After London; Or, Wild England

by Richard Jefferies

  CHAPTER XV

  SAILING ONWARDS

  When Felix awoke, he knew at once by the height of the sun that themorning was far advanced. Throwing off his cloak, he stood up, butimmediately crouched down again, for a vessel was passing but a shortdistance from the shore, and nearly opposite his encampment. She had twomasts, and from the flags flying, the numerous bannerets, and themovements of so many men on board, he knew her to be a ship of war. Hewas anxious that he should not be seen, and regretted that his canoe wasso much exposed, for the bush by which he had landed hid it only fromone side. As the shore was so bare and open, if they looked that way themen on board would hardly fail to see it, and might even distinguishhim. But whether they were too much engaged with their own affairs, orkept a careless look-out, no notice appeared to be taken, no boat waslowered.

  He watched the war-ship for nearly an hour before he ventured to move.Her course was to the eastward, inside the fringe of islands. That shewas neither Irish nor Welsh he was certain from her build and from herflags; they were too distant for the exact designs upon them to be seen,but near enough for him to know that they were not those displayed bythe foreigners. She sailed fast, having the wind nearly aft, whichsuited her two square sails.

  The wind had risen high during the night, and now blew almost a gale, sothat he saw he must abandon for the present his project of sailing outupon the open water. The waves there would be too high for his canoe,which floated low in the water, and had but about six inches freeboard.They would wash over and possibly swamp her. Only two courses were opento him: either to sail inside the islands under shelter of the land, orto remain where he was till the breeze moderated. If he sailed insidethe islands, following the northward course of the merchant vessel hehad observed the previous evening, that would carry him past Eaststock,the eastern port of Sypolis, which city, itself inland, had twoharbours, with the western of which (Weststock) it had communication bywater.

  Should he continue to sail on, he would soon reach that part of thenorthern continent which was occupied by the Irish outposts. On theother hand, to follow the war-ship, east by south, would, he knew, bringhim by the great city of Aisi, famous for its commerce, its riches, andthe warlike disposition of its king, Isembard. He was the acknowledgedhead of the forces of the League; but yet, with the inconsistency of theage, sometimes attacked other members of it. His furious energy wasalways disturbing the world, and Felix had no doubt he was now at warwith some one or other, and that the war-ship he had seen was on its wayto assist him or his enemies. One of the possibilities which hadimpelled him to this voyage was that of taking service with some king orcommander, and so perhaps gradually rising himself to command.

  Such adventures were very common, knights often setting forth upon suchexpeditions when dissatisfied with their own rulers, and they wereusually much welcomed as an addition to the strength of the camp theysought. But there was this difference: that such knights carried withthem some substantial recommendation, either numerous retainers wellarmed and accustomed to battle, considerable treasure, or at least areputation for prowess in the field. Felix had nothing to offer, and fornothing nothing is given.

  The world does not recognise intrinsic worth, or potential genius.Genius must accomplish some solid result before it is applauded andreceived. The unknown architect may say: "I have a design in my mind foran impregnable castle." But the world cannot see or appreciate the meredesign. If by any personal sacrifice of time, dignity, or self-respectthe architect, after long years, can persuade someone to permit him tobuild the castle, to put his design into solid stone which squadrons mayknock their heads against in vain, then he is acknowledged. There isthen a tangible result.

  Felix was in the position of the architect. He believed he had ideas,but he had nothing substantial, no result, to point to. He had thereforebut little hope of success, and his natural hauteur and pride revoltedagainst making application for enrolment which must be accompanied withmuch personal humiliation, since at best he could but begin in thecommon ranks. The very idea of asking was repugnant to him. The thoughtof Aurora, however, drew him on.

  The pride was false, he said to himself, and arose from too high anestimate of his abilities; or it was the consequence of living so longentirely secluded from the world. He acknowledged to himself that he hadnot been beaten down to his level. Full of devotion to Aurora, heresolved to humble himself, to seek the humblest service in KingIsembard's camp, to bow his spirit to the orders of men above him inrank but below him in birth and ability, to submit to the numberlessindignities of a common soldier's life.

  He proceeded to launch the canoe, and had already placed the chest onboard when it occurred to him that the difficulties he had encounteredthe previous evening, when his canoe was so nearly lost, arose from hisignorance of the channels. It would be advisable to ascend the hill, andcarefully survey the coast as far as possible before setting forth. Hedid so. The war-ship was still visible from the summit, but while helooked she was hidden by the intervening islands. The white foam andangry appearance of the distant open water direct to the eastward,showed how wise he had been not to attempt its exploration. Under theland the wind was steady; yonder, where the gale struck the surface withall its force, the waves were large and powerful.

  From this spot he could see nearly the whole length of the strait, and,gazing up it in the direction he had come, he saw some boats crossing inthe distance. As they moved so slowly, and appeared so broad, heconjectured that they were flat-bottomed punts, and, straining his eyes,he fancied he detected horses on board. He watched four cross, andpresently the first punt returned, as if for another freight. He nownoticed that there was a land route by which travellers or waggons camedown from the northward, and crossed the strait by a ferry. It appearedthat the ferry was not in the narrowest part of the strait, but nearerits western mouth, where the shores were flat, and covered with reedsand flags. He wondered that he had not seen anything of thelanding-places, or of the ferry-boats, or some sign of this traffic whenhe passed, but concluded that the track was hidden among the densegrowth of reed and flag, and that the punts, not being in use that day,had been drawn up, and perhaps covered with green boughs to shelter themfrom the heat of the summer sun.

