Part 5 (2/2)
”She is going along finely now,” Wulf said.
”Yes,” Beorn agreed; ”but before night there is like to be a sea that will try her.”
Harold held a consultation with the master, and presently all the men were called to work. The great sail was unrolled from its yard and a portion cut off, somewhat wider than the beam of the boat, and in length reaching from the bow to the mast. Nails and hammers were brought up from the little cabin, and the canvas was stretched from bulwark to bulwark and strongly nailed to the wood on either side, oars being first lashed across at short intervals to support it.
”I suppose that is for us to lie under, Master Wulf?” OsG.o.d said.
”It is a pity it was not erected before, for there is not a man on board who is not drenched to the skin.”
”It is not put there to keep you dry, OsG.o.d, but to keep the waves from coming into the s.h.i.+p. But she goes over them well. The wind is getting up, OsG.o.d, and we shall have a great sea presently.”
”Then why don't we turn and sail back again? It seems to me to be folly to be running away from the land if such is going to be the weather.”
”How can we sail back again? Do you not see that it is the wind that is blowing us off, and the vessel must go as the wind takes her. One can go a little this way or that, but no man ever yet sailed in the teeth of the wind.”
”This is the first time I have ever been to sea,” OsG.o.d said, ”and I trust it will be the last. The tossing of the s.h.i.+p makes me strangely giddy, and many of the servants are downright ill with it. Why men should go on the water when they can walk upon the land is more than I can say. I think I will go and lie down under the shelter of the sail, for indeed I feel as if I were about to die.”
Wulf himself was feeling strangely uncomfortable. As long as they had been at work he had not felt unwell, for the necessity of holding on to the bulwarks or ropes, and the excitement of their strange position, had saved him from experiencing many qualms; but both he and Beorn were soon glad to follow OsG.o.d's example, and to lie down on the boards under the rowers' benches. Fiercer and fiercer blew the wind, more and more violent became the motion of the s.h.i.+p; ma.s.ses of water fell on the canvas forward, as she plunged into the waves, and would have soon beaten it in had it not been for the support of the oars. By evening most of the men were lying under the shelter, while Harold's brother and friends had retired to the little cabin in the stern. The earl himself remained by the side of the s.h.i.+p-master, who had taken his place close to the tiller, which was worked by four men.
”Think you that she will weather it, Edred?”
”I have little fear about that, my lord. She is a staunch boat, and I have been aboard her in seas as heavy as this. Besides, that thought of yours of stretching the canvas across her bow has greatly improved her chances. The water runs off as fast as it falls on it, and none comes on board. Had it not been for this every man would have had to bail all night. No, I have no fear of her weathering the gale. What I am afraid of is, that if this wind continues to blow we shall a.s.suredly be lost on the coast of Normandy.”
”That would be an ill fortune, indeed, for I know that the Normans count all that are cast on their sh.o.r.es as lawful prey; and even if we reach the land in safety and escape murder at the hands of the lord of the soil and his people, I may fall into the hands of Duke William, who is a.s.suredly no friend of mine, seeing that I stand in the way of his designs upon the throne of England. Truly it was an evil moment when the thought of taking to the sea occurred to me, and I would give a broad slice of my earldom to be back at Bosham.”
Hour by hour the waves increased in size and violence, and often poured in over the sides. The number of men on board was too great for all to work effectively. They therefore were divided into two parties, one being engaged in bailing while the other lay under cover, the change being made every hour. Wulf preferred working to lying still, for as the craft rolled the water washed over them, while the din of the waves striking the s.h.i.+p's side, and the cataracts of spray falling on to the canvas above were deafening, and it was impossible to get a moment's sleep. All were glad when morning broke, although the scene that met their eyes was the reverse of comforting. Small as was the amount of sail the vessel tore through the water under the pressure of the following wind. Great waves with white crests pursued her, and as they neared her stern it seemed to Wulf that they must inevitably fall over and crush her.
The spray torn from the crest by the wind filled the air. The wind shrieked in the cordage, and the vessel creaked and groaned as she rolled from side to side.
”I would not have believed if I had not seen it, that the sea could be so violent and ill-behaved,” Wulf shouted to OsG.o.d, who was then standing beside him.
”If my clothes were but dry and my stomach full I would not mind so much,” OsG.o.d replied; ”but to be drenched in water all night and to have nought to eat in the morning, takes the courage out of one mightily. How long, think you, will this go on?”
”That no one can say. It may last two or three days.”
”And no food all that time!” OsG.o.d exclaimed in dismay.
”We could stand that well enough, OsG.o.d; but I do not think there is much chance of our being called upon to do so, for I heard one of the sailors say that unless the storm abates marvellously we are likely to be cast upon the French coast before nightfall.”
”I should be glad to be cast anywhere so it were out of this. At least, whether it be France or England, there must be food to be had on sh.o.r.e.”
”You do not understand, OsG.o.d. Unless we happen to be cast upon a shelving coast with sand or gravel the craft may be dashed to pieces, and all lose their lives; for a.s.suredly none could swim long in such a sea as this.”
”Well, we must hope that we shall find a sh.o.r.e such as you speak of,” OsG.o.d said tranquilly; ”but for my part, I am content to take the risk rather than wait another three days before getting anything to eat.”
”And I would rather fast for a week than run the risk of the s.h.i.+p being broken up on the rocks,” Wulf replied. ”I can swim but little even in calm water, and I am sure that I could do nothing among those waves.”
”I can swim, and will look after you,” OsG.o.d said confidently. ”I used to swim every day in the Thames.”
<script>