For Aurora

: WILD ENGLAND

Felix now began to find out for himself the ancient truth, that

difficulties always confront man. Success only changes them, and

increases their number. Difficulties faced him in every direction; at

home it had seemed impossible for him to do anything. Now that success

seemed to smile on him and he had become a power, instead of everything

being smooth and easy, new difficulties sprang up for solution at every

point. H wished to continue his journey, but he feared that he would

not be permitted to depart. He would have to start away in the night, in

which case he could hardly return to them again, and yet he wished to

return to these, the first friends he had had, and amongst whom he hoped

to found a city.



Another week slipped away, and Felix was meditating his escape, when one

afternoon a deputation of ten spearmen arrived from a distant tribe, who

had nominated him their king, and sent their principal men to convey the

intelligence. Fame is always greatest at a distance, and this tribe in

the mountains of the east had actually chosen him as king, and declared

that they would obey him whether he took up his residence with them or

not. Felix was naturally greatly pleased; how delighted Aurora would be!

but he was in perplexity what to do, for he could not tell whether the

Wolfstead people would be favourably inclined or would resent his

selection.



He had not long to consider. There was an assembly of the tribe, and

they, too, chose him by common consent as their king. Secretly they were

annoyed that another tribe had been more forward than themselves, and

were anxious that Felix should not leave them. Felix declined the

honour; in spite of his refusal, he was treated as if he were the most

despotic monarch. Four days afterwards two other tribes joined the

movement, and sent their acceptance of him as their monarch. Others

followed, and so quickly now that a day never passed without another

tribe sending a deputation.



Felix thought deeply on the matter. He was, of course, flattered, and

ready to accept the dignity, but he was alive to considerations of

policy. He resolved that he would not use the title, nor exercise the

functions of a king as usually understood. He explained his plan to the

chiefs; it was that he should be called simply "Leader", the Leader of

the War; that he should only assume royal authority in time of war; that

the present chiefs should retain their authority, and each govern as

before, in accordance with ancient custom. He proposed to be king only

during war-time. He would, if they liked, write out their laws for them

in a book, and so give their customs cohesion and shape. To this plan

the tribes readily agreed; it retained all the former customs, it left

the chiefs their simple patriarchal authority, and it gave all of them

the advantage of combination in war. As the Leader, Felix was henceforth

known.



In the course of a fortnight, upwards of six thousand men had joined the

Confederacy, and Felix wrote down the names of twenty tribes on a sheet

of parchment which he took from his chest. A hut had long since been

built for him; but he received all the deputations, and held the

assemblies which were necessary, in the circular fort. He was so pressed

to visit the tribes that he could not refuse to go to the nearest, and

thus his journey was again postponed. During this progress from tribal

camp to tribal camp, Felix gained the adhesion of twelve more, making a

total of thirty-two names of camps, representing about eight thousand

spearmen. With pride Felix reflected that he commanded a far larger army

than the Prince of Ponze. But he was not happy.



Months had now elapsed since he had parted from Aurora. There were no

means of communicating with her. A letter could be conveyed only by a

special messenger; he could not get a messenger, and even if one had

been forthcoming, he could not instruct him how to reach Thyma Castle.

He did not know himself; the country was entirely unexplored. Except

that the direction was west, he had no knowledge whatever. He had often

inquired of the shepherds, but they were perfectly ignorant. Anker's

Gate was the most westerly of all their settlements, which chiefly

extended eastwards. Beyond Anker's Gate was the trackless forest, of

which none but the Bushmen knew anything. They did not understand what

he meant by a map; all they could tell him was that the range of

mountainous hills continued westerly and southerly for an unascertained

distance, and that the country was uninhabited except by wandering gipsy

tribes.



South was the sea, the salt water; but they never went down to it, or

near it, because there was no sustenance for their flocks and herds.

Till now, Felix did not know that he was near the sea; he resolved at

once to visit it. As nearly as he could discover, the great fresh water

Lake did not reach any farther south; Wolfstead was not far from its

southern margin. He concluded, therefore, that the shore of the Lake

must run continually westward, and that if he followed it he should

ultimately reach the very creek from which he had started in his canoe.

How far it was he could not reckon.



There were none of the shepherds who could be sent with a letter; they

were not hunters, and were unused to woodcraft; there was not one

capable of the journey. Unless he went himself he could not communicate

with Aurora. Two routes were open to him; one straight through the

forest on foot, the other by water, which latter entailed the

construction of another canoe. Journey by water, too, he had found was

subject to unforeseen risks. Till he could train some of the younger men

to row a galley, he decided not to attempt the voyage. There was but the

forest route left, and that he resolved to attempt; but when? And how,

without offending his friends?



Meantime, while he revolved the subject in his mind, he visited the

river and the shore of the great Lake, this time accompanied by ten

spears. The second visit only increased his admiration of the place and

his desire to take possession of it. He ascended a tall larch, from

whose boughs he had a view out over the Lake; the shore seemed to go

almost directly west. There were no islands, and no land in sight; the

water was open and clear. Next day he started for the sea; he wished to

see it for its own sake, and, secondly, because if he could trace the

trend of the shore, he would perhaps be able to put together a mental

map of the country, and so assure himself of the right route to pursue

when he started for Thyma Castle.