  The fact of this route existing, however, gave additional importance tothe establishment of a fort on the shore of the strait, as he had solong contemplated. By now, the first punt had obtained another load, andwas re-crossing the channel. It was evident that a caravan of travellersor merchants had arrived, such persons usually travelling in largebodies for safety, so that the routes were often deserted for weekstogether, and then suddenly covered with people. Routes, indeed, theywere, and not roads; mere tracks worn through the forest and over thehills, often impassable from floods.

  Still further satisfied that his original idea of a castle here wasfounded on a correct estimate of the value of the spot, Felix resolvedto keep the conception to himself, and not again to hazard it to others,who might despise him, but adopt his design. With one long last glanceat the narrow streak of water which formed the central part, as it were,of his many plans, he descended the hill, and pushed off in the canoe.

  His course this time gave him much less trouble than the day before,when he had frequently to change his tack. The steady, strong breezecame off the land, to which he was too close for any waves to arise, andhour after hour passed without any necessity to shift the sail, furtherthan to ease or tighten the sheets as the course of the land varied. Bydegrees the wind came more and more across his course, at right anglesto it, and then began to fall aft as he described an arc, and the landprojected northwards.

  He saw several small villages on the shore, and passed one narrow bay,which seemed, indeed, to penetrate into the land deeper than he couldactually see. Suddenly, after four or five hours, sailing, he saw thetower of a church over the wooded hills. This he knew must indicate theposition of Aisi. The question now came, whether he should sail into theharbour, when he would, of course, at onc
e be seen, and have to undergothe examination of the officers; or should he land, and go on foot tothe city? A minute's reflection assured him the latter was the betterplan, for his canoe was of so unusual a construction, that it would bemore than carefully examined, and not unlikely his little treasureswould be discovered and appropriated. Without hesitation, therefore, andcongratulating himself that there were no vessels in sight, he ran thecanoe on shore among the flags and reeds which bordered it.

  He drew her up as far as his strength permitted, and not only took downthe sail, but unshipped the mast; then cutting a quantity of dead reeds,he scattered them over her, so that, unless a boat passed very close tothe land, she would not be seen. While he had a meal he considered howhe had better proceed. The only arms with which he excelled were the bowand arrow; clearly, therefore, if he wished an engagement, he shouldtake these with him, and exhibit his skill. But well he knew the utterabsence of law and justice except for the powerful. His bow, which he sogreatly valued, and which was so well seasoned, and could be reliedupon, might be taken from him.

  His arrows, so carefully prepared from chosen wood, and pointed withsteel, might be seized. Both bow and arrows were far superior to thoseused by the hunters and soldiery, and he dreaded losing them. There washis crossbow, but it was weak, and intended for killing only small game,as birds, and at short range. He could make no display with that. Swordhe had none for defence; there remained only his boar spear, and withthis he resolved to be content, trusting to obtain the loan of a bowwhen the time came to display his skill, and that fortune would enablehim to triumph with an inferior weapon.

  After resting awhile and stretching his limbs, cramped in the canoe, heset out (carrying his boar-spear only) along the shore, for the thickgrowth of the firs would not let him penetrate in the direction he hadseen the tower. He had to force his way through the reeds and flags andbrushwood, which flourished between the firs and the water's edge. Itwas hard work walking, or rather pushing through these obstacles, and herejoiced when he emerged upon the slope of a down where there was anopen sward, and but a few scattered groups of firs. The fact of it beingopen, and the shortness of the sward, showed at once that it was usedfor grazing purposes for cattle and sheep. Here he could walk freely,and soon reached the top. Thence the city was visible almost underneathhim.

  It stood at the base of a low narrow promontory, which ran a long wayinto the Lake. The narrow bank, near where it joined the mainland, waspenetrated by a channel or creek, about a hundred yards wide, or less,which channel appeared to enter the land and was lost from sight ofamong the trees. Beyond this channel a river ran into the lake, and inthe Y, between the creek and the river, the city had been built.

  It was surrounded with a brick wall, and there were two large roundbrick towers on the land side, which indicated the position of thecastle and palace. The space enclosed by the walls was not more thanhalf a mile square, and the houses did not occupy nearly all of it.There were open places, gardens, and even small paddocks among them.None of the houses were more than two storeys high, but what at oncestruck a stranger was the fact that they were all roofed with red tiles,most of the houses of that day being thatched or covered with shinglesof wood. As Felix afterwards learnt, this had been effected during thereign of the present king, whose object was to protect his city frombeing set on fire by burning arrows. The encircling wall had become adull red hue from the long exposure to the weather, but the roofs were abrighter red. There was no ensign flying on either of the towers, fromwhich he concluded that the king at that moment was absent.