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 ;li-f.M.Ki
 
 BEVIS.
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY GILBERT AND EIVINGTON, LIMITED, 
 ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
 
 BEYIS 
 
 THE STORY OF A BOY 
 
 BY 
 
 RICHARD JEFFERIES, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "the GAMEKEEPER AT HOME," "WILD LIFE IN A 
 
 SOUTHERN COUNTY," " THE AMATEUR POACHER," " GREENE 
 
 FERNE FARM," " HODGE AND HIS MASTERS," " ROUND 
 
 ABOUT A GREAT ESTATE," " WOOD MAGIC." 
 
 ' But natures of the noblest frame 
 
 These toyles and dangers please ; 
 And they take comfort in the same. 
 As much as you in ease." 
 
 Ulygseg and the Syren. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 HonKon : 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, 
 
 CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 
 
 1882. 
 \_All rights reserved.']
 
 ^^3 
 
 V. 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 4 
 
 finiScribeU 
 
 TO 
 
 JESSIE, HAKOLD, AND PHYLLIS.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Bevis at Work 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 • • • • 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 PAGE 
 1 
 
 The Launch 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 . 15 
 
 The Mississippi 
 
 
 . 28 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DiSCOVEET OF THE NeW SeA .... 48 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 By the New Nile GQ 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Central Afeica 84 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Jungle . . . . . . . 103
 
 viii Contents. 
 
 The Witch 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 7A.GE 
 
 . 120 
 
 Swimming . 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 . 138 
 
 Savages 
 
 
 . 158 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Savages continijed — The Catamaean . 176 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Savages continued — Making the Sails . 196 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Savages continued — The Mast fitted . . 215 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Council of War 229 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The War begins 248 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 The Battle of Phaesalia .... 269
 
 B E V I S. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BEVIS AT WORK. 
 
 One morning a large wooden case was brought to 
 the farmhouse, and Bevis, impatient to see what was 
 in it, ran for the hard chisel and the hammer, and 
 would not consent to put off the work of undoing 
 it for a moment. It must be done directly. The 
 case was very broad and nearly square, but only 
 a few inches deep, and was formed of thin boards. 
 They placed it for him upon the floor, and, kneel- 
 ing down, he tapped the chisel, driving the edge in 
 under the lid, and so starting the nails. Twice he 
 hit his fingers in his haste, once so hard that he 
 dropped the hammer, but he picked it up again 
 and went on as before, till he had loosened the lid 
 all round. 
 
 /j VOL. I. B 
 
 7
 
 2 Bevis. 
 
 After labouring like this, and bruising his finger, 
 Bevis was disappointed to find that the case only 
 contained a pictui-e which might look very well, but 
 was of no use to him. It was a fine engraving of 
 ^^ An English Merry-making in the Olden Time/' and 
 was soon hoisted up and slung to the wall. Bevis 
 claimed the case as his perquisite, and began to 
 meditate what he could do with it. It was 
 dragged from the house into one of the sheds for 
 him, and he fetched the hammer and his own special 
 little hatchet, for his first idea was to split up the 
 boards. Deal splits so easily, it is a pleasure to 
 feel the fibres part, but upon consideration he 
 thought it might do for the roof of a hut, if he 
 could fix it on four stakes, one at each corner. 
 
 Away he went with his hatchet down to the 
 withy-bed by the brook (where he intended to 
 build the hut) to cut some stakes and get them 
 ready. The brook made a sharp turn round the 
 withy-bed, enclosing a tongue of ground which 
 was called in the house at home the Peninsula, 
 because of its shape and being surrounded on three 
 sides by water. This piece of land, which was 
 not all withy, but partly open and partly copse, 
 was Bevis's own territory, his own peculiar pro- 
 perty, over which he was autocrat and king.
 
 Bevis at Work. 
 
 He flew at once to attack a little fir, and struck it 
 with, the hatchet : the first blow cut through the 
 bark and left a "blaze/^ but the second did not pro- 
 duce anything like so much efiect, the third, too, 
 rebounded, though the tree shook to its top. Bevis 
 hit it a fourth time, not at all pleased that the fir 
 would not cut more easily, and then, fancying he 
 saw something floating down the stream, dropped 
 his batchet and went to the edge to see. 
 
 It was a large fly struggling aimlessly, and as 
 it was carried past a spot where the bank over- 
 hung and the grasses drooped into the water, a 
 fish rose and took it, only leaving just the least cir- 
 cle of wavelet. Next came a dead dry twig, which 
 a wood-pigeon had knocked ofi* with his strong wings 
 as he rose out of the willow-top where his nest was. 
 The little piece of wood stayed a while in the hollow 
 where the brook had worn away the bank, and under 
 wbich was a deep hole ; there the current lingered, 
 then it moved quicker, till, reaching a place where 
 the channel was narrower, it began to rush and 
 rotate, and shot past a long green flag bent down, 
 which ceaselessly fluttered in the swift water. Bevis 
 took out his knife and began to cut a stick to make 
 a toy boat, and then, throwing it down, wished he 
 had a canoe to go floating along the stream and 
 
 B 2
 
 4 Bevis. 
 
 shooting over the bay ; then he looked up the brook 
 at the old pollard willow he once tried to chop down 
 for that purpose. 
 
 The old pollard was hollow, large enough for him 
 to stand inside on the soft, crumbling ^^ touchwood/' 
 and it seemed quite dead, though there were green 
 rods on the top, yet it was so hard he could not do 
 much with it, and wearied his arm to no purpose. 
 Besides, since he had grown bigger he had thought 
 it over, and considered that even if he burnt the 
 tree down with fire, as he had half a mind to do, 
 having read that that was the manner of the savages 
 in wild countries, still he would have to stop up both 
 ends with board, and he was afraid that he could not 
 make it water-tight. 
 
 And it was only the same reason that stayed 
 his hand from barking an oak or a beech to make a 
 canoe of the bark, remembering that if he got the 
 bark off in one piece the ends would be open and it 
 would not float properly. He knew how to bark a 
 tree quite well, having helped the woodmen when 
 the oaks were thrown, and he could have carried the 
 short ladder out and so cut it high enough up the trunk 
 (while the tree stood). But the open ends puzzled 
 him ; nor could he understand nor get any one 
 to explain to him how the wild men, if they
 
 Bevis at Work, 
 
 used canoes like this, kept the water out at the 
 end. 
 
 Once_, too, he took the gouge and the largest chisel 
 from the workshop, and the mallet with the beech- 
 wood head, and set to work to dig out a boat from a 
 vast trunk of elm thrown long since, and lying out- 
 side the rick-yard, whither it had been drawn under 
 the timber- carriage. Now, the bark had fallen off 
 this piece of timber from decay, and the surface of 
 the wood was scored and channelled by insects which 
 had eaten their way along it. But though these 
 little creatures had had no difficulty, Bevis with his 
 gouge and his chisel and his mallet could make very 
 little impression, and though he chipped out pieces 
 very happily for half an hour, he had only formed a 
 small hole. So that would not do ; he left it, and 
 the first shower filled the hole he had cut with water, 
 and how the savages dug out their canoes with flint 
 choppers he could not think, for he could not cut off 
 a willow twig with the sharpest splinter he could 
 find. 
 
 Of course he knew perfectly well that boats are 
 built of plank, but if you try to build one you do 
 not find it so easy ; the planks are not to be fitted 
 together by just thinking you will do it. That was 
 more difficult to him than gouging out the huge elm
 
 6 Bevis. 
 
 trunk; Bevis could hardly smooth two planks to 
 come together tight at the edge or even to overlap, 
 nor could he bend them up at the end, and altogether 
 it was a very cross-grained piece of work this making 
 a boat. 
 
 Pan: the spaniel, sat down on the hard, dry, 
 beaten earth of the workshop, and looked at Bevis 
 puzzling over his plane and his pencil, his footrule, 
 and the paper on which he had sketched his model ; 
 then up at Bevis^s forehead, frowning over the trouble 
 of it; next Pan curled round and began to bite him- 
 self for fleas, pushing up his nostril and snuffling and 
 raging over them. No. This would not do ; Bevis 
 could not wait long enough ; Bevis liked the sun- 
 shine and the grass under foot. Crash fell the 
 plank and bang went the hammer as he flung it on 
 the bench, and away they tore out into the field, the 
 spaniel rolling in the grass, the boy kicking up the 
 tall dandelions, catching the yellow disk under the 
 toe of his boot and driving it up in the air. 
 
 But though thrown aside like the hammer, still 
 the idea slumbered in his miud, and as Bevis stood 
 by the brook, looking across at the old willow, 
 and wishing he had a boat, all at once he thought 
 what a capital raft the picture packing-case would 
 make ! The case was much larger than the picture
 
 Bevis at Work, 
 
 which came in it ; it had not perhaps been originally 
 intended for that engraving. It was broad and flat ; 
 it had low sides ; it would not be water-tight, but 
 perhaps he could make it — yes, it was just the very 
 thing. He would float down the brook on it; 
 perhaps he would cross the Longpond. 
 
 Like the wind he raced back home, up the meadow, 
 through the garden, past the earth ouse to the shed 
 where he had left the case. He tilted it up against 
 one of the uprights or pillars of the shed, and then 
 stooped to see if daylight was visible anywhere be- 
 tween the planks. There were many streaks of light, 
 chinks which must be caulked, where they did not 
 fit. In the workshop there was a good heap of tow; 
 he fetched it, and immediately began to stufi" it in 
 the openings with his pocket-knife. Some of the 
 chinks were so wide, he filled them up with chips 
 of wood, with the tow round the chips, so as to 
 wedge tightly. 
 
 The pocket-knife did not answer well. He got 
 a chisel, but that cut the tow, and was also too thick; 
 then he thought of an old table-knife he had seen 
 lying on the garden wall, left there by the man who 
 had been set to weed the path with it. This did 
 much better, but it was tedious work, very tedious 
 work ; he was obliged to leave it twice — once to have
 
 8 Bevis. 
 
 a swing, and stretcli himself; the second time to 
 get a hunch, or cog, as he called it, of bread and 
 butter. He worked so hard he was so hungry. 
 Round the loaf there were indentations, like a cogged 
 wheel, such as the millwright made. He had one of 
 these cogs of bread cut out, and well stuck over 
 with pats of fresh butter, just made and fresh from 
 the churn, not yet moulded and rolled into shape, 
 a trifle salt but delicious. 
 
 Then on again, thrusting the tow in with the knife, 
 till he had used it all, and still there were a few 
 chinks open. He thought he would get some oakum 
 by picking a bit of rope to pieces : there was no old 
 rope about, so he took out his pocket-knife, and stole 
 into the waggon-house, where, first looking round to 
 be sure that no one was about, he slashed at the end 
 of a cart-line. The thick rope was very hard, and 
 it was difiicult to cut it ; it was twisted so tight, and 
 the rain and the sun had toughened it besides, while 
 the surface was case-hardened by rubbing against 
 the straw of the loads it had bound. He haggled 
 it off at last, but when he tried to pick it to pieces 
 he found the larger strands unwound tolerably well, 
 but to divide them and part the fibres was so 
 wearisome and so difficult that he did not know how 
 to manage it. With a nail he hacked at it, and got
 
 Bevis at Wo7^k. 
 
 quite red in the face, but the tough rope was not to 
 be torn to fragments in a minute ; he flung it down, 
 then he recollected some one would see it, so he 
 hurled it over the hedge into the lane. 
 
 He ran indoors to see if he could find anything 
 that would do instead, and went up into the bench- 
 room where there was another carpenter^s bench (put 
 up for amateur work), and hastily turned over every- 
 thing ; then he pulled out the drawer in his mamma's 
 room, the drawer in which she kept odds and ends, and 
 having upset everything, and mixed her treasures, he 
 lighted on some rag which she kept always ready to 
 bind round the fingers that used to get cut so often. 
 For a makeshift this, he thought, would do. He 
 tore a long piece, left the drawer open, and ran to 
 the shed with it. There was enough to fill the last 
 chink he could see ; so it was done. But it was a 
 hundred and twenty yards to the brook, and though 
 he could lift the case on one side at a time, he could 
 not carry it. 
 
 He sat down on the stool (dragged out from the 
 workshop) to think ; why of course he would fasten 
 a rope to it, and so haul it along ! Looking for a 
 nail in the nail-box on the bench, for the rope must 
 be tied to something, he saw a staple which would 
 do much better than a nail, so he bored two holes
 
 lo Bevis. 
 
 with a gimlet, and drove the staple into the raft. 
 There was a cord in the summer-house by the swing, 
 which he used for a lasso — he had made a running 
 noose, and could throw it over anything or anybody 
 who would keep still — this he fetched, and put 
 through the staple. With the cord over his shoulder 
 he dragged the raft by main force out of the shed, 
 across the hard, dry ground, through the gate, and 
 into the field. It came very hard, but it did come, 
 and he thought he should do it. 
 