His guides took him directly south, and in three marches (three days)

brought him to the strand. This journey was not in a straight line; they

considered it was about five-and-thirty or forty miles to the sea, but

the country was covered with almost impenetrable forests, which

compelled a circuitous path. They had also to avoid a great ridge of

hills, and to slip through a pass or river valley, because these hills

were frequently traversed by the gipsies who were said, indeed, to

travel along them for hundreds of miles. Through the river valley,

therefore, which wound between the hills, they approached the sea, so

much on a level with it that Felix did not catch a distant glimpse.



In the afternoon of the third day they heard a low murmur, and soon

afterwards came out from the forest itself upon a wide bed of shingle,

thinly bordered with scattered bushes on the inland side. Climbing over

this, Felix saw the green line of the sea rise and extend itself on

either hand; in the glory of the scene he forgot his anxieties and his

hopes, they fell from him together, leaving the mind alone with itself

and love. For the memory of Aurora rendered the beauty before him still

more beautiful; love, like the sunshine, threw a glamour over the waves.

His old and highest thoughts returned to him in all their strength. He

must follow them, he could not help himself. Standing where the foam

came nearly to his feet, the resolution to pursue his aspirations took

possession of him as strong as the sea. When he turned from it, he said

to himself, "This is the first step homewards to her; this is the first

step of my renewed labour." To fulfil his love and his ambition was one

and the same thing. He must see her, and then again endeavour with all

his abilities to make himself a position which she could share.



Towards the evening, leaving his escort, he partly ascended the nearest

slope of the hills to ascertain more perfectly than was possible at a

lower level the direction in which the shore trended. It was nearly east

and west, and as the shore of the inland lake ran west, it appeared that

between them there was a broad belt of forest. Through this he must

pass, and he thought if he continued due west he should cross an

imaginary line drawn south from his own home through Thyma Castle; then

by turning to the north he should presently reach that settlement. But

when he should cross this line, how many days' travelling it would need

to reach it, was a matter of conjecture, and he must be guided by

circumstances, the appearance of the country, and his hunter's instinct.



On the way back to Wolfstead Felix was occupied in considering how he

could leave his friends, and yet be able to return to them and resume

his position. His general idea was to build a fortified house or castle

at the spot which had so pleased him, and to bring Aurora to it. He

could then devote himself to increasing and consolidating his rule over

these people, and perhaps in time organize a kingdom. But without Aurora

the time it would require would be unendurable; by some means he must

bring her. The whole day long as he walked he thought and thought,

trying to discover some means by which he could accomplish these things;

yet the more he considered the more difficult they appeared to him.

There seemed no plan that promised success; all he could do would be to

risk the attempt.



But two days after returning from the sea it chanced towards the

afternoon he fell asleep, and on awakening found his mind full of ideas

which he felt sure would succeed if anything would. The question had

solved itself during sleep; the mind, like a wearied limb, strained by

too much effort, had recovered its elasticity and freshness, and he saw

clearly what he ought to do.



He convened an assembly of the chief men of the nearest tribes, and

addressed them in the circular fort. He asked them if they could place

sufficient confidence in him to assist him in carrying out certain

plans, although he should not be able to altogether disclose the object

he had in view.



They replied as one man that they had perfect confidence in him, and

would implicitly obey.



He then said that the first thing he wished was the clearing of the land

by the river in order that he might erect a fortified dwelling suitable

to his position as their Leader in war. Next he desired their permission

to leave them for two months, at the end of which he would return. He

could not at that time explain the reasons, but until his journey had

been made he could not finally settle among them.



To this announcement they listened in profound silence. It was evident

that they disliked him leaving them, yet did not wish to seem

distrustful by expressing the feeling.



Thirdly, he continued, he wanted them to clear a path through the

forest, commencing at Anker's Gate and proceeding exactly west. The

track to be thirty yards wide in order that the undergrowth might not

encroach upon it, and to be carried on straight to the westward until

his return. The distance to which this path was cleared he should take

as the measure of their loyalty to him.



They immediately promised to fulfil this desire, but added that there

was no necessity to wait till he left them, it should be commenced the

very next morning. To his reiterated request for leave of absence they

preserved an ominous silence, and as he had no more to say, the assembly

then broke up.



It was afternoon, and Felix, as he watched the departing chiefs,

reflected that these men would certainly set a watch upon him to prevent

his escape. Without another moment's delay he entered his hut, and took

from their hiding-place the diamond bracelet, the turquoise ring, and

other presents for Aurora. He also secured some provisions, and put two

spare bowstrings in his pocket. His bow of course he carried.



Telling the people about that he was going to the next settlement,

Bedeston, and was anxious to overtake the chief from that place who had

attended the assembly, he started. So soon as he knew he could not be

seen from the settlement he quitted the trail, and made a wide circuit

till he faced westwards. Anker's Gate was a small outlying post, the

most westerly from Wolfstead; he went near it to get a true direction,

but not sufficiently near to be observed. This was on the fourth of

September. The sun was declining as he finally left the country of his

friends, and entered the immense forest which lay between him and

Aurora. Not only was there no track, but no one had ever traversed it,

unless, indeed, it were Bushmen, who to all intents might be confused

with the wild animals which it contained.



Yet his heart rose as he walked rapidly among the oaks; already he saw

her, he felt the welcoming touch of her hand; the danger of Bushman or

gipsy was nothing. The forest at the commencement consisted chiefly of

oaks, trees which do not grow close together, and so permitted of quick

walking. Felix pushed on, absorbed in thought. The sun sank; still

onward; and as the dusk fell he was still moving rapidly westwards.