The Shepherds

: WILD ENGLAND

For four days Felix remained on the island recovering his strength. By

degrees the memory of the scenes he had witnessed grew less vivid, and

his nerves regained their tone. The fifth morning he sailed again,

making due south with a gentle breeze from the west, which suited the

canoe very well. He considered that he was now at the eastern extremity

of the Lake, and that by sailing south he should presently reach the

pl ce where the shore turned to the east again. The sharp prow of the

canoe cut swiftly through the waves, a light spray flew occasionally in

his face, and the wind blew pleasantly. In the cloudless sky swallows

and swifts were wheeling, and on the water half a dozen mallards moved

aside to let him pass.



About two hours after he started he encountered a mist, which came

softly over the surface of the water with the wind, and in an instant

shut out all view. Even the sun was scarcely visible. It was very warm,

and left no moisture. In five minutes he passed through and emerged

again in the bright sunlight. These dry, warm mists are frequently seen

on the Lake in summer, and are believed to portend a continuance of fine

weather.



Felix kept a good distance from the mainland, which was hilly and

wooded, and with few islands. Presently he observed in the extreme

distance, on his right hand, a line of mountainous hills, which he

supposed to be the southern shore of the Lake, and that he was sailing

into a gulf or bay. He debated with himself whether he should alter his

course and work across to the mountains, or to continue to trace the

shore. Unless he did trace the shore, he could scarcely say that he had

circumnavigated the Lake, as he would leave this great bay unexplored.

He continued, therefore, to sail directly south.



The wind freshened towards noon, and the canoe flew at a great pace.

Twice he passed through similar mists. There were now no islands at all,

but a line of low chalk cliffs marked the shore. Considering that it

must be deep, and safe to do so, Felix bore in closer to look at the

land. Woods ran along the hills right to the verge of the cliff, but he

saw no signs of inhabitants, no smoke, boat, or house. The sound of the

surf beating on the beach was audible, though the waves were not large.

High over the cliff he noted a kite soaring, with forked tail, at a

great height.



Immediately afterwards he ran into another mist or vapour, thicker, if

anything, and which quite obscured his view. It seemed like a great

cloud on the surface of the water, and broader than those he had

previously entered. Suddenly the canoe stopped with a tremendous jerk,

which pitched him forward on his knees, the mast cracked, and there was

a noise of splitting wood. As soon as he could get up, Felix saw, to his

bitter sorrow, that the canoe had split longitudinally; the water came

up through the split, and the boat was held together only by the beams

of the outrigger. He had run aground on a large sharp flint embedded in

a chalk floor, which had split the poplar wood of the canoe like an axe.

The voyage was over, for the least strain would cause the canoe to part

in two, and if she were washed off the ground she would be water-logged.

In half a minute the mist passed, leaving him in the bright day,

shipwrecked.



Felix now saw that the waters were white with suspended chalk, and

sounding with the paddle, found that the depth was but a few inches. He

had driven at full speed on a reef. There was no danger, for the

distance to the shore was hardly two hundred yards, and judging by the

appearance of the water, it was shallow all the way. But his canoe, the

product of so much labour, and in which he had voyaged so far, his canoe

was destroyed. He could not repair her; he doubted whether it could have

been done successfully even at home with Oliver to help him. He could

sail no farther; there was nothing for it but to get ashore and travel

on foot. If the wind rose higher, the waves would soon break clean over

her, and she would go to pieces.



With a heavy heart, Felix took his paddle and stepped overboard. Feeling

with the paddle, he plumbed the depth in front of him, and, as he

expected, walked all the way to the shore, no deeper than his knees.

This was fortunate, as it enabled him to convey his things to land

without loss. He wrapped up the tools and manuscripts in one of his

hunter's hides. When the whole cargo was landed, he sat down sorrowfully

at the foot of the cliff, and looked out at the broken mast and sail,

still flapping uselessly in the breeze.



It was a long time before he recovered himself, and set to work



mechanically to bury the crossbow, hunter's hides, tools, and

manuscripts, under a heap of pebbles. As the cliff, though low, was

perpendicular, he could not scale it, else he would have preferred to

conceal them in the woods above. To pile pebbles over them was the best

he could do for the present; he intended to return for them when he

discovered a path up the cliff. He then started, taking only his bow and

arrows.