 The grass close to the rails was not long, and the 
 load slipped rather better on it, but farther out into 
 the field it was longer, and the edge of the case 
 began to catch against it, and when he came to the 
 furrows it was as much as he could manage, first 
 to get it down into the furrow, next to lift it up a 
 little, else it would not move, and then to pull it up 
 the slope. By stopping a while and then hauling 
 he moved it across three of the furrows, but now the 
 cord quite hurt his shoulder, and had begun to fray 
 his jacket. When he looked back he was about 
 thirty yards from where he had started, not half- 
 way to the gateway, through which was another 
 meadow, where the mowing grass was still higher. 
 
 Bevis sat down on the sward to rest, his face all 
 hot with pulling, and almost thought he should never
 
 Bevis at Work. 1 1 
 
 do it. There was a trail in the grass behind where 
 the raft had passed like that left by a chain harrow. 
 It wanted something to slip on; perhaps rollers 
 would do like those they moved the great pieces of 
 timber on to the saw-pit. As soon as he had got 
 his breath again, Bevis went back to the shed, and 
 searched round for some rollers. He could not find 
 any wood ready that would do, but there was a heap 
 of poles close by. He chose a large, round willow 
 one, carried the stool down to it, got the end up on 
 the stool, and worked away like a slave till he had 
 sawn off three lengths. 
 
 These he took to the raft, put one under the front 
 part, and arranged the other two a little way ahead. 
 Next, having brought a stout stake from the shed, 
 he began to lever the raft along, and was delighted 
 at the ease with which it now moved. But this 
 was only on the level ground and down the slope 
 of the next furrow, so far it went very well, but 
 there was a difficulty in getting it up the rise. As 
 the grass grew longer, too, the rollers would not 
 roll ; and quite tired out with all this work, Bevis 
 flung down his lever, and thought he would go in- 
 doors and sit down and play at something else. 
 
 First he stepped into the kitchen, as the door was 
 open ; it was a step down to it. The low white-
 
 1 2 Bevis. 
 
 waslied ceiling and the beam across it glowed red 
 from the roasting-fire of logs split in four, and 
 built up on the hearth; the flames rushed up the 
 vast, broad chimney — a bundle of flames a yard 
 high, whose tips parted from the main tongues and 
 rose disjointed for a moment by themselves : the 
 tiny panes of yellowish-green glass, too, in the 
 window reflected the light. Such a fire as makes 
 one's lips moist at the thought of the juicy meats 
 and the subtle sweetness imparted by the wood 
 fuel, which has a volatile fragrance of its own. 
 Bevis thought he would get the old iron spoon, and 
 melt some lead, and cast some bullets in the mould 
 — he had a mould, though they would not let him 
 have a pistol — he knew where there was a piece of 
 lead-pipe, and a battered bit of guttering that came 
 oS" the house. 
 
 Or else he would put in a nail, make it white hot, 
 and hammer it into an arrowhead, using the wrought- 
 iron fire-dog as an anvil. The heat was so great, 
 especially as it was a warm May day, that before he 
 could decide he was obliged to go out of the kit- 
 chen, and so wandered into the sitting-room. His 
 fishing-rod stood in the corner where he had left it ; 
 he had brought it in because the second joint was 
 splitting, and he intended (as the ferrule was lost)
 
 Bevis at Work. i x 
 
 o 
 
 to bind it round and round with copper wire. But 
 he did not feel much inclined to do that either ; he 
 had half a mind to go up in the bench-room, and take 
 the lock of the old gun to pieces to see how it 
 worked. Only the stock (with the lock attached) 
 was left ; the barrel was gone. 
 
 While he was thinking he walked into the parlour, 
 and seeing the bookcase open— the door was lined 
 within with green material — put his hand involun- 
 tarily on an old grey book. The covers were grey 
 and worn and loose ; the back part had come off ; 
 the edges were rough and difficult to turn over, 
 because they had not been cut by machinery ; the 
 margin, too, was yellow and frayed. Bevis^s fingers 
 went direct to the rhyme he had read so often, and 
 in an instant everything around him disappeared, 
 room and bookcase and the garden without, and he 
 forgot himself, for he could see the ^' bolde men in 
 their deeds,^' he could hear the harper and the 
 minstrel's song, the sound of trumpet and the clash 
 of steel ; how — 
 
 " As they were drinking ale and wine 
 Within Kyng Estmere's halle : 
 When will ye marry a wyfe, brother, 
 A wyfe to glad us all ? '' 
 
 How the kyng and " Adler younge '* rode to the
 
 14 Bevis. 
 
 wooing, and the fight they had, fighting so courage- 
 ously against crowds of enemies, — 
 
 " That soone thej have slayne the Kempery men, 
 Or forst them forth to flee." 
 
 Bevis put himself so into it, that he did it all, 
 he bribed the porter, he played the harp, and drew 
 the sword ; these were no words to him, it was a 
 living picture in which he himself acted. 
 
 He was inclined to go up into the garret and 
 fetch down the old cutlass that was there among the 
 lumber, and go forth into the meadow and slash away 
 at " gix " and parsley and burdocks, and kill them 
 all for Kempery men, just as he cut them down 
 before when he was St. George. As he was start- 
 in sr for the cutlass he recollected that the burdocks 
 and the rest where not up high enough yet, the 
 Paynim scoundrels had not grown tall enough in 
 May to be slain with any pleasure, and a sense that 
 you were valiantly swording. Still there was an old 
 wooden bedstead up there, on which he could hoist 
 up a sail, and sail away to any port he chose, to 
 Spain, or Rhodes, or where the lotus-eaters lived. 
 But his mind, so soon as he had put down the grey 
 book, ran still on his raft, and out he raced to see 
 it again, fresh and bright from the rest of leaving 
 it alone a little while.
 
 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE LAUNCH. 
 
 As lie came near a butterfly rose from the raft, 
 having stayed a moment to see what this could be 
 among the dandelions and buttercups, but Bevis 
 was too deeply occupied to notice it. The cord 
 was of no use ; the rollers were of no use ; the wheel- 
 barrow occurred to him, but he could not lift it ou, 
 besides it was too large, nor could he have moved 
 it if it would go on. Pan was not strong enough 
 to help him haul, even if he would submit to be 
 harnessed, which was doubtful. The cart-horses 
 were all out at work, nor indeed had they been 
 in the stable would he have dared to touch 
 them. 
 
 What he wanted to do was to launch his raft 
 before any one saw or guessed what he was about, 
 so that it might be a surprise to them and a triumph 
 to him. Especially he was anxious to do it before
 
 1 6 Bevis, 
 
 Mark came ; be miglit come across the fields any 
 minute, or along the road, and Bevis wished to be 
 afloat, so that Mark might admire his boat, and ask 
 permission to step on board. Mark might appear 
 directly ; it was odd he had not heard his whistle 
 before. Full of this thought away went Bevis back 
 to the house, to ask Polly the dairymaid to help him ; 
 but she hunted him out with the mop, being par- 
 ticularly busy that day with the butter, and quite 
 deaf to all his offers and promises. As he came 
 out he looked up the field, and remembered that 
 John was stopping the gaps, and was at work by 
 himself that day ; perhaps he would slip away and 
 help him. 
 
 He raced up the meadow and found the labourer, 
 with his thick white leather gloves and billhook, 
 putting thorn bushes in the gaps, which no one had 
 made so much as Bevis himself. 
 
 ^' Come and help me," said Bevis. Now John was 
 willing enough to leave his work and help Bevis do 
 anything — for anything is sweeter than the work 
 you ought to do — besides which he knew he could 
 get Bevis to bring him out a huge mug of ale 
 for it. 
 
 But he grinned and said nothing, and simply 
 pointed through the hedge. Bevis looked, and there
 
 The Launch, \ 7 
 
 was the Bailiff with his back against the great oak, 
 under which he once went to sleep. The Bailiff was 
 older now, much older, and though he was so stout 
 and big he did not do much work with his hands. 
 He stood there, leaning his back against the oak, 
 with his hazel staff in his hand, watching the stone- 
 pickers, who were gathering up the bits of broken 
 earthenware and rubbish from among the cowslips 
 out of the way of the scythe ; watching, too, the 
 plough yonder in the arable jBeld beyond ; and with 
 his eyes now and then on John. While those grey 
 eyes were about, work, you may be sare, was not 
 slack. So Bevis pouted, and picked up a stone, and 
 threw it at the Bailiff, taking good care, however, 
 not to hit him. The stone fell in the hedge behind 
 the Bailiff, and made him start, as he could not think 
 what creature it could be, for rabbits and weasels 
 and other animals and birds move as silently as 
 possible, and this made a sharp tap. 
 
 Bevis returned slowly down the meadow, and as 
 he came near the house, having now given up hope 
 of getting the raft to the brook, he caught sight of a 
 cart-horse outside the stable. He ran and found 
 the carter's lad, who had been sent home with the 
 horse ; the horse had been hauling small pieces 
 of timber out of the mowing-grass with a chain, 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 1 8 Bevis, 
 
 and tlie lad was just going to take off the 
 harness. 
 
 '* Stop," said Bevis, ^' stop directly, and hitch the 
 chain on my raft." 
 
 The boy hesitated; he dared not disobey the 
 carter, and he had been in trouble for pleasing 
 Bevis before. 
 
 ^' This instant," said Bevis, stamping his foot ; 
 '^ I'm your master." 
 
 "No; that you beant," said the boy slowly, 
 very particular as to facts ; " your feyther be my 
 master.^' 
 
 "You do it this minute," said Bevis, hot in the 
 face, "or Fll kill you; but if you'll do it I'll give 
 you — sixpence." 
 
 The boy still hesitated, but he grinned ; then he 
 looked round, then he turned the horse's head — 
 unwilling, for the animal thought he was going to 
 the manger — and did as Bevis told him. Behind the 
 strong cart-horse the raft was nothing, it left a trail 
 all across the grass right down to the brook ; Bevis 
 led the way to the drinking-place, where the ground 
 sloped to the water. The boy once embarked in 
 the business, worked with a will — highly delighted 
 himself with the idea — and he and Bevis together 
 pushed the raft into the stream.
 
 The Launch, 19 
 
 *' Now you hold the rope/^ said Bevis, '' while I 
 get in," and he put one foot on the raft. 
 
 Just then there came a whistle, first a long low 
 call, then a quaver, then two short calls repeated. 
 
 " That's Mark," said Bevis, and in he hastened. 
 " Push me off,''' for one edge of the raft touched 
 the sandy shore. 
 
 " Holloa ! " shouted Mark, racing down the 
 meadow from the gateway ; ^^ stop a minute ! let 
 me !— " 
 
 '' Push," said Bevis. 
 
 The boy shoved the raft off; it floated very well, 
 but the moment it was free of the ground and 
 Bevis's weight had to be entirely supported, the 
 water squirted in around the edges. 
 
 ^^ You'll be drownded/' said the carter's lad. 
 
 "Pooh!" said Bevis. 
 
 '^I shall jump in," said Mark, making as if he 
 were about to leap. 
 
 " If you do I'll hit you," said Bevis, doubling his 
 fists; "Isay !— " 
 
 For the water rushed in rapidly, and was already 
 half an inch deep. When he caulked his vessel, he 
 stopped all the seams of the bottom, but he had 
 overlooked the chinks round the edges, between 
 the narrow planks that formed the gunwales or 
 
 c 2
 
 20 Bevis. 
 
 sides, and tlie bottom to which they were fas- 
 tened. 
 
 Bevis moved towards the driest side of the raft, 
 but directly he stepped there and depressed it with 
 his weight the water rushed after him, and he was 
 deeper than ever in it. It came even over his 
 boots. 
 
 '^ Let I get in,'' said the boy ; " mine be water- 
 tights.'' 
 
 ^^ Pull me back," said Bevis. 
 
 Mark seized the rope, and he and the boy gave 
 such a tug that Bevis, thrown off his balance, must 
 have fallen into the brook had he not jumped 
 ashore and escaped with one foot wet through to 
 the ankle. 
 
 ^^Yaa — you!" they heard a rough voice growl- 
 ing, like a dog muttering a bark in his throat, and 
 instantly the carter's lad felt a grip on the back of 
 his neck. It was the Bailiff who marched him up 
 the meadow, holding the boy by the neck with one 
 hand and leading the cart-horse with the other. 
 Bevis and Mark were too full of the raft even to 
 notice that their assistant had been haled off. 
 
 First they pulled till they had got it ashore ; then 
 they tilted it up to let the water run out ; then 
 they examined the chinks where it had come in.
 
 The Launch. 2 1 
 
 " Here's my handkerchief," said Mark ; '* put 
 that m." 
 
 The handkerchief, a very dirty one, was torn 
 into shreds and forced into the chinks. It was 
 not enough, so Bevis tore up his; still there were 
 holes. Bevis roamed up and down the grass in 
 his excitement, gazing round for something to stop 
 these leaks. 
 
 ^' I know/' said he suddenly, " moss will do. 
 Come on."" 
 
