore.

"What would happen if a gale were to burst upon us here?" Wulf said

to his companion. "If the waves were to dash us against those white

rocks the ships would be broken up like egg-shells."

"Your question is answered," Beorn said, as a bay suddenly opened

to their sight. "You see we are going in here, and shall anchor

snugly somewhere up this river in front of us, which is truly the

best haven we have seen since we left Bosham." Half an hour later

the vessels were moored to the bank, close to a wooden bridge which

spanned the little river.

CHAPTER IV.

A STORM.

After hunting for two days in the forests lying behind Newhaven,

and in the valley in which Lewes lies, they again embarked. The

master of Harold's ship had expressed some doubts as to the weather,

but as he stated that it was but some eight miles round the great

cliff that they saw to the east, and that beyond this the rocks

ceased and there was a bay in which they could ride at anchor, or

if necessary beach their vessels, it was determined to proceed, as

Harold had the day before been visited by a thane whose house lay

but two miles from the shore, and had accepted his invitation for

the party to take up their abode there for a few days, as he promised

them good sport in the forest. The cliffs rose higher as they

proceeded. They kept closer inshore, and although they could see

that the clouds were flying rapidly overhead they felt no breeze

whatever, being protected from the wind by the lofty cliffs. The

master was evidently uneasy, for he urged the rowers to exert

themselves to the utmost. Wulf and Beorn stood looking with amazement

at the cliffs towering up beside them.

"Is it not strange that they should rise like this--like a wall

from the water?" Wulf said. "Had they been built up by human hands

they could scarcely have been more erect and regular. I have never

seen anything at all like it on land."

"Then it must be something formed by the sea, Wulf. Do you see those

caverns at the foot of the cliff, and in some places you see there

is a mound of rocks as if newly formed? It may be that this white

stone is soft, and that the sea beating against the foot wears it

away in time, and then the rock overhead gives way by its weight

and so leaves an upright wall. Perhaps, long back, these hills were

like other hills, sloping gradually down into the sea; but in time,

perhaps many, many years before the Romans landed here, the sea

began to eat them away, and has continued to do so ever since, until

they are as we see them."

"That may be so, Beorn. My father has told me that he could remember

when our estates stretched a good half-mile farther seaward, but

had since been eaten away by the waves, and he says that his father

had told him the same thing; therefore, as you say, in many hundreds

of years even hills, if the stone were soft, might also be worn

away. There we are rounding the point, and beyond there are no more

cliffs; doubtless it is in this bay that the Shipmaster Edred thinks

to anchor."

At that moment their conversation was cut short by a tremendous

gust of wind rushing down the sloping hill into the bay striking

them with such terrible force that the ship heeled over until the

water rushed above the bulwark. The men were thrown against each

other, and several fell down to leeward. The confusion was heightened

by the fact that the great sail, which was but loosely furled to

its yard, burst the ropes, and the wind catching it buried the craft

still further, and she would have filled and sunk had not the

ship-master seized the tiller, and aided by the two sailors there

pushed it up, and so the boat's head payed off from the wind and

ran before it.

The master shouted to the men to lower the sail, which was bellying

and flapping violently, but before his orders could be obeyed there

was a crash. The mast snapped off at the slings of the yard, and

the wreck fell over the bow of the boat. All hands were employed

for some minutes in getting the sail on board and furling it to its

yard, which was laid lengthways along the thwarts. It was found

that three men standing in the bows had been killed, and several

others badly hurt. The vessel was by this time some distance from

shore. Nothing could be done until she was freed of the water, with

which she was nigh half-full, and all hands were employed in bailing

it out.

The squall had increased rather than lessened in fury, and by the

time the water was cleared out they were two miles from the headland.

Orders were then given to man the oars again but it was found that

several of these had been lost, having been washed away when the

men leapt up, believing that the boat would capsize, or had slipped

from the rowlocks unnoticed while they were engaged in getting in

the sail. This was a serious misfortune, for every oar was needed

to force her through the water in the teeth of the wind, which was

blowing directly off shore. The remaining oars were all double-banked,

Harold himself and his thanes taking their places among the rowers.

For an hour they laboured their hardest, but at the end of that

time they were farther from shore than when they began, the force

of the wind acting on the poop and broad hull driving her seaward

faster than the rowers could force her shoreward. The sea, too,

was now getting up, and the motion of the vessel rendered it

increasingly difficult to row. Edred left his place at the tiller

and went forward to Harold.

"My lord," he said, "it is useless. In spite of your efforts we are

drifting farther and farther out, and from the look of the sky I

fear that we are going to have a great gale, and there is nothing

to do but to set a little sail and to run before it. Maybe there

will presently be a shift of wind, which may enable us to make for

shore. At present you are but exhausting yourselves in vain, and

the sea will soon get up so much that it will be impossible to use

the oars."

"So be it," Harold replied; and at the master's orders the oars

were laid in, and the men prepared to get sail upon her. A sailor

climbed up the mast and fastened the stays close to the point which

was broken off. Then another joined him, and a block was lashed to

the mast just below the stays, and the halliards were rove through

it; then Edred brought out a small sail, and this was hoisted, and

the vessel, which had before been rolling heavily, began to glide

swiftly through the water. They had had the satisfaction of seeing

that their consorts, although like themselves nearly capsized by

the squall, had suffered no damage, but after lowering their sails

and yards to the deck, had succeeded in rowing into the bay, their

lighter hull and draught enabling the oars to drive them through

the water in the teeth of the wind.

"She is going along finely now," Wulf said.

"Yes," Beorn agreed; "but before night there is like to be a sea

that will try her."

Harold held a consultation with the master, and presently all the

men were called to work. The great sail was unrolled from its yard

and a portion cut off, somewhat wider than the beam of the boat,

and in length reaching from the bow to the mast. Nails and hammers

were brought up from the little cabin, and the canvas was stretched

from bulwark to bulwark and strongly nailed to the wood on either

side, oars being first lashed across at short intervals to support

it.

"I suppose that is for us to lie under, Master Wulf?" Osgod said.