But no such path was to be found; he walked on and on till weary, and

still the cliff ran like a wall on his left hand. After an hour's rest,

he started again; and, as the sun was declining, came suddenly to a gap

in the cliff, where a grassy sward came down to the shore. It was now

too late, and he was too weary, to think of returning for his things

that evening. He made a scanty meal, and endeavoured to rest. But the

excitement of losing the canoe, the long march since, the lack of good

food, all tended to render him restless. Weary, he could not rest, nor

move farther. The time passed slowly, the sun sank, the wind ceased;

after an interminable time the stars appeared, and still he could not

sleep. He had chosen a spot under an oak on the green slope. The night

was warm, and even sultry, so that he did not miss his covering, but

there was no rest in him. Towards the dawn, which comes very early at

that season, he at last slept, with his back to the tree. He awoke with

a start in broad daylight, to see a man standing in front of him armed

with a long spear.



Felix sprang to his feet, instinctively feeling for his hunting-knife;

but he saw in an instant that no injury was meant, for the man was

leaning on the shaft of his weapon, and, of course, could, if so he had

wished, have run him through while sleeping. They looked at each other

for a moment. The stranger was clad in a tunic, and wore a hat of

plaited straw. He was very tall and strongly built; his single weapon, a

spear of twice his own length. His beard came down on his chest. He

spoke to Felix in a dialect the latter did not understand. Felix held

out his hand as a token of amity, which the other took. He spoke again.

Felix, on his part, tried to explain his shipwreck, when a word the

stranger uttered recalled to Felix's memory the peculiar dialect used by

the shepherd race on the hills in the neighbourhood of his home.



He spoke in this dialect, which the stranger in part at least

understood, and the sound of which at once rendered him more friendly.

By degrees they comprehended each other's meaning the easier, as the

shepherd had come the same way and had seen the wreck of the canoe.

Felix learned that the shepherd was a scout sent on ahead to see that

the road was clear of enemies. His tribe were on the march with their

flocks, and to avoid the steep woods and hills which there blocked their

course, they had followed the level and open beach at the foot of the

cliff, aware, of course, of the gap which Felix had found. While they

were talking, Felix saw the cloud of dust raised by the sheep as the

flocks wound round a jutting buttress of cliff.



His friend explained that they marched in the night and early morning to

avoid the heat of the day. Their proposed halting-place was close at

hand; he must go on and see that all was clear. Felix accompanied him,

and found within the wood at the summit a grassy coombe, where a spring

rose. The shepherd threw down his spear, and began to dam up the channel

of the spring with stones, flints, and sods of earth, in order to form a

pool at which the sheep might drink. Felix assisted him, and the water

speedily began to rise.



The flocks were not allowed to rush tumultuously to the water; they came

in about fifty at a time, each division with its shepherds and their

dogs, so that confusion was avoided and all had their share. There were

about twenty of these divisions, besides eighty cows and a few goats.

They had no horses; their baggage came on the backs of asses.



After the whole of the flocks and herds had been watered several fires

were lit by the women, who in stature and hardihood scarcely differed

from the men. Not till this work was over did the others gather about

Felix to hear his story. Finding that he was hungry they ran to the

baggage for food, and pressed on him a little dark bread, plentiful

cheese and butter, dried tongue, and horns of mead. He could not devour

a fiftieth part of what these hospitable people brought him. Having

nothing else to give them, he took from his pocket one of the gold coins

he had brought from the site of the ancient city, and offered it.



They laughed, and made him understand that it was of no value to them;

but they passed it from hand to hand, and he noticed that they began to

look at him curiously. From its blackened appearance they conjectured

whence he had obtained it; one, too, pointed to his shoes, which were

still blackened, and appeared to have been scorched. The whole camp now

pressed on him, their wonder and interest rising to a great height. With

some trouble Felix described his journey over the site of the ancient

city, interrupted with constant exclamations, questions, and excited

conversation. He told them everything, except about the diamond.