 He made for a part of the meadow much over- 
 shadowed by trees, where the moss threatened to 
 overcome the grass altogether, so well did it flourish 
 in the coolness and moisture, for the dew never 
 dried there even at noonday. The Bailiff had it 
 torn up by the harrow, but it was no good, it would 
 grow. Bevis always got moss from here to put in 
 his tin can for the worms when he went fishing. 
 Mark was close behind him, and together they soon 
 had a quantity of moss. After they had filled the 
 chinks as they thought, they tried the boat again, 
 Bevis insisting on his right to get in first as it 
 was his property. But it still leaked, so they drew 
 it out once more and again caulked the seams. To 
 make it quite tight Bevis determined to put some 
 clay as well, to line the chinks with it like putty.
 
 22 Bevis, 
 
 So they had to go home to the garden, get the 
 trowel out of the summer-house where Bevis kept 
 such things, and then dig a few lumps of clay out 
 of the mound. 
 
 There was only one place where there was any 
 clay accessible, they knew the spot well — was there 
 anything they did not know ? Working up the 
 lumps of clay with their hands and the water so as 
 to soften and render it plastic, they carefully lined 
 the chinks, and found when they launched the raft 
 that this time it floated well and did not admit a 
 single drop. For the third time, Bevis stepped on 
 board, balancing himself with a pole he had brought 
 down from the garden, for he had found before that 
 it was diflScult to stand upright on a small raft. 
 Mark pushed him off: Bevis kept one end of the 
 pole touching the bottom, and so managed very 
 well. He guided the raft out of the driuking- 
 place, which was like a little pond beside the brook, 
 and into the stream. 
 
 There the current took it, and all he had to do 
 was to keep it from grounding on the shallows, 
 where the flags were rising out of the mud, or 
 striking against the steep banks where the cow- 
 slips overhung the water. With his feet somewhat 
 apart to stand the firmer, his brow frowning (with
 
 J he Launch, 23 
 
 resolution), and the pole tight in his hands — all 
 grimed with clay — Bevis floated slowly down the 
 stream. The sun shone hot and bright, and he had 
 of course left his hat on the sward where it had 
 fallen off as he stooped to the caulking : the wind 
 blew and lifted his hair : his feet were wet. But 
 he never noticed the heat, nor the wind, nor his wet 
 feet, nor his clayey hands. He had done it — he 
 was quite lost in his raft. 
 
 Round the bend the brook floated him gently, 
 past the willow where the wood-pigeon built (he 
 was afraid to come near his nest while they were 
 about), past the thick hawthorn bushes white with 
 may-bloom, under which the blackbirds love to 
 stay in the hottest days in the cool shadow by the 
 water. Where there were streaks of white sand 
 sifted by the stream from the mud, he could see 
 the bottom : under the high bank there was a 
 swirl as if the water wrestled with something under 
 the surface : a water-rat, which had watched him 
 coming from a tiny terrace, dived with a sound like 
 a stone dropped quietly in : the stalks of flags 
 grazed the bottom of the raft, he could hear them 
 as it drew on : a jack struck and rushed wildly up 
 and down till he found a way to slip by ; the raft 
 gave a heave and shot swiftly forward where there
 
 24 Bevis. 
 
 had once been a bay and was still a fall of two 
 inches or so : a bush projected so much that he 
 could with difficulty hold the boughs aside and 
 prevent the thorns from scratching his face : a 
 snag scraped the bottom of the boat and the jerk 
 nearly overthrew him — he did not mind that, he 
 feared lest the old stump had started a seam, but 
 fortunately it had not done so. 
 
 Then there was a straight course, a broad and 
 open reach, at which he shouted with delight. The 
 wind came behind and pushed his back like a sail 
 and the little silvery ripples ran before him, and 
 dashed against the shore, destroying themselves and 
 their shadows under them at the same time. The 
 raft floated without piloting here, steadily on. 
 Bevis lifted bis pole and waved his hand in triumph. 
 
 From the gateway the carter^s lad watched him ; 
 he had got away from the angry Bailiff. From the 
 garden ha-ha, near the rhubarb patch, Polly the 
 dairymaid watched him, gesticulating every now and 
 then with her arms, for she had been sent to call 
 him to dinner. Mark, wild with envy and admira- 
 tion and desire to share the voyage, walked on the 
 bank, begging to come in, for Bevis to get out or 
 let him join him, threatening to leap aboard from 
 the high bank where the current drifted the raft
 
 The Launch. 25 
 
 right under him, pulling off his shoes and stockings 
 to wade in and seize the craft by main force ; then, 
 changing his mind, shouting to Bevis to mind a 
 boulder in the brook, and pointing out the place. 
 
 The raft swept with steady, easy motion down the 
 straight broad reach ; Bevis did not need his pole, 
 he stood without its help, all aglow with joy. 
 
 The raft came to another bend, and Bevis with 
 his pole guided it round, and then, looking up, 
 stamped his foot with vexation, for there was an 
 ancient, hollow willow right in front, so bowed down 
 that its head obstructed the fair way of the stream. 
 He had quite hoped to get down to the Peninsula, 
 and to circumnavigate it, and even shoot the cata- 
 ract of the dam below, and go under the arch of the 
 bridge, and away yet farther. He was not fifty 
 yards from the Peninsula, and Mark had run there 
 to meet him ; but here was this awkward tree, and 
 before he could make up his mind what to do, bump 
 the raft struck the willow, then it swung slowly 
 round and one side grounded on the bank, and he 
 was at a standstill. 
 
 He hit the willow with his pole, but that was of no 
 use, and called to Mark. Bevis pushed the willow 
 with his pole, Mark pulled at a branch, and together 
 they could shake it, but they could not move it out
 
 2 6 Bcvis. 
 
 of the way; the stream was blocked as if a boom 
 had been fastened across it. The voyage was 
 over. 
 
 While they consulted, Polly came down, having 
 failed to make them hear from the garden, and after 
 she had shook them eacli by the shoulder brought 
 them to reason. Though she would have failed in 
 that too had not the willow been there, not for 
 dinner or anything would Be vis have abandoned his 
 adventure, so bent was he always on the business he 
 had in hand. 
 
 But the willow was obstinate, they could not get 
 past it, so reluctantly he agreed to go home. First 
 Polly had to fetch his hat, which was two hundred 
 yards away on the grass by the drinking-place ; then 
 Mark had to put his shoes and stockings on, and 
 take one off again because there was a fragment of 
 stone in it. Next, Bevis had to step into the raft again 
 — a difficult thing to do from the tree — in order to 
 get the cord fastened to the staple to tie it up, not 
 that there was the least risk of the raft floating 
 away, still these things, as you know, ought to be 
 done quite properly. 
 
 After he had tied the cord or painter to a branch 
 of the willow as firmly as possible, at last he con- 
 sented to come. But then catching sight of the
 
 The Launch. 2 J 
 
 carter's lad, he had first to give him his sixpence, 
 and also to tell him that if he dared go near the raft, 
 even to look at it, he would be put in the brook. 
 Besides which he had to wash his hands, and by the 
 time Mark and he reached the table the rest had 
 finished. The people looked at them rather blackly, 
 but they did not mind or notice in the least, for 
 their minds were full of projects to remove the 
 willow, about which they whispered to each other. 
 
 Pan raced beside them after dinner to the ha-ha 
 wall, down which they jumped one after the other 
 into the meadow. The spaniel hesitated on the 
 brink, not that he feared the leap, which he had so 
 often taken, but reflection checked him. He watched 
 them a little way as they ran for the brook, then 
 turned and walked very slowly back to the house ; for 
 he knew that now dinner was over, if he waited till 
 he was remembered, a plateful would come out for 
 him.
 
 2 8 Bevis. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 They found the raft as they had left it, except that 
 petals of the may-bloom, shaken from the hawthorn 
 bushes by the breeze, as they came floating down the 
 stream had lodged against the vessel like a white line 
 on the water. Already, too, the roach, which love 
 a broad shadow to play about its edge, had come 
 underneath, but when they felt the shaking of the 
 bank from the footsteps turned aside, and let the 
 current drift them down. Bevis fetched his hatchet 
 from the Peninsula and began to hack at the willow ; 
 Mark, not without some difficulty, got leave to 
 climb into the raft, and sit in the centre. The 
 chips flew, some fell on the grass, some splashed 
 into the brook ; Bevis made a broad notch just as 
 he had seen the men do it ; and though his arm was 
 slender, the fire behind it drove the edge of the steel 
 into the wood. The willow shook, and its branches, 
 which touched the water, ruffled the surface.
 
 The Mississippi. 29 
 
 But thougli tlie trunk was hollow it was a long 
 way through^ and wlien Bevis beg'an to tire he had 
 only cut in about three inches. Then Mark had to 
 work, but before he had given ten strokes Bevis 
 said it was of no use chopping, they could never do it, 
 they must get the grub-axe. So they went back to 
 the house, and carried the ungainly tool down to the 
 tree. 
 
 It was too cumbrous for them, they pecked up a 
 little turf, and just disturbed the earth, and then 
 threw the clumsy thing on the grass. Next they 
 thought of the great saw — the cross-cut — the men 
 used, one at each end, to saw though timber; but 
 that was out of their reach, purposely put up high 
 in the workshop, so that they should not meddle 
 with it or cut themselves with its terrible teeth. 
 
 '^ I know," said Mark, " we must make a hre, and 
 burn the tree ; we are savages, you know, and that 
 is how they do it.^^ 
 
 '' How silly you are ! " said Bevis. ^^ We are not 
 savages, and I shall not play at that. We have just 
 discovered this river, and we are going down it on 
 our raft; and if we do not reach some place to- 
 night and build a fort, very likely the savages will 
 shoot us. I believe I heard one shouting jast now; 
 there was something rustled,! am sure, in the forest."
 
 30 Bevts. 
 
 He pointed at the thick double mound hedge 
 about a hundred yards distant. 
 
 " What river is it ? '' said Mark. '' Is it the 
 Amazon, or the Congo, or the Yellow River, or the 
 Nile— '^ 
 
 '^It is the Mississippi, of course,^' said Bevis, 
 quite decided and at ease as to that point. " Can't 
 you see that piece of weed there. My papa says 
 that weed came from America, so I am sure it is the 
 Mississippi, and nobody has ever floated down it 
 before, and there's no one that can read within a 
 thousand miles."*' 
 
 '' Then what shall we do ? " 
 
 " 0, there's always something you can do. If 
 we could only get a beaver now to nibble through 
 it. There's always something you can do. I know," 
 and Bevis jumped up delighted at his idea, " we 
 can bore a hole, and blow it up with gunpowder ! " 
 
 "Let us fetch an auger," said Mark. "The 
 gimlet is not big enough." 
 
 "Be quick," said Bevis. " Eun back to the 
 settlement, and get the auger; I will mind the raft 
 and keep off the savages ; and, I say, bring a spear 
 and the cutlass ; and — I say — " 
 
 But Mark was too far, and in too much of a hurry 
 to hear a word. Bevis, tii-ed of chopping, rolled
 
 The Mississippi, 31 
 
 over on his back on the grass, looking up at the sky. 
 The buttercups rose high above his head, the wind 
 blew and cooled his heated forehead, and a humble- 
 bee hummed along : borne by the breeze from the 
 grass there came the sweet scent of green things 
 growing in the sunshine. Far up he saw the swallows 
 climbing in the air ; they climbed a good way 
 almost straight up, and then suddenly came slanting 
 down again. 
 
 While he lay there he distinctly heard the Indians 
 rustling again in the forest. He raised himself on 
 one arm, but could not see them ; then recollecting 
 that he must try to conceal himself, he reclined 
 again, and thought how he should be able to repel 
 an attack without weapons. There was the little 
 hatchet, he could snatch up that and defend himself. 
 Perhaps they would sink the raft ? Perhaps when 
 Mark returned they had better tow it back up 
 stream, and draw it ashore safely at home, and then 
 return to the work of clearing the obstruction. As 
 he lay with his knees up among the buttercups he 
 heard the thump, thump of Mark's feet rushing 
 down the hill in eager haste with the auger. So he 
 sat up, and beckoned to him to be quiet, and ex- 
 plained to him when he arrived that the Indians 
 were certainly about. They must tow the raft back
 
 32 Bevis. 
 
 to the drinking-place. Bevis untied the cord with 
 which the raft was fastened to the willow, and 
 stepped on board. 
 
 " Don't pull too quick/' he said to Mark, giving 
 him the cord ; " or perhaps I shall run aground." 
 
 " But you floated down/' said Mark. " Let me 
 get in, and you tow ; it's my turn." 
 
 " Your turn ? " shouted Bevis, standing up as 
 straight as a bolt. ^' This is mij raft." 
 
 " But you always have everything, and you 
 floated down, and I have not ; you have everything, 
 and—" 
 
 " You are a great story/' said Bevis, stamping so 
 that the raft shook and the ripples rushed from 
 under it. " I don't have everything, and you have 
 more than half ; and I gave you my engine and that 
 box of gun-caps yesterday ; and I hate you, and you 
 are a big story." 
 
