The Hot Swamp
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a small boy. He never saw it himself, though he had been to theTin Isles and Albion more than once; but he said he had met with men whohad spoken with shipmates who had heard of it from men who had seen itonly a few days before, and who described it exactly."
"Ah!" remarked another, "but I have met a man who had seen it himself onhis first voyage, when he was quite a youth; and he said it had a bull'shead and horns, with a dreadful long body all over scales, and somethinglike an ass's tail at the end."
"Pooh!--nonsense!" exclaimed little Maikar, twirling his thumbs, forsmoking had not been introduced into the world at that period--andthumb-twirling would seem to have served the ancient world for leisurelypastime quite as well, if not better--at least we are led to infer sofrom the fact that Herodotus makes no mention of anything like a vague,mysterious sensation of unsatisfied desire to fill the mouth with smokein those early ages, which he would certainly have done had the tastefor smoke been a natural craving, and thumb-twirling an unsatisfactoryoccupation. This absolute silence of the "Father of History," we think,almost proves our point. "Nonsense!" repeated little Maikar. "Theyouth of the man who told you about the serpent accounts for his wilddescription, for youth is prone to strange imaginings and--"
"It seems to me," interrupted a grave man, who twirled his thumbs inthat slow, deliberate way in which a contemplative man smokes--"it seemsto me that there's no more truth about the great sea-serpent than thereis about the golden fleece. I don't believe in either of them."
"Don't you? Well, all I can say is," returned the little man, gazingfixedly in the grave comrade's face, "that I saw the great sea-serpentwith my own eyes!"
"No! did you?" exclaimed the group, drawing their heads closer togetherwith looks of expectancy.
"Ay, that did I, mates; but you mustn't expect wild descriptions aboutmonsters with bulls' horns and asses' tails from me. I like truth, andthe truth is, that the brute was so far away at the time we saw it, thatnot a man of us could tell exactly what it was like, and when we triedthe description, we were all so different, that we gave it up; but wewere all agreed on this point, that it certainly _was_ the serpent."
The listeners seemed rather disappointed at this meagre account andsudden conclusion of what had bidden fair to become a stirring tale ofthe sea; but Maikar re-aroused their expectations by stating his firmbelief that it was all nonsense about there being only one sea-serpent.
"Why, how could there be only one?" he demanded, ceasing to twirl, inorder that he might clench his fist and smite his knee with emphasis."Haven't you got a grandfather?" he asked, turning suddenly to the graveman.
"Certainly, I've got two of them if you come to that," he answered,taken rather aback by the brusque and apparently irrelevant nature ofthe question.
"Just so--two of them," repeated the little man, "and don't you think itlikely that the sea serpent must have had two grandfathers also?"
"Undoubtedly--and two grandmothers as well. Perhaps he's got them yet,"replied the grave man with a contemplative look over the side, where therippling sea gleamed with phosphoric brilliancy.
"Exactly so," continued Maikar in an eager tone, "and of course thesealso must have had two grandfathers besides a mother each, and it ismore than likely that the great sea-serpent himself is the father of alarge family."
"Which implies a wife," suggested one of the seamen.
"Not necessarily," objected an elderly seaman, who had once been to thelands lying far to the north of Albion, and had acquired something ofthat tendency to object to everything at all times which is said tocharacterise the people of the far North. "Not necessarily," herepeated, "for the serpent may be a bachelor with no family at all."
There was a short laugh at this, and an illogical man of the group madesome irrelevant observation which led the conversation into a totallydifferent channel, and relegated the great sea-serpent, for the timebeing, to oblivion!
While the men were thus engaged philosophising in the bow, Bladud andthe captain were chatting in subdued voices in the stern.
"It is impossible," said the latter, in reply to a remark made by theformer, "it is impossible for me to visit your father's court this year,though it would please me much to do so, but my cargo is intended forthe south-western Cassiterides. To get round to the river on the banksof which your home stands would oblige me to run far towards the coldregions, into waters which I have not yet visited--though I know thempretty well by hearsay. On another voyage I may accomplish it, but noton this one."
"I am sorry for that, Arkal, because things that are put off to anothertime are often put off altogether. But the men of the Tin Isles oftenvisit my father's town in their boats with copper and tin, and there aretracks through the forest which horses can traverse. Could you notvisit us overland? It would not be a journey of many weeks, and yourtrusty mate might look after the ship in your absence. Besides, thediggers may not have enough of the metal ready to fill your ship, so youmay be idle a long time. What say you?"
Captain Arkal frowned, as was his wont when considering a knottyquestion, and shook his head.
"I doubt if I should be wise to venture so much," he said; "moreover, weare not yet at the end of our voyage. It is of little use troublingone's-self about the end of anything while we are only at thebeginning."
"Nevertheless," rejoined Bladud, "to consider the possible end while yetat the beginning, seems not unreasonable, though, undoubtedly, we maynever reach the end. Many a fair ship sets sail and never returns."
"Ay, that is true, as I know to my cost," returned the captain, "forthis is not my first venture. A long time ago I loaded a ship about thesize of this one, and sent her under command of one of my best friendsto the Euxine sea for gold. I now think that that old story about Jasonand his ship _Argo_ sailing in search of the golden fleece was runningtoo strong in my youthful brain. Besides that, of course I had heardthe report that there is much gold in that direction, and my hopes werestrong, for you know all the world runs after gold. Anyhow, my shipsailed and I never saw her or my friend again. Since then I havecontented myself with copper and tin."
A slight increase in the wind at that moment caused the captain todismiss his golden and other memories, and look inquiringly to windward.
"A squall, methinks?" said Bladud.
"No, only a puff," replied his friend, ordering the steersman to alterthe course a little.
The squall or puff was only strong enough to cause the _Penelope_ tomake a graceful bow to the controlling element and cleave the sparklingwater with her prow so swiftly that she left a gleaming wake as oflambent fire astern. It was short-lived, however, and was followed by acalm which obliged little Maikar and his comrades to cease theirstory-telling and ply their fifty oars. Thus the pace was kept going,though not quite so swiftly as if they were running before a stiffbreeze.
"The gods are propitious," said the captain; "we are going to have aprosperous voyage."
"How many gods are propitious?" asked Bladud.
"That is a question much too deep for me to answer."
"But not too deep to think of--is it?"
"Of what use would be my thinking?" returned the captain, lightly. "Ileave such matters to the learned."
"Now, mate," he added, turning to his subordinate, "I'm going to rest awhile. See that you keep an open eye for squalls and pirates. Both areapt to come down on you when you least expect them."
But neither squalls nor pirates were destined to interfere with the_Penelope_ during the greater part of that voyage. Day after day theskies were clear, the sea comparatively smooth, and the windsfavourable. Sometimes they put ashore, when the weather became stormyand circumstances were favourable. On such occasions they lightedcamp-fires under the trees, the ruddy light of which glowed with a grandeffect on the picturesque sailors as they sat, stood, or reclined aroundthem.
At other times they were obliged to keep more in the open sea, andoccasionally met with traders like themselves returning home, with whom,of course,
they were glad to fraternise for a time and exchange views.
Once only did they meet with anything like a piratical vessel, but asthat happened to be late in the evening, they managed, by plying theoars vigorously, and under the shade of night, to escape a secondencounter with those robbers of the sea.
Thus, in course of time, the length of the great inland sea wastraversed, the southern coast of what is now known as France wasreached, and the captain's prophecy with regard to a prosperous voyagewas thus far fulfilled.
CHAPTER FOUR.
THE STORM AND WRECK.
It was near daybreak on the morning of a