Their manner towards him perceptibly altered. From the first they had

been hospitable; they now became respectful, and even reverent. The

elders and their chief, not to be distinguished by dress or ornament

from the rest, treated him with ceremony and marked deference. The

children were brought to see and even to touch him. So great was their

amazement that any one should have escaped from these pestilential

vapours, that they attributed it to divine interposition, and looked

upon him with some of the awe of superstition. He was asked to stay with

them altogether, and to take command of the tribe.



The latter Felix declined; to stay with them for awhile, at least, he

was, of course, willing enough. He mentioned his hidden possessions, and

got up to return for them, but they would not permit him. Two men

started at once. He gave them the bearings of the spot, and they had not

the least doubt but that they should find it, especially as, the wind

being still, the canoe would not yet have broken up, and would guide

them. The tribe remained in the green coombe the whole day, resting from

their long journey. They wearied Felix with questions, still he answered

them as copiously as he could; he felt too grateful for their kindness

not to satisfy them. His bow was handled, his arrows carried about so

that the quiver for the time was empty, and the arrows scattered in

twenty hands. He astonished them by exhibiting his skill with the

weapon, striking a tree with an arrow at nearly three hundred yards.



Though familiar, of course, with the bow, they had never seen shooting

like that, nor, indeed, any archery except at short quarters. They had

no other arms themselves but spears and knives. Seeing one of the women

cutting the boughs from a fallen tree, dead and dry, and, therefore,

preferable for fuel, Felix naturally went to help her, and, taking the

axe, soon made a bundle, which he carried for her. It was his duty as a

noble to see than no woman, not a slave, laboured; he had been bred in

that idea, and would have felt disgraced had he permitted it. The women

looked on with astonishment, for in these rude tribes the labour of the

women was considered valuable and appraised like that of a horse.



Without any conscious design, Felix thus in one day conciliated and won

the regard of the two most powerful parties in the camp, the chief and

the women. By his refusing the command the chief was flattered, and his

possible hostility prevented. The act of cutting the wood and carrying

the bundle gave him the hearts of the women. They did not, indeed, think

their labour in any degree oppressive; still, to be relieved of it was

pleasing.



The two men who had gone for Felix's buried treasure did not return till

breakfast next morning. They stepped into the camp, each with his spear

reddened and dripping with fresh blood. Felix no sooner saw the blood

than he fainted. He quickly recovered, but he could not endure the sight

of the spears, which were removed and hidden from his view. He had seen

blood enough spilt at the siege of Iwis, but this came upon him in all

its horror unrelieved by the excitement of war.



The two shepherds had been dogged by gipsies, and had been obliged to

make a round to escape. They took their revenge by climbing into trees,

and as their pursuers passed under thrust them through with their long

spears. The shepherds, like all their related tribes, had been at feud

with the gipsies for many generations. The gipsies followed them to and

from their pastures, cut off stragglers, destroyed or stole their sheep

and cattle, and now and then overwhelmed a while tribe. Of late the

contest had become more sanguinary and almost ceaseless.



Mounted on swift, though small, horses, the gipsies had the advantage of

the shepherds. On the other hand, the shepherds, being men of great

stature and strength, could not be carried away by a rush if they had

time to form a circle, as was their custom of battle. They lost many men

by the javelins thrown by the gipsies, who rode up to the edge of the

circle, cast their darts, and retreated. If the shepherds left their

circle they were easily ridden over; while they maintained formation

they lost individuals, but saved the mass. Battles were of rare

occurrence; the gipsies watched for opportunities and executed raids,

the shepherds retaliated, and thus the endless war continued. The

shepherds invariably posted sentinels, and sent forward scouts to

ascertain if the way were clear. Accustomed to the horrid scenes of war

from childhood, they could not understand Felix's sensitiveness.



They laughed, and then petted him like a spoilt child. This galled him

exceedingly; he felt humiliated, and eager to reassert his manhood. He

was willing to stay with them there for awhile, nothing would have

induced him to leave them now till he had vindicated himself in their

sight. The incident happened soon after sunrise, which is very early at

the end of June. The camp had only waited for the return of these men,

and on their appearance began to move. The march that morning was not a

long one, as the sky was clear and the heat soon wearied the flocks.

Felix accompanied the scout in advance, armed with his bow, eager to

encounter the gipsies.