 Out he scrambled, and seizing Mark by the 
 shoulders, thrust him towards the raft with such 
 force that it was with difficulty Mark saved himself 
 from falling into the brook. He clung to the willow 
 — the bark gave way under his fingers — but as he 
 slipped, he slung himself over the raft and dropped 
 on it. 
 
 " Take the pole," said Bevis, still very angry, and
 
 The Mississippi, 33 
 
 looking black as thunder. " Take tlie pole_, and 
 steer so as not to run in the mud, and not to hit 
 against the bank. Now then/^ and putting the 
 cord over his shoulder, off he started. 
 
 Mark had as much as ever he could do to keep the 
 raft from striking one side or the other. 
 
 ^^ Please don't go so fast/' he said. 
 
 Bevis went slower, and towed steadily in silence. 
 After they had passed the hawthorn under the may- 
 bloom, Mark said, "Bevis," but Bevis did not 
 answer. 
 
 ^' Bevis," repeated Mark, " I have had enough 
 now ; stop, and you get in." 
 
 " I shall not," said Bevis. " You are a great 
 story." 
 
 In another minute Mark spoke again: — 
 
 '^ Let me get out and tow you now." Bevis did 
 not reply. " I say — I say — I say, Bevis." 
 
 No use. Bevis towed him the whole way, till 
 the raft touched the shallow shore of the drinking- 
 place. Then Mark got out and helped him drag the 
 vessel well up on the ground, so that it should not 
 float away. 
 
 "Now," said Bevis, after it was quite done. "Will 
 you be a story any more ? " 
 
 " No," said Mark^ " I will not be a story again." 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 Bevis, 
 
 So they walked back side by side to the willow- 
 tree ; Mark, who was really in the right, feeling in 
 the wrong. At the tree Bevis picked up the auger, 
 and told him to bore the hole. Mark began, but 
 suddenly stopped. 
 
 '^ What's the good of boring the hole when we 
 have not got any gunpowder," said he. 
 
 '^No more we have," said Be\4s. " This is very 
 stupid, and they will not let me have any, though I 
 have got some money, and I have a great mind to 
 buy some and hide it. Just as if we did not know 
 how to use powder, and as if we did not know how 
 to shoot ! Oh, I know ! We will go and cut a bough 
 of alder — there's ever so many alders by the Long- 
 pond — and burn it and make charcoal ; it makes the 
 best charcoal, you know, and they always use it for 
 gunpowder, and then we can get some saltpetre. 
 Let me see — " 
 
 " The Bailiff had some saltpetre the other day," 
 said Mark. 
 
 " So he did : it is in the dairy. Oh yes, and I 
 know where some sulphur is. It is in the garden- 
 house, where the tools are, in the orchard ; it's what 
 they use to smother the bees with — " 
 
 '^ That's on brown paper," said Mark ; '^ that 
 won't do."
 
 The Mississippi, 35 
 
 '^ No it's not. You have to melt it to put it on 
 paper, and dip the paper in. This is in a piece, it 
 is like a short bar, and we will pound it up and mix 
 them all together and make capital gunpowder." 
 
 " Hurrah ! '' cried Mark, throwing down the 
 auger. '^ Let's go and cut the alder. Come 
 on!" 
 
 " Stop/' said Bevis. ^^ Lean on me, and walk 
 slow. Don't you know you have caught a dreadful 
 fever, from being in the swamps by the river, and 
 you can hardly walk, and you are very thin and 
 weak ? Lean on my arm and hang your head." 
 
 Mark hung his head, tarniDg his rosy cheeks 
 down to the buttercups, and dragged his sturdy 
 fever-stricken limbs along with an eiSbrt. 
 Humph ! " said a gruff voice. 
 It's the Indians ! " cried Bevis, startled j for 
 they were so absorbed they had not heard the 
 Bailiff come up behind them. They quite jumped, 
 as if about to be scalped. 
 
 " What be you doing to that tree ? " said the 
 Bailiff. 
 
 " Find out," said Bevis. " It's not your tree : 
 and why don't you say when you're coming ? " 
 
 " I saw you from the hedge," said the Bailiff. " I 
 was telling John where to cut the bushes from for 
 
 D 2 
 
 11
 
 36 Bevis, 
 
 the new harrow/' That caused the rustling in the 
 forest. *"* You^ll never chop he down/* 
 
 '^ That we shall^ if we want to/' 
 
 "No, you won't — he stops your ship/' 
 
 '^ It isn't a ship : it'd a raft/' 
 
 " Well, you can't get by/' 
 
 '' That we can/' 
 
 " I thinks you be stopped/' said the Bailiff, having 
 now looked at the tree more carefullv. " He be 
 main thick/' — with a certain sympathy for stolid, 
 inanimate obstruction. 
 
 " I tell you, people like us are never stopped by 
 anything," said Bevis. "We go through forests, 
 and we float down rivers, and we shoot tigers, and 
 move the biggest trees ever seen — don't we, Mark ? " 
 
 " Yes, that we do : nothing is anything to us." 
 
 " Of course not," said Bevis. " And if we can't 
 chop it down or blow it up, as we mean to, then we 
 dig round it. 0, Mark, I say ! I forgot ! Let's 
 dig a canal round it." 
 
 " How silly we were never to think of that ! " 
 said Mark. " A canal is the very thing — from here 
 to the creek." 
 
 He meant where the stream curved to enclose the 
 Peninsula : the proposed canal would make tlie 
 voyage shorter.
 
 The Mississippi, 37 
 
 " Cut some sticks — quick ! ■*' said Bevis. *' We 
 must plug out our canal — that is what they always 
 do first, whether it is a canal, or a railway, or a 
 drain, or anything. And I must draw a plan. I 
 must get my pocket-book and pencil. Come on, 
 Mark, and get the spade while I get my pencil.^^ 
 
 Off they ran. The Bailiff leaned on his hazel 
 staff, one hand against the willow, and looked down 
 into the water, as calmly as the sun itself reflected 
 there. When he had looked awhile he shook his 
 head and grunted : then he stumped away ; and 
 after a dozen yards or so, glanced back, grunted, 
 and shook his head again. It could not be done. 
 The tree was thick, the earth hard — no such thing : 
 his sympathy, in a dull unspoken way, was with 
 the immovable. 
 
 Mark went to work with the spade, throwing the 
 turf he dug up into the brook ; while Bevis, lying at 
 full length on the grass, drew his plan of the canal. 
 He drew two curving lines parallel, and half an inch 
 apart, to represent the bend of the brook, and then 
 two, as straight as he could manage, across, so as 
 to shorten the distance, and avoid the obstruction. 
 The rootlets of the grass held tight, when Mark 
 tried to lift the spadeful he had dug, so that he 
 could not tear them off.
 
 38 Be vis, 
 
 2e had to chop them at the side with his spade 
 ■first, and then there was a root of the willow in the 
 way ; a very obstinate stout root, for which the 
 little hatchet had to be brought to cut it. Under 
 the softer turf the ground was very hard, as it had 
 long been dry, so that by the time Bevis had drawn 
 his plan and stuck in little sticks to show the course 
 the canal was to take, Mark had only cleared about 
 a foot square, and four or five inches deep, just at 
 the edge of the bank, where he could thrust it into 
 the stream. 
 
 '^ I have been thinking,'^ said Bevis as he came 
 back from the other end of the line, " I have been 
 thinking what we are, now we are making this canal ?^' 
 
 '^ Yes," said Mark, '•' what are we ? — they do not 
 make canals on the Mississippi. Is this the Suez 
 canal ? ^' 
 
 ^* Oh no," said Bevis. " This is not Africa ; there 
 is no sand, and there are no camels about. Stop a 
 minute. Put down that spade, don't dig another 
 bit till we know what we are.'* 
 
 Mark put down the spade, and they both thought 
 very hard indeed, looking straight at one another. 
 
 " I know,'' said Bevis, drawing a long breath. 
 *' We are digging a canal through Mount Athos, 
 and we are Greeks."
 
 The Mississippi. 39 
 
 "But was it the Greeks?'' said Mark. "Are 
 you sure — '^ 
 
 " Quite sure/' said Bevis. " Perfectly quite sure. 
 Besides^ it doesn't matter. We can do it if they 
 did not, don't you see ? " 
 
 " So we can : and who are you then, if we are 
 Greeks ? " 
 
 " I am Alexander the Great." 
 
 " And who am I ? " 
 
 " 0, you — you are anybody." 
 
 *' But I must be somebody/' said Mark, " else it 
 will not do." 
 
 " Well, you are : let me see — Pisistratus." 
 
 " Who was Pisistratus ? " 
 
 " I don't know," said Bevis. ^^ It doesn't matter 
 in the least. Now dig." 
 
 Pisistratus dug till he came to another root, which 
 Alexander the Great chopped off for him with the 
 hatchet. Pisistratus dug again and uncovered a 
 water-rat's hole which went down aslant to the water. 
 They both knelt on the grass, and peered down the 
 round tunnel : at the bottom where the water was, 
 some of the fallen petals of the may-bloom had come 
 in and floated there. 
 
 "This would do splendidly to put some gun- 
 powder in and blow up, like the miners do," said
 
 40 Bevis. 
 
 Bevis. " And I believe that is the proper way to 
 make a canal : it is how they make tunnels, I am 
 sure.'' 
 
 " Greeks are not very good/' said Mark. '' I 
 don't like Greeks : don't let's be Greeks any longer. 
 The Mississippi was very much best." 
 
 " So it was/' said Bevis. ^' The Mississippi is the 
 nicest. I am not Alexander, and you are not 
 Pisistratus. This is the Mississippi." 
 
 " Let us have another float down/* said Mark. 
 " Let me float down, and I will drag you all the 
 way up this time." 
 
 '^ All right," said Bevis. 
 
 So they launched the raft, and Mark got in and 
 floated down, and Bevis walked on the bank, giving 
 him directions how to pilot the vessel, which as 
 before was brought up by the willow leaning over 
 the water. Just as they were preparing to tow it 
 back again, and Bevis was climbing out on the 
 willow to get into the raft they heard a splashing 
 down the brook. 
 
 " What's that ? " said Mark. '' Is it Indians ? " 
 
 ''No, it's an alligator. At least, I don't 
 know. Perhaps it's a canoe full of Indians. Give 
 me the pole, quick ; there now, take the hatchet. 
 Look out ! "
 
 The Mississippi. 41 
 
 The splashing increased ; then there was a 
 " Yowp ! ^' and Pan, the spaniel, suddenly appeared 
 out of the flags by the osier-bed. He raced across 
 the ground there, and jumped into the brook again, 
 and immediately a moorcock, which he had been 
 hunting, scuttled along the water, beating with his 
 wings, and scrambling with his long legs hanging 
 down, using both air and water to fly from his 
 enemy. As he came near he saw Bevis on the 
 willow, and rose out of the brook over the bank. 
 Bevis hit at him with his pole, but missed; and 
 Mark hurled the hatchet in vain. The moorcock 
 flew straight across the meadow to another withy - 
 bed, and then disappeared. It was only by threats 
 that they stopped the spaniel from following. 
 
 Pan haviug got his plateful by patiently wait- 
 ing about the doorway, after he had licked his 
 chops, and turned up the whites of his eyes, to see 
 if he could persuade them to give him any more, 
 walked into the rick-yard, and choosing a favourite 
 spot upon some warm straw — for straw becomes 
 quite hot under sunshine — lay down and took a 
 nap. When he awoke, having settled matters with 
 the fleas, he strolled back to the ha-ha wall, and, 
 seeing Bevis and Mark still busy by the brook, 
 went down to know what they were doiug. But
 
 42 Bevis. 
 
 first going to a place lie well knew to lap he scented 
 the moorcock, and gave chase. 
 
 *' Come here/^ said Bevis ; and, seizing the 
 spaniel by the skin of his neck, he dragged him in 
 the raft, stepped in quickly after, and held Pan 
 while Mark hauled at the tow-line. But when 
 Bevis had to take the pole to guide the raft from 
 striking the bank Pan jumped out in a moment, 
 preferring to swim rather than to ride in comfort, nor 
 could any persuasions or threats get him on again. 
 He barked along the shore, while Mark hauled and 
 Bevis steered the craft. 
 
 Having beached her at the drinking-place on the 
 shelving strand, they thought they had better go 
 up the river a, little way, and see if there were any 
 traces of Indians ; and, following the windings of the 
 stream, they soon came to the hatch. Above the 
 hatch the water was smooth, as it usually is where it 
 is deep and approaching the edge, and Bevis^s quick 
 eye caught sight of a tiny ripple there near one 
 bank, so tiny that it hardly extended across the 
 brook, and disappeared after the third wavelet. 
 
 " Keep Pan there ! " he said. '' Hit him— hit 
 him harder than that ; he doesn't mind."" 
 
 Mark punched the spaniel, who crouched ; but, 
 nevertheless, his body crept, as it were, towards
 
 The Mississippi, 43 
 
 the hatch, where Bevis was climbing over. Bevis 
 took hold of the top rail, put his foot on the rail 
 below, all green and slippery with weeds where the 
 water splashed, like the rocks where the sea comes, 
 then his other foot further along, and so got over 
 with the deep water in front, and the roar of the 
 fall under, and the bubbles rushing down the 
 stream. The bank was very steep, but there was 
 a notch to put the foot in, and a stout hawthorn 
 stem — the thorns on which had long since been 
 broken off for the purpose — gave him something to 
 hold to and by which to lift himself up. 
 
