Part 1 (2/2)
Two boys reclined upon the mossy bank beneath an aged oak; their dress, no less than their general demeanour, denoted them to be the sons of some substantial thane. They were clad in hunting costume: leggings of skin over boots of untanned leather protected their limbs from thorn or brier, and over their under garments they wore tunics of a dull green hue, edged at the collar and cuffs with brown fur, and fastened by richly ornamented belts: their bows lay by their sides, while quivers of arrows were suspended to their girdles, and two spears, such as were used in the chase of the wild boar, lay by them on the gra.s.s. They had the same fair hair, which, untouched by the shears, hung negligently around neck and shoulder; the same blue eyes added an indescribable softness to the features; they had the same well-knit frames and agile movements, but yet there was a difference. The elder seemed possessed of greater vivacity of expression; but although each well-strung muscle indicated physical prowess, there was an uncertain expression in his glance and in the play of his features, which suggested a yielding and somewhat vacillating character; while the younger, lacking the full physical development, and somewhat of the engaging expression of his brother, had that calm and steady bearing which indicated present and future government of the pa.s.sions.
”By Thor and Woden, Alfred, we shall be here all night. At what hour did that stupid churl Oscar say that the deer trooped down to drink?”
”Not till sunset, Elfric; and it wants half an hour yet; see, the sun is still high.”
”I do think it is never going to set; here we have been hunting, hunting all the day, and got nothing for our pains.”
”You forget the hare and the rabbit here.”
”Toss them to the dogs. Here, Bran, you brute, take this hare your masters have been hunting all day, for your dinner;” and as he spoke he tossed the solitary victim of his own prowess in the chase to the huge wolfhound, which made a speedy meal upon the hare, while Alfred threw the rabbit to the other of their two canine companions.
”I would almost as soon have lost this holiday, and spent the time with Father Cuthbert, to be bored by his everlasting talk about our duties, and forced to repeat '_hic, haec, hoc_,' till my head ached. What a long homily [ii] he preached us this morning--and then that long story about the saint.”
”You are out of spirits. Father Cuthbert's tales are not so bad, after all you seemed to like the legend he told us the other night.”
”Yes, about our ancestor Sebbald and his glorious death; there was something in that tale worth hearing; it stirred the blood--none of your moping saints, that Sebbald.”
”I once heard another legend from Father Cuthbert, about the burning of Croyland Abbey, and how the abbot stood, saying ma.s.s at the altar, without flinching or even turning his head, when the Danes, having fired the place, broke into the chapel. Do you not think it wanted more bravery to do that in cold blood than to stand firm in all the excitement of a battle?”
”You are made to be a monk, Alfred, and I daresay, if you get the chance, will be a martyr, and get put in the calendar by-and-by. I suppose they will keep your relics here in the priory church, and you will be St. Alfred of Aescendune; for me, I would sooner die as the old sea kings loved to die, surrounded by heaps of slain, with my sword broken in my hand.”
It was at this moment that their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud cras.h.i.+ng of boughs in the adjacent underwood, a rush as of some wild beast, a loud cry in boyish tones--”Help! help! the wolf!
the wolf!”
Elfric jumped up in an instant, and rushed forward heedless of danger, followed closely by his younger brother, who was scarcely less eager to render immediate a.s.sistance.
The cries for help became more and more piercing, as if some pressing danger menaced the utterer. Elfric, who, in spite of his flippant speech, was by no means dest.i.tute of keen sympathies and self devotion, hurried forward, fearless of danger, bounding through thicket and underwood, until, arriving upon a small clearing, the whole scene flashed upon him.
A huge grey wolf, wounded and bleeding, was about to rush for the second time upon a youth in hunting costume, whose broken spear, broken in the first encounter with the beast he had disturbed, seemed to deprive him of all chance of success in the desperate encounter evidently impending.
His trembling limbs showed his extreme apprehension, and the sweat stood in huge drops on his forehead; his eyes were fixed upon the beast as if he were fascinated, while the shaft of his spear, presented feebly against the coming onslaught, showed that he had lost his self possession, for he neglected the bow and arrows which were slung at his side--if indeed there was time to use them.
The beast sprang, but as he did so another spear was stoutly presented to meet him, and he literally impaled himself in his eager spring on the weapon of Elfric.
Still, such was his weight that the boy fell backward beneath the mighty rush, and such the tenacity of life that, though desperately wounded, even to death, the beast sought the prostrate lad with teeth and claws, in frantic fury, until a blow from the hunting knife, which Elfric well knew how to use, laid the wolf lifeless at his side.
Breathless, but not severely injured, he rose from the ground covered with blood; his garments torn, his face reddened by exertion, and paused a moment, while he seemed to strive to repress the wild beatings of his heart, which bounded as if it would burst its prison.
But far more exhausted was the other combatant, yet scarcely so much by exertion as by fear, of which he still bore the evident traces. After a few moments he broke the silence, and his words seemed incoherent.
”Where is my horse? the beast threw me--I wish the wolves may get him --I fear you are hurt; not much, I hope; where can those serfs be? Fine va.s.sals, to desert their master in peril. I'll have them hung. But, by St. Cuthbert, you are all covered with blood.”
”'Tis that of the wolf, then, for I have scarcely a scratch: one of the beast's claws ripped up my sleeve, and the skin with it; that was all he could do before he felt the cold steel between his ribs.”
”Not a moment too soon, or he would have killed you before we could interfere; why, as you rolled together, I could hardly see which was boy and which was wolf. But where's my horse? Did you see a white horse rush past you?”
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