 Then he walked stealthily along the bank — it 
 overhung the dark deep water, and seemed about to 
 slip in under him. There was a plantation of trees 
 on that side, and on the other a hawthorn hedge, so 
 that it was a quiet and sheltered spot. As he came 
 to the place where he had seen the ripple, he looked 
 closer, and in among a bunch of rushes, with the 
 green stalks standing up all round it, he saw a 
 moorhen's nest. It was made of rushes, twined 
 round like a wreath, or perhaps more like a large 
 green turban, and there were three or four young 
 moorhens in it. The old bird had slipped away as 
 he came near, and diving under the surface rose ten 
 yards off under a projecting bush.
 
 44 Bevis, 
 
 Bevis dropped on his knee to take one of the 
 young birds, but in an instant they rolled out of 
 the nest, with their necks thrust out in front, and 
 fell splash in the water, where they swam across, 
 one with a piece of shell clinging to its back, and 
 another piece of shell was washed from it by the 
 water. Pan was by his side in a minute ; he had 
 heard the splash, and seen the young moorhens, 
 and with a whine, as Mark kicked him — unable to 
 hold him any longer — he rushed across. 
 
 " They are such pretty dear little things,*' said 
 Bevis, in an ecstasy of sentiment, calling to Mark. 
 "Lie down ! ^' banging Pan with a dead branch 
 which he hastily snatched up. The spanieFs back 
 sounded hollow as the wood rebounded, and broke 
 on his ribs. " Such dear little things ! I would 
 not have them hurt for anything/' 
 
 Bang again on Pan's back, who gave up the 
 attempt, knowiog from sore experience that Bevis 
 was not to be trifled with. But by the time Mark 
 had got there the little moorhens had hidden in the 
 grasses beside the stream, though one swam out for 
 a minute, and then concealed itself again. 
 
 *' Don't you love them ? " said Bevis. '' I do. 
 I'll smash you ^' — to Pan, cowering at his feet. 
 
 The moorhens did not appear again, so they went
 
 The Mississippi, 45 
 
 back and sat on ttie top of tlie steep bank, tbeir 
 legs dangling over tbe edge above the bubbling 
 water. 
 
 A broad cool shadow from the trees had fallen 
 over the hatch, for the afternoon had gone on, and 
 the sun was declining behind them over the western 
 hills. A broad cool shadow, whose edges were far 
 away, so that they were in the midst of it. The 
 thrushes sanof in the ashes, for thev knew that the 
 quiet evening, with the dew they love, was near. 
 A bullfinch came to the hawthorn hedge just above 
 the hatch, looked in and out once or twice, and then 
 stepped inside the spray near his nest. A yellow- 
 hammer called from the top of a tree, and another 
 answered him across the field. Afar in the mowing- 
 grass the crake lifted his voice, for he talks more as 
 the sun sinks. 
 
 The swirling water went round and round under 
 the fall, with lines of white bubbles rising, and 
 quivering masses of yellowish foam ledged on the 
 red rootlets under the bank and against the flags. 
 The swirling water, ceaselessly beaten by the 
 descending stream coming on it with a long-con- 
 tinued blow, returned to be driven away again. A 
 steady roar of the fall, and a rippling sound above it 
 of bursting bubbles and crossing wavelets of the
 
 46 Bevis. 
 
 hastening stream, notclied and furrowed over stones, 
 frowning in eager haste. The rushing and the cool- 
 ness, and the song of the brook and the birds, 
 and the sense of the sun sinking, stilled even Bevis 
 and Mark a little while. They sat and listened, and 
 said nothing ; the delicious brook filled their ears 
 with music. 
 
 Next minute Bevis seized Pan by the neck and 
 pitched him over into the bubbles. In an instant, 
 before he came to the surface, as his weight carried 
 him beneath. Pan was swept down the stream, and 
 when he came up he could not swim against it, 
 but was drifted away till he made for the flags, 
 which grew on a shallow spot. There he easily got 
 out, shook himself, and waited for them to come 
 
 over. 
 
 '' I am hungry,^^ said Mark. " What ought we 
 to have to eat ; what is right on the Mississippi ? 
 I don't believe they have tea. There is Polly 
 shouting for us.'' 
 
 ^^No," said Bevis thoughtfully; *' I don't think 
 they do. How stupid of her to stand there shouting 
 and waving her handkerchief, as if we could not 
 find our way straight across the trackless prairie. 
 I know — we will have some honey ! Don't you 
 know ? Of course the hunters find lots of wild
 
 The Mississippi, 47 
 
 honey in tlie hollow trees. We will have some 
 honey ; there's a big jar full." 
 
 So they got over the hatch^ and went home, 
 leaving their tools scattered hither and thither beside 
 the Mississippi. They climbed up the ha-ha wall, 
 putting the toes of their boots where the flat stones 
 of which it was built, without mortar, were farthest 
 apart, and so made steps while they could hold to 
 the wiry grass-tufts on the top. 
 
 " Where's your hat ? '' said Polly to Bevis. 
 
 '^I don't know," said Bevis. ^^\ suppose it's in 
 the brook. It doesn't matter."
 
 48 Bevis. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DISCOVERY OP THE NEW SEA. 
 
 Next morning Bevis went out into the meadow to 
 try and find a plant whose leaves, or one of them, 
 always pointed to the north, like a green compass 
 lying on the ground. There was one in the prairies 
 by which the hunters directed themselves across 
 those oceans of grass without a landmark as the 
 mariners at sea. Why should there not be one in 
 the meadows here — 'in these prairies — by which to 
 guide himself from forest to forest, from hedge to 
 hedge, where there was no path ? If there was a 
 path it was not proper to follow it, nor ought you 
 to know your way ; you ought to find it by sign. 
 
 He had " blazed " ever so many boughs of the 
 hedges with the hatchet, or his knife if he had not 
 got the hatchet with him, to recognize his route 
 through the woods. When he found a nest begun 
 or finished, and waiting for the Q^^y he used to cut
 
 Discovery of the New Sea. 49 
 
 a '^ blaze '^ — that is, to peel off the bark — or make a 
 notch, or cut a bough off about three yards from the 
 place, so that he might easily return to it, though 
 hidden with foliage. No doubt the grass had a 
 secret of this kind, and could tell him which was the 
 way, and which was the north and south if he 
 searched long enough. 
 
 So the raft being an old story now, as he had had 
 it a day, Bevis went out into the field, looking very 
 carefully down into the grass. Just by the path 
 there were many plantains, but their long, narrow 
 leaves did not point in any particular direction, no 
 two plants had their leaves parallel. The blue 
 scabious had no leaves to speak of, nor had the red 
 knapweed, nor the yellow rattle, nor the white 
 moon-daisies, nor golden buttercups, nor red sorrel. 
 There were stalks and flowers, but the plants of the 
 mowing-grass, in which he had no business to be 
 walking, had very little leaf. He tried to see if the 
 flowers turned more one way than the other, or 
 bowed their heads to the north, as men seem to do, 
 taking that pole as their guide, but none did so. 
 They leaned in any direction, as the wind had left 
 them, or as the sun happened to be when they 
 burst their green bonds and came forth to the 
 light. 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 Bevis. 
 
 The wind came past as he looked and stroked 
 everything the way it went, shaking white pollen 
 from the bluish tops of the tall grasses. The wind 
 went on and left him and the grasses to them- 
 selves. How should I knew which was the north 
 or the south or the west from these ? Bevis asked 
 himself, without framing any words to his question. 
 There was no knowing. Then he walked to the 
 hedge to see if the moss grew more on one side of 
 the elms than the other, or if the bark was thicker 
 and rougher. 
 
 After he had looked at twenty trees he could not 
 see much difference; those in the hedge had the 
 moss thickest on the eastern side (he knew which 
 was east very well himself, and wanted to see if the 
 moss knew), and those in the lane just through it 
 had the moss thickest on their western side, which 
 was clearly because of the shadow. The trees were 
 really in a double row, running north and south, 
 and the coolest shadow was in between them, and so 
 the moss grew there most. Nor were the boughs 
 any longer or bigger any side more than the other, 
 it varied as the tree was closely surrounded with 
 other trees, for each tree repelled its neighbour. 
 None of the trees, nor the moss, nor grasses cared 
 anything at all about north or south.
 
 Discovery of the New Sea, 51 
 
 Bevis sat down in the mowing-grass^ though he 
 knew the Bailiff would have been angry at such a 
 hole being made in it ; and when he was sitting on 
 the ground it rose as high as his head. He could 
 see nothing but the sky^ and while he sat there 
 looking up he saw that the clouds all drifted one 
 way, towards his house. Presently a starling came 
 past, also flying straight for the house, and after 
 a while another. Next three bees went over as 
 straight as a line, all going one after another that 
 way. The bees went because they had gathered as 
 much honey as they could carry, and were hastening 
 home without looking to the right or to the left. 
 The starlings went because they had young in their 
 nests in a hole of the roof by the chimney, and they 
 had found some food for their fledglings. So now 
 he could find his way home across the pathless 
 prairie by going the same way as the clouds, the 
 bees, and the starlings. 
 
 But when he had reached home he recollected that 
 he ought to know the latitude, and that there were 
 Arabs or some other people in Africa who found 
 out the latitude of the place they were in by gazing 
 at the sun through a tube. Bevis considered a little, 
 and then went to the rick-yard, where there was a 
 large elder bush, and cut a straight branch between 
 
 E 2 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSll^ OF ILLINOW
 
 5 2 Bevis, 
 
 the knots with his knife. He peeled it, and then 
 forced out the pith, and thus made a tube. Next 
 he took a thin board, and scratched a circle on it 
 with the point of the compasses, and divided it into 
 degrees. Round the tube he bent a piece of wire, 
 and put the ends through a gimlet-hole in the centre 
 of the board. The ends were opened apart, so as 
 to fasten the tube to the board, allowing it to rotate 
 round the circle. Two gimlet holes were bored at 
 the top corners of the board, and string passed 
 through so that the instrument could be attached to 
 a tree or post. 
 
 He was tying it to one of the young walnut-trees 
 as an upright against which to work his astrolabe, 
 when Mark arrived, and everything had to be ex- 
 plained to him. After they had glanced through 
 the tube, and decided that the raft was at least ten 
 degrees distant, it was clearly of no use to go to it 
 to-day, as they could not reach it under a week's 
 travel. The best thing, Mark thought, would be 
 to continue their expedition in some other direc- 
 tion. 
 
 '^ Let's go round the Longpond,'' said Bevis ; " we 
 have never been quite round it." 
 
 " So we will,'' said Mark. '^ But we shall not be 
 back to dinner."
 
 Discovery of the New Sea, 53 
 
 " As if travellers ever thought of dinner ! Of 
 course we shall take our provisions with us." 
 
 " Let^s go and get our spears," said Mark. 
 
 *^ Let's take Pan/' said Bevis. 
 
 " Where is your old compass ? " said Mark. 
 
 " 0, I know — and I must make a map ; wait a 
 minute. We ouorht to have a medicine-chest ; the 
 savages will worry us for physic : and very likely 
 we shall have dreadful fevers." 
 
 " So we shall, of course ; but perhaps there are 
 wonderful plants to cure us, and we know them and 
 the savages don't — there's sorrel." 
 
 '^ Of course, and we can nibble some hawthorn 
 leaf." 
 
 ^^ Or a stalk of wheat." 
 
 " Or some watercress." 
 
 '^ Or some nuts." 
 
 " No, certainly not ; they're not ripe," said Bevis, 
 '^and unripe fruit is very dangerous in tropical 
 countries." 
 
 '' We ought to keep a diary," said Mark. '' When 
 we go to sleep who shall watch first, you or I ? " 
 
 *' We'll light a fire," said Bevis. '' That will 
 frighten the lions ; they will glare at us, but they 
 can't stand fire — you hit them on the head with a 
 burning stick."
 
 54 Bevis. 
 
 So they went in, and loaded their pockets with 
 
 huge double slices of bread-and-butter done up in 
 
 paper, apples, and the leg of a roast duck from the 
 
 pantry. Then came the compass, an old one in a 
 
 brass case ; Mark broke his nails opening the case, 
 
 which was tarnished, and the card at once swung 
 
 round to the north, pointing to the elms across the 
 
 road from the window of the sitting-room. Bevis 
 
 took the bow and three arrows, made of the young 
 
 wands of hazel which grow straight, and Mark was 
 
 armed with a spear, a long ash rod with sharpened 
 
 end, which they thrust in the kitchen fire a few 
 
 minutes to harden in the proper manner. 
 
 Besides which, there was Bevis^s pocket-book for 
 the diary, and a large sheet of brown paper for the 
 map ; you see travellers have not always everything 
 at command, but must make use of what they have. 
 Pan raced before them up the footpath ; the gate 
 that led to the Longpond was locked, and too high 
 to be climbed easily, but they knew a gap, and 
 crept through on hands and knees. 
 
 " Take care there are no cobras or rattlesnakes 
 among those dead leaves,^' said Mark, when they 
 were halfway through, and quite over-arched and 
 hidden under brambles. 
 
 " Stick your spear into them,'' said Bevis, who
 
 Discovery of the New Sea. 53 
 
 was first, and Mark, putting his spear past hira, 
 stirred up the heap of leaves. 
 
 " All right/^ said he. *^ But look at that bough 
 — is it a bough or a snake ? '^ 
 
 There was an oak branch in the ditch, crooked 
 and grey with lichen, half concealed by rushes ; its 
 curving shape and singular hue gave it some resem- 
 blance to a serpent. But when he stabbed at it 
 with his spear it did not move ; and they crept 
 through without hurt. As they stood up in the 
 field the other side they had an anxious consultation 
 as to what piece of water it was they were going 
 to discover ; whether it was a lake in Central Africa, 
 or one in America. 
 
 " I'm tired of lakes,^' said Mark. '' They have 
 found out such a lot of lakes, and the canoes are 
 always upset, and there is such, a lot of mud. Let's 
 have a new sea altogether. '^ 
 
 " So we will,'' said Bevis. " That's capital — we 
 will find a new sea where no one has ever been 
 before. Look ! " — for they had now advanced to 
 where the gleam of the sunshine on the mere was 
 visible through the hedge — ^' look ! there it is ; is 
 it not wonderful ? '' 
 
 '^ Yes," said Mark, *^ write it down in the diary; 
 here's my pencil. Be quick; put 'Found a new
 
 56 Bevis. 
 
 sea^ — be quick — there, come on — let's run — 
 hurrah ! '' 
 
 They dashed open the gate, and ran down to the 
 beach. It was a rough descent over large stones, 
 but they reached the edge in a minute, and as they 
 came there was a splashing in several places along 
 the shore. Something was striving to escape, 
 alarmed at their approach. Mark fell on his knees, 
 and put his hand where two or three stones, half in 
 and half out of water, formed a recess, and feeling 
 about drew out two roach, one of which slipped 
 from his fingers; the other he held. Bevis rushed 
 at another splashing, but he was not quick enough, 
 for it was difficult to scramble over the stones, and 
 the fish swam away just as he got there. Mark^s 
 fish was covered with tiny slippery specks. The 
 roach had come up to leave their eggs under the 
 stones. When they had looked at the fish they put 
 it back in the water, and with a kind of shake it 
 dived down and made off. As they watched it swim 
 out they now saw that three or four yards from the 
 shore there were crowds upon crowds of fish tra- 
 velling to and fro, following the line of the land. 
 
 They were so many, that the water seemed thick 
 with them, and some were quite large for roach. 
 These had finished putting their eggs under the
 
 Discovery of the New Sea. 5 7 
 
 stones, and were now swimming up and down. 
 Every now and then, as they silently watched the 
 roach — for they had never before seen such count- 
 less multitudes of fish — they could hear splashings 
 further along the stones, where those that were up 
 in the recesses were suddenly seized with panic fear 
 without cause, and struggled to get out, impeding 
 each other, and jammed together in the narrow 
 entrances. For they could not forget their cruel 
 enemies the jacks, and dreaded lest they should be 
 pounced upon while unable even to turn. 
 
 A black cat came down the bank some way off, 
 and they saw her swiftly dart her paw into the water, 
 and snatch out a fish. The scales shone silver 
 white, and reflected the sunshine into their eyes like 
 polished metal as the fish quivered and leaped under 
 the claw. Then the cat quietly, and pausing over 
 each morsel, ate the living creature. When she had 
 finished she crept towards the water to get an- 
 other. 
 
 ♦' What a horrid thing ! '' said Mark. " She ate 
 the fish alive — cruel wretch ! Let's kill her." 
 
 " Kill her," said Bevis ; and before he could fit 
 an arrow to his bow Mark picked up a stone, and 
 flung it with such a good aim and T^ith such force 
 that although it did not hit the cat, it struck a stone
 
 58 Bevis. 
 
 and split into fragments,, which flew all about her 
 like a shell. The cat raced up the bank, followed 
 by a second stone, and at the top met Pan, who did 
 not usually chase cats, having been beaten for it, 
 but seeing in an instant that she was in disgrace, 
 he snapped at her and drove her wild with terror 
 up a pine-tree. They called Pan off, for it was no 
 use his yapping at a tree, and walked along the 
 shore, climbing over stones, but the crowds of roach 
 were everywhere ; till presently they came to a 
 place where the stones ceased, and there was a 
 shallow bank of sand shelving into the water and 
 forming a point. 
 
 There the fish turned round and went back. 
 Thousands kept coming up and returning, and 
 while they stayed here watching, gazing into the 
 clear water, which was still and illuminated to the 
 bottom by the sunlight, they saw two great fish 
 come side by side up from the depths beyond and 
 move slowly, very slowly, just over the sand. They 
 were two huge tench, five or six pounds a-piece, 
 roaming idly away from the muddy holes they lie in. 
 But they do not stay in such holes always, and once 
 now and then you may see them like this as in a 
 glass tank. The pair did not go far; they floated 
 slowly rather than swam, first a few yards one way
 
 Discovery of the New Sea, 59 
 
 and then a few yards the other. Bevis and Mark 
 were breathless with eagerness. 
 
 " Gro and fetch my fishing-rod/* whispered Bevis, 
 unable to speak loud ; he was so excited. 
 
 " No, you go," said Mark ; " I'll stay and watch 
 them." 
 
 " I shan't," said Bevis sharply, ^' you ought to 
 go." 
 
 " I shan't," said Mark. 
 
 Just then the tench, having surveyed the bottom 
 there, turned and faded away into the darker deep 
 water. 
 
 " There," said Bevis, " if you had run quick ! " 
 
 ^^ I won't fetch everything," said Mark. 
 
 " Then you're no use," said Bevis. '^ Suppose I 
 was shooting an elephant, and you did not hand 
 me another gun quick, or another arrow ; and 
 suppose — " 
 
 ^^ But I might be shooting the elephant," inter- 
 rupted Mark, "and you could hand me the gun." 
 
 " Impossible," said Bevis ; '^ I never heard any- 
 thing so absurd. Of course it's the captain who 
 always does everything ; and if there was only one 
 biscuit left, of course you would let me eat it, and lie 
 down and die under a tree, so that I might go on 
 and reach the settlement."
 
 6o Bevis. 
 
 "I hate dying under a tree," said Mark, "and 
 you always want everything/' 
 
 Bevis said nothing, but marched on very upright 
 and very angry, and Mark followed, putting his feet 
 into the marks Bevis left as he strode over the 
 yielding sand. Neither spoke a word. The shore 
 trended in again after the point, and the indentation 
 was full of weeds, whose broad brownish leaves 
 floated on the surface. Pan worked about and 
 sniffed among the willow bushes on their left, which, 
 when the lake was full, were in the water, but now 
 that it had shrunk under the summer heat were 
 several yards from the edge. 
 
 Bevis, leading the way, came to a place w^here the 
 strand, till then so low and shelving, suddenly be- 
 came steep, where a slight rise of the ground was 
 cut as it were through by the water, which had 
 worn a cliff eight or ten feet above his head. The 
 water came to the bottom of the cliff, and there did 
 not seem any way past it except by going away from 
 the edge into the field, and so round it. Mark at 
 once went round, hastening as fast as he could to 
 get in front, and he came down to the water on the 
 other side of the cliff in half a minute, looked at 
 Bevis, and then went on with Pan. 
 
 Bevis, with a frown on his forehead, stood look-
 
 Discovery of the New Sea. 6i 
 
 ing at the clifif, having determined that he would 
 not go round, and yet he could not get past because 
 the water, which was dark and deep, going straight 
 down, came to the bank, which rose from it like a 
 wall. First he took out his pocket-knife and 
 thought he would cut steps in the sand, and he did 
 cut one large enough to put his toe in ; but then he 
 recollected that he should have nothing to hold to. 
 He had half a mind to go back home and get some 
 big nails and drive into the hard sand to catch hold 
 of, only by that time Mark would be so far ahead he 
 could not overtake him and would boast that he had 
 explored the new sea first. Already he was fifty 
 yards in front, and walking as fast as he could. 
 How he wished he had his raft, and then that he 
 could swim ! He would have jumped into the water 
 and swam round the cliff in a minute. 
 
 He saw Mark climbing over some railings that 
 went down to the water to divide the fields. He 
 looked up again at the cliff, and almost felt inclined 
 to leave it and run round and overtake Mark. 
 When he looked down again Mark was out of sight, 
 hidden by hawthorn bushes and the branches of 
 trees. Bevis was exceedingly angry, and he walked 
 up and down and gazed round in his rage. But as 
 he turned once more to the cliff, suddenly Pan ap-
 
 62 Bevis, 
 
 peared at an opening in the furze and bramble about 
 halfway up. The bushes grew at the side, and the 
 spaniel; finding Bevis did not follow Mark, had come 
 back and was waiting for liim. Bevis, without 
 thinking, pushed into the furze, and immediately he 
 saw him coming. Pan, eager to go forward again, 
 ran along the face of the cliff about four feet from 
 the top. He seemed to run on nothing, and 
 Bevis was curious to see how he had got by. 
 
 The bushes becoming thicker, Bevis had at last to 
 go on hands and knees under them, and found a 
 hollow space, where there was a great rabbit-bury, 
 big enough at the mouth for Pan to creep in. 
 When he stood on the sand thrown out from it he 
 could see how Pan had done it ; there was a narrow 
 ledge, not above four inches wide, on the face of the 
 cliff. It was only just wide enough for a footing, 
 and the cliff fell sheer down to the water ; but Bevas, 
 seeing that he could touch the top of the cliff, and so 
 steady himself, never hesitated a moment. 
 
 He stepped on the ledge, right foot first, the other 
 close behind it, and held lightly to the grass at the 
 edge of the field above, only lightly lest he should 
 pull it out by the roots. Then he put his right foot 
 forward again, and drew his left up to it, and so 
 along^ keeping the right first (he could not walk
 
 Discovery of the New Sea. 6^ 
 
 J 
 
 properly^ tlie ledge being so narrow), he worked 
 himself along. It was quite easy, though it seemed, 
 a long way down to the water, it always looks very 
 much farther down than it does up, and as he 
 glanced down he saw a perch rise from the depths, 
 and it occurred to him in the moment what a 
 capital place it would be for perch-fishing. 
 
 He could see all over that part of the lake, and 
 noticed two moorhens feeding in the weeds on the 
 other side, when puff ! the wind came over the field, 
 and reminded him, as he involuntarily grasped the 
 grass tighter, that he must not stay in such a place 
 where he might lose his balance. So he went on, 
 and a dragon-fly flew past out a little way over the 
 water and then back to the field, but Bevis was not to 
 be tempted to watch his antics, he kept steadily on, a 
 foot at a time, till he reached a willow on the other 
 side, and had a bough to hold. Then he shouted, 
 and Pan, who was already far ahead, stopped and 
 looked back at the well-known sound of triumph. 
 
 Running down the easy slope, Bevis quickly 
 reached the railings and climbed over. On the 
 other side a meadow came down to the edge, and he 
 raced through the grass and was already halfway to 
 the next rails when some one called " Bevis ! '' and 
 there was Mark coming out from behiud an oak
 
 ^4 Bevis. 
 
 in the field. Bevis stopped, half-pleased, half- 
 angry. 
 
 " I waited for you/^ said Mark. 
 
 " I came across the cliff/' said Bevis. 
 
 ^' I saw you/' said Mark. 
 
 "But you ran away from me/' said Bevis. 
 
 " But I am not running now." 
 
 " It is very wrong when we are on an expedition/' 
 said Bevis. " People must do as the captain tells 
 them." 
 
 " I won't do it again/' said Mark. 
 
 " You ought to be punished/' said Bevis, " you 
 ought to be put on half-rations. Are you quite sure 
 you will never do it again ? " 
 
 " Never." 
 
 " Well then, this once you are pardoned. Now, 
 mind in future, as you are lieutenant, you set a good 
 example. There's a summer snipe." 
 
 Out flew a little bird from the shore, startled as 
 Pan came near, with a piping whistle, and, describing 
 a semicircle, returned to the hard mud fifty yards 
 farther on. It was a summer snipe, and when they 
 approached, after getting over the next railings, it 
 flew out again over the water, and making another 
 half-circle passed back to where they had first seen 
 it. Here the strand was hard mud, dried by the sun,
 
 Discovery of the New Sea, 6 5 
 
 and broken up into innumerable holes by the hoofs 
 of cattle and horses which had come down to drink 
 from the pasture, and had to go through the mud 
 into which they sank when it was soft. Three or 
 four yards from the edge there was a narrow strip 
 of weedsj showing that a bank followed the line of 
 the shore there. It was so unpleasant walking over 
 this hard mud, that they went up into the field, 
 which rose high, so that from the top thoy had a 
 view of the lake. 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 Bevis. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 BY THE NEW NILE. 
 
 ^^ Do you see any canoes ? '^ said Mark. 
 
 '^No/' said Bevis. "Can you? Look very 
 carefully.^^ 
 
 They gazed across tlie broad water over the 
 gleaming ripples far away, for the light wind did 
 not raise them by the shore, and traced the edge of 
 the willows and the weeds. 
 
 " The savages are in hiding," said Bevis, after a 
 pause. " Perhaps they're having a feast.'' 
 
 " Or gone somewhere to war.'' 
 
 " Are they cannibals ? " said Mark. " I should 
 not like to be gnawn." 
 
 "Very likely," said Bevis. "No one has ever 
 been here before, so they are nearly sure to be ; they 
 always are where no one has been. This would be a 
 good place to begin the map as we can see so far. 
 Let's sit down."
 
 By the New Nile, 67 
 
 " Let's get behind a tree, then/' said Mark ; 
 ^^else if we stay still long perhaps we shall be 
 
 seen." 
 
 So they went a little farther to an ash, and sat 
 down by it. Bevis spread out his sheet of brown 
 paper. 
 
 ^' Give me an apple/' said Mark, '^ while you 
 draw." Bevis did so, and then, lying on the ground 
 at full length, began to trace out the course of the 
 shore ; Mark lay down too, and held one side of the 
 paper that the wind might not lift it. First Bevis 
 made a semicircle to represent the stony bay where 
 they found the roach, then an angular point for 
 the sandy bar, then a straight line for the shelving 
 shore. 
 
 '' There ought to be names," said Mark. " What 
 shall we call this ? " putting his finger on the 
 bay. 
 
 " Don't splutter over the map," said Bevis ; " take 
 that apple pip off it. Of course there will be names 
 when I have drawn the outline. Here's the cliff." 
 He put a slight projection where the cliff jutted out 
 a little way, then a gentle curve for the shore of the 
 meadow, and began another trending away to the left 
 for the place where they were. 
 
 " That's not long enough," said Mark. 
 
 F 2
 
 68 Bevis, 
 
 '^It's not finislied/' said Bevis. *^How can I 
 finisb. it when we have only got as far as this ? 
 How do I know, you stupid, how far this bay goes 
 into the land ? Perhaps there's another sea round 
 there/' pointing over the field. Instead of saying 
 silly things, just find out some names, now." 
 
 ^^ What sea is it ? '' said Mark thoughtfully. 
 
 " I can't tell," said Bevis. " It is most extra- 
 ordinary to find a new sea. And such an enormous 
 big one. Why how many days' journey have we come 
 already ? " 
 
 '^ Thirty,'' said Mark. ^' Put it down in the diary, 
 thirty days' journey. There, that's right. Now, 
 what sea is it ? Is it the Atlantic ? " 
 
 '* No ; it's not the Atlantic, nor the Pacific, nor the 
 South Sea; it's bigger than all those." 
 
 '^ It's much more difficult to find a name than a sea," 
 said Mark. 
 
 " Much," said Bevis. They stared at each other 
 for awhile. " I know," said Bevis. 
 
 " Well, what is it ? " said Mark excitedly, raising 
 himself on his knees to hear the name. 
 
 '^ I know," said Bevis. " I'll lie down and shut 
 my eyes, and you take a piece of grass and tickle 
 me; then I can think. I can't think unless I'm 
 tickled."
 
 By the New Nile. 69 
 
 He disposed himself very comfortably on his back 
 with his knees up, and tilted his straw hat so as to 
 shade that side of his face towards the sun. Mark 
 pulled a bennet. 
 
 ^^ Not too ticklish/^ said Bevis, ^^ else that won't 
 do : don^t touch my lips/^ 
 
 '' All right/' 
 
 Mark held the bending bennet (the spike of the 
 grass) bending with the weight of its tip, and drew it 
 very gently across Bevis''s forehead. Then he let it 
 just touch his cheek, and afterwards put the tip very 
 daintily on his eyelid. From there he let it wander 
 like a fly over his forehead again, and close by, but 
 not in the ear (as too ticklish), leaving little specks 
 of pollen on the skin, and so to the neck, and next up 
 again to the hair, and on the other cheek under the 
 straw hat. Bevis, with his eyes shut, kept quite still 
 under this luxurious tickling for some time, till Mark, 
 getting tired, put the bennet delicately on his- lip, 
 when he started and rubbed his mouth. 
 
 *^ Now, how stupid you are, Mark; I was just think- 
 ing. Now, do it again.'' 
 
 Mark did it again. 
 
 ''Are you thinking?" he asked presently. 
 
 ''Yes/' whispered Bevis. They were so silent 
 they heard the grasshoppers singing in the grass.
 
 70 Bevis, 
 
 and the swallows twittering as they flew over, and the 
 loud midsummer hum in the sky. 
 
 ^^ Are you thinking ? ^^ asked Mark again. Bevis 
 did not answer — he was asleep. Mark bent over 
 him, and went on tickling, half dreamy himself, 
 till he nodded, and his hat fell on Bevis, who sat up 
 directly. 
 
 " I know.'' 
 
 '' What is it ? '' 
 
 ^^ It is not one sea/' said Bevis ; ^^ it is a lot of 
 seas. That's the Blue Sea, there," pointing to the 
 stony bay where the water was still and blue under 
 the sky. " That's the Yellow Sea, there," pointing 
 to the low muddy shore where the summer snipe 
 flew up, and where, as it was so shallow and so often 
 disturbed by cattle, the water was thick for some 
 yards out. 
 
 " And what is that out there ! " said Mark, 
 pointing southwards to the broader open water 
 where the ripples were sparkling bright in the 
 sunshine. 
 
 '^ That is the Golden Sea," said Bevis. " It is like 
 butterflies flapping their wings," — he meant the 
 flickering wavelets. 
 
 " And this round here," where the land trended 
 to the left, and there was a deep inlet.
 
 By the New Nile, 7 1 
 
 'at is the Gulf/^ said Bevis; "Fir-Tree Gu]f/^ 
 as lie noticed tlie tops of fir-trees. 
 
 *' And that up at the top yonder, right away as 
 far as you can see beyond the Golden Sea ? ^^ 
 
 '^ That^s the Indian Ocean/^ said Bevis ; '^ and 
 that island on the left side there is Serendib/' 
 
 " Where Sinbad went ? '' 
 
 ''Yes; and that one by it is the Unknown Island, 
 and a magician lives there in a long white robe, and 
 he has a serpent a hundred feet long coiled up in a 
 cave under a bramble bush, and the most wonderful 
 things in the world/' 
 
 " Let's go there/' said Mark. 
 
 " So we will," said Bevis, '' directly we have got 
 a ship." 
 
 " Write the names down," said Mark. " Put 
 them on the map before we forget them." 
 
 Bevis wrote them on the map, and then they 
 started again upon their journey. Where the gulf 
 began they found a slight promontory, or jutting 
 point, defended by blocks of stone; for here the 
 waves, when the wind blew west or south, came 
 rolling with all their might over the long broad 
 Golden Sea from the Indian Ocean. Pan left them 
 while they stood here, to hunt among the thistles in 
 an old sand-quarry behind. He started a rabbit.
 
 72 Bevis. 
 
 and chased it up the quarry, so that when they 
 looked back they saw him high up the side, 
 peering into the bury. Sand-martins were flying 
 in and out of their round holes. At one place there 
 was only a narrow strip of land between the ocean 
 and the quarry, so that it seemed as if its billows 
 might at any time force their way in. 
 
 They left the shore awhile, and went into the 
 quarry, and winding in and out the beds of nettles 
 and thistles climbed up a slope, where they sank at 
 every step ankle deep in sand. It led to a broad 
 platform of sand, above which the precipice rose 
 straight to the roots of the grass above, which 
 marked the top of the cliff with brown, and where 
 humble-bees were buzzing along the edge, and, 
 bending the flowers down on which they alighted, 
 were thus suspended in space. In the cool recesses 
 of the firs at the head of Fir-Tree Gulf a dove was 
 cooing, and a great aspen rustled gently. 
 
 They took out their knives and pecked at the 
 sand. It was hard, but could be pecked, and grooves 
 cut in it. The surface was almost green from 
 exposure to the weather, but under that white. 
 When they looked round over the ocean they were 
 quite alone : there was no one in sight either way, 
 as far as they could see; nothing but the wall
 
 By the New Nile, y2> 
 
 ec 
 te 
 
 of sand behind, and the wide gleaming water in 
 front. 
 
 '^ What a long way we are from other people," 
 said Mark. 
 
 '^ Thousands of miles," said Bevis. 
 Is it quite safe ? "" 
 I don^t know/' doubtfully. 
 
 "Are there not strange creatures in these 
 deserted places ? " 
 
 '^ Sometimes,'^ said Bevis. " Sometimes there 
 are things with wings, which have spikes on them, 
 and they have eyes that burn you."*' 
 
 Mark grasped his knife and spear, and looked 
 into the beds of thistles and nettles, which would 
 conceal anything underneath. 
 
 " Let's call Pan,'' he whispered. 
 
 Bevis shouted ^^ Pan." '' Pan ! " came back in 
 an echo from another part of the quarry. " Pan ! " 
 shouted Bevis and Mark together. Pan did not 
 come. They called again and whistled ; but he did 
 not come. 
 
 '^ Perhaps something has eaten him," said Mark. 
 
 " Yery likely," said Bevis. ^' We ought to have 
 a charm. Don't forget next time we come to 
 bring a talisman, so that none of these things can 
 touch us."
 
 74 Bevis. 
 
 '^ I know/' said Mark. '' I know/' He took his 
 spear and drew a circle on the platform of sand. 
 " Come inside this. There, that's it. Now stand 
 still here. A circle is magic, you know.'' 
 
 '' So it is/' said Bevis. " Pan ! Pan ! " 
 
 Pan did not come. 
 
 " What's in those holes ? " said Mark, pointing to 
 some large rabbit- burrows on the right side of the 
 quarry. 
 
 "Mummies," said Bevis. '^'^You may be sure 
 there are mummies there, and very likely magic 
 writings in their hands. I wish we could get a 
 magic writing. Then we could do anything, and 
 we could know all the secrets." 
 
 " What secrets ? " 
 
 "Why, all these things have secrets." 
 
 "All?" said Mark. 
 
 "AH/' said Bevis, looking round and pointing 
 with an arrow in his hand. " All the trees, and all 
 the stones, and all the flowers — " 
 
 " And these ? " said Mark, picking up a shell. 
 
 "Yes, once; but can't you see it is dead, and 
 the secret, of course, is gone. If we had a magic 
 
 writing. 
 
 a 
 
 " Let's buy a book/' said Mark. 
 
 " They are not books ; they are rolls, and you
 
 By the New Nile, 75 
 
 unroll them very slowly^ and see curious things, 
 pictures that move over the paper — ^^ 
 
 Boom ! 
 
 They started. Mark lifted his spear, Bevis his 
 bow. A deep, low, and slow sound, like thunder, 
 toned from its many mutterings to a mighty sob, 
 filled their ears for a moment. It might have been 
 very distant thunder, or a cannon in the forts far 
 away. It was one of those mysterious sounds that 
 are heard in summer when the sky is clear and 
 the wind soft, and the midsummer hum is loud. 
 They listened, but it did not come again. 
 
 " What was that ? ^^ said Mark at last. 
 
 '^ I don''t know ; of course it was something 
 magic.^' 
 
 '^Perhaps they don^t like us coming into these 
 magic places,^^ said Mark. '' Perhaps it is to tell 
 us to go away. No doubt Pan is eaten. ^^ 
 
 " I shall not go away,^' said Bevis, as the boom 
 did not come again. " I shall fight first ;" and he 
 fitted his arrow to the string. " What^s that ! '^ 
 and in his start he let the arrow fly down among 
 the thistles. 
 
 It was Pan looking down upon them from the 
 edge above, where he had" been waiting ever since 
 they first called him, and wondering why they
 
 76 Bevis. 
 
 did not see him. Bevis, chancing to glance up 
 defiantly as he fitted his arrow to shoot the genie of 
 the boom, had caught sight of the spaniel's face 
 peering over the edge. Angry with Pan for 
 making him start, Bevis picked up a stone and 
 flung it at him, but the spaniel slipped back and 
 escaped it. 
 
 ^^ Fetch my arrow/' said Bevis, stamping his 
 foot. 
 
 Mark went down and got it. As he came up the 
 sandy slope he looked back. 
 
 '^ There's a canoe," he said. 
 
 " So it is." 
 
 A long way off there was a black mark as it were 
 among the glittering wavelets of the Golden Sea. 
 They could not see it properly for the dazzling 
 gleam. 
 
 "The cannibals have seen us," said Mark. 
 " They can see miles. We shall be gnawn. Let's 
 run out of sight before they come too near." 
 
 They ran down the slope into the quarry, and 
 then across to the fir-trees. Then they stopped 
 and watched the punt, but it did not come towards 
 them. They had not been seen. They followed 
 the path through the firs, and crossed the head of 
 the gulf.
 
 By the New Nile, "jy 
 
 A slow stream entered tlie lake there^ and they 
 went down to tlie sliore^ where it opened to the 
 larger water. Under a great willow, whose tops 
 rose as high as the firs, and an alder or two, it was 
 so cool and pleasant, that Mark, as he played with 
 the water with his spear, pushing it this way and 
 that, and raising bubbles, and a splashing as a 
 whip sings in the air, thought he should like to 
 dabble in it. He sat down on a root and took off 
 his shoes and stockings, while Bevis, going a little 
 way up the stream, flung a dead stick into it, and 
 then walked beside it as it floated gently down. 
 But he walked much faster than the stick floated, 
 there was so little current. 
 
 '^ Mark,^'' said he, suddenly stopping, and taking 
 up some of the water in the hollow of his hand, 
 '' Mark ! '' 
 
 " Yes. What is it ? '' 
 
 *' This is fresh water. Isn^t it lucky ? ^^ 
 
 "Why?'^ 
 
 " Why, you silly, of course we should have died 
 of thirst. Tliat'sth.Q sea^' (pointing out). "This 
 will save our lives.'' 
 
 " So it will," said Mark, putting one foot into the 
 water and then the other. Then looking back, as 
 he stood half up his ankles, " We can call here for
 
 yS Bevis. 
 
 fresli water when we have our ship — when we go to 
 the Unknown Island/' 
 
 *' So we can/'' said Bevis. '^ We must have a 
 barrel and fill it. But I wonder what river this is/' 
 and he walked back again beside it. 
 
 Mark walked further out till it was over his 
 ankles^ and then till it was half as deep as his knee. 
 He jumped up both feet together, and splashed as 
 he came down, and shouted. Bevis shouted to him 
 from the river. Next they both shouted together, 
 and a dove flew out of the firs and went ofi". 
 
 " What river is this ? '' Bevis called presently. 
 
 "0!'' cried Mark suddeuly; and Bevis glancing 
 round saw him stumble, and, in his endeavour to 
 save himself, plunge his spear into the water as if 
 it had been the ground, to steady himself ; but the 
 spear, though long, touched nothing up to his hand. 
 He bent over. Bevis held his breath, thinking he 
 must topple and fall headlong ; but somehow he 
 just saved himself, swung round, and immediately 
 he could ran out upon the shore. Bevis rushed back, 
 
 " What was it ? " he asked. 
 
 " It's a hole," said Mark, whose cheeks had 
 turned white, and now became red, as the blood 
 came back. '^An awful deep hole — the spear won't 
 touch the bottom."
 
 By the New Nile. 79 
 
 As lie waded out at first on shelving sand lie 
 laughed, and shouted^ and jumped_, and suddenly, 
 as he stepped, his foot went over the edge of the 
 deep hole; his spear, as he tried to save himself 
 with it, touched nothing, so that it was only by good 
 fortune that he recovered his balance. Once now 
 and then in the autumn, when the water was very 
 low, dried up by the long summer heats, this hole 
 was visible and nearly empty, and the stream fell 
 over a cataract into it, boiling and bubbling, and 
 digging it deeper. But now, as the water had 
 only just begun to recede, it was full, so that the 
 stream ran slow, held back and checked by their 
 sea. 
 
 This hollow was quite ten feet deep, sheer 
 descent, but you could not see it, for the shore 
 seemed to slope as shallow as possible. 
 
 Mark was much frightened, and sat down on the 
 root to put on his shoes and stockings. Bevis 
 took the spear, and going to the edge, and leaning 
 over and feeling the bottom with it, he could find 
 the hole, where the spear slipped and touched 
 nothing, about two yards out. 
 
 '^ It is a horrid place,^^ he said. " How should I 
 have got you out ? I wish we could swim."*' 
 
 "So do \y" said Mark. ^^ And they will never
 
 8o Bevis. 
 
 let us go out in a boat by ourselves — I mean in a 
 ship to the Unknown Island — till we can/' 
 
 '^No; that they won^t/' said Bevis. "We must 
 begin to swim directly. My papa will show me, 
 and I will show you. But how should I have got 
 you out if you had fallen ? Let me see ; there's a 
 gate up there.^' 
 
 " It is so heavy/' said Mark. " You could not 
 drag it down, and fling it in quick enough. If we 
 had the raft up here.'' 
 
 " Ah, yes. There is a pole loose there — that 
 would have done." He pointed to some railings 
 that crossed the stream. The rails were nailed, but 
 there was a pole at the side, only thrust into the 
 bushes. " I could have pulled that out and held 
 it to you." 
 
 Mark had now got his shoes on, and they started 
 again, looking for a bridge to cross the stream, and 
 continue their journey round the New Sea. As 
 they could not see any they determined to cross by 
 the railings, which they did without much trouble, 
 holding to the top bar, and putting their feet on 
 the second, which was about three inches over the 
 water. The stream ran deep and slow; it was 
 dark, because it was in shadow, for the trees hung 
 over from each side. Bevis, who was first, stopped
 
 By the New Nile, 8 1 
 
 (I 
 
 (C 
 
 in the middle and looked up it. There was a thick 
 hedge and trees each side, and a great deal of fern 
 on the banks. It was straight for a good way, so 
 that they could see some distance till the boughs 
 hid the rest. 
 
 I should like to go up there/^ said Mark. 
 
 Some day, if we can get a boat under these rails, 
 let us go up it." 
 
 ^^ So we will," said Bevis. ^^ It is proper to 
 explore a river. But what river is this ? " 
 
 '' Is it the Congo ? " said Mark. 
 
 ^' ! no. The Congo is not near this sea at all. 
 Perhaps it's the Amazon." 
 
 ^^It can't be the Mississippi," said Mark. 
 '^ That's a long way off now. I know — see it runs 
 slow, and it's not clear, and we don't know where 
 it comes from. It's the Nile." 
 
 "So it is," said Bevis. '* It is the Nile, and some 
 day we will go up to the source." 
 
 " What's that swimming across up there ? " said 
 Mark. 
 
 ''It is too far ; I can't tell. Most likely a croco- 
 dile. How fortunate you did not fall in." 
 
 When they had crossed, they whistled for Pan, 
 who had been busy among the fern on the bank, 
 snijfing after the rabbits which had holes there. 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 S2 Bevis. 
 
 Pan came and swam over to them in a minute. 
 They travelled on some way and found the ground 
 almost level and so thick with sedges and grass 
 and rushes that they walked in a forest of green up 
 to their waists. The water was a long way off 
 beyond the weeds. They tried to go down to it, 
 but the ground got very soft and their feet sank 
 into it; it was covered with horsetails there, 
 acres and acres of them, and after these shallow 
 water hidden under floating weeds. Some coots 
 were swimming about the edge of the weeds too 
 far to fear them. So they returned to the firm 
 ground and walked on among the sedges and rushes. 
 There was a rough path, though not much marked, 
 which wound about so as to get the firmest footing, 
 but every now and then they had to jump over a 
 wet place. 
 
 " What immense swamps,^^ said Mark ; ''I wonder 
 where ever we shall get to.'' 
 
 Underfoot there was a layer of the dead sedges 
 of last year which gave beneath their weight, and 
 the ground itself was formed of the roots of sedges 
 and other plants. The water had not long since 
 covered the place where they were, and the surface 
 was still damp, for the sunshine could not dry it, 
 having to pass through the thick growth above and
 
 By the New Nile, Z^ 
 
 the matted stalks below. A few scattered willow 
 bushes showed how high the water had been by the 
 fibres on the stems which had once flourished in it 
 and were now almost dried up by the heat. A 
 faint malarious odour rose from the earthy drawn 
 from the rotting stalks by the hot sun. There was 
 no shadow, and after a while they wearied of step- 
 ping through the sedges, sinking a little at every 
 step, which much increases the labour of walking. 
 
 The monotony, too, was oppressive, nothing but 
 sedges, flags, and rushes, sedges and horsetails, 
 and they did not seem to get much farther after 
 all their walking. First they were silent, labour 
 makes us quiet ; then they stopped and looked back. 
 The perfect level caused the distance to appear 
 more than it really was, because there was a thin 
 invisible haze hovering over the swamp. Beyond 
 the swamp was the gulf they had gone round, and 
 across it the yellow sand quarry facing them. It 
 looked a very long way off. 
 
 G 2
 
 84 Bevis, 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 CENTEAL AFRICA. 
 
 *' We shall never get round/' said Mark, '^ just see 
 what a way we have come^ and we are not half up 
 one side of the sea yet. 
 
 " I wonder how far it is back to the quarry/' 
 said Bevis. '^ These sedges are so tiresome.'' 
 
 " We shall never get round/' said Mark, '* and I 
 am getting hungry, and Pan is tired of the rushes 
 too." 
 
 Pan, with his red tongue lolling out at one side of 
 his mouth, looked up, showed his white tusks and 
 wagged his tail at the mention of his name. He 
 had ceased to quest about for some time ; he had 
 been walking just at their heels in the path they 
 made. 
 
 "We must go on," said Bevis, "we canH go 
 back ; it is not proper. Travellers like us never go
 
 Central Africa, 85 
 
 back. I wish there were no more sedges. Come 
 on.'' 
 
 He marched on again. But now they had once 
 confessed to each other that they were tired, this 
 spurt soon died away, and they stopped again. 
 
 " It is as hot as Central Africa/' said Mark, 
 fanning himself with his hat. 
 
 '^ I am not sure that we are not in Central 
 Africa," said Bevis. " There are hundreds of miles 
 of reeds in Africa, and as we have crossed the Nile 
 very likely that's where we are." 
 
 ^^ It's just like it," said Mark, ^^ I am sure it's 
 Africa." 
 
 "Then there ought to be lions in the reeds," 
 said Bevis, " or elephants. Keep your spear ready." 
 
 They went on again a little way. 
 
 " I want to sit down," said Mark. 
 
 " So do I," said Bevis ; " in Africa, people gene- 
 rally rest in the middle of the day for fear of sun- 
 strokes." 
 
 '^ So they do ; then we ought to rest." 
 
 " We can't sit down here," said Bevis; "it is so 
 wet, and it does not smell very nice : we might 
 have the fever, you know, if we stopped still 
 long." 
 
 " Let's go to the hedge," said Mark, pointing to
 
 86 Bevis, 
 
 the hedge which surrounded the shore and was a 
 great way on their left hand. '^ Perhaps there is a 
 prairie there. And I am so thirsty, and there is no 
 water we can drink ; give me an apple.^^ 
 
 " But we must not go back/' said Bevis ; '^ I 
 can^t have that; it would never do to let the ex- 
 pedition fail/' 
 
 '' No/' said Mark. '' But let us sit down first.'' 
 Bevis did not quite like to leave the sedges, but 
 he could not gainsay the heat, and he was weary, so 
 they left the rough path and went towards the 
 hedge, pushing through the sedges and rushes. It 
 was some distance, and as they came nearer and the 
 ground very gradually rose and became drier, there 
 was a thick growth of coarse grass between the 
 other plants, and presently a dense mass of reed- 
 grass taller than their shoulders. This was now in 
 bloom, and the pollen covered their sleeves as they 
 forced a way through it. The closer they got to the 
 hedge the thicker the grasses became, and there 
 were now stoles of willow, and tall umbelUferous 
 plants called " gix," which gave out an unpleasant 
 scent as they rubbed against or pushed them down 
 and stepped on them. It was hard work to get 
 through, and when at last they reached the hedge 
 they were almost done up.
 
 Central Africa, Sy 
 
 Now there was a new difficulty, the hedge had 
 grown so close and thick it was impossible to creep 
 through it. They were obliged to follow it, search- 
 ing for a gap. They could not see a yard in front, 
 so that they could not tell how far they might have 
 to go. The dust-like pollen flying from the shaken 
 grasses and the flowering plants got inside their 
 nostrils and on the roofs of their mouths and in their 
 throats, causing an unbearable thirst and tickling. 
 The flies, gathering in crowds, teased them, and 
 would not be driven away. Now and then some- 
 thing seemed to sting their necks, and, striking the 
 place with the flat hand, a stoatfly dropped, too 
 bloated with blood, like a larger gnat, to attempt to 
 escape the blow. 
 
 Pushing through the plants they stumbled into a 
 hollow which they did not see on account of the 
 vegetation till they stepped over the edge and fell 
 in it. Mark struck his knee against a stone, and 
 limped ; Bevis scratched his hands and wrist with a 
 bramble. The hollow was a little wet at the bottom, 
 not water, but soft, sticky mud, which clung to their 
 feet like gum ; but they scrambled out of it quickly, 
 not really hurt, but out of breath and angry. They 
 were obliged to sit down, crushing down the grasses, 
 to rest a minute.
 
 88 Bevis, 
 
 '' Let's go back to the path in the sedges/' said 
 Mark. 
 
 " I shan't/' said Bevis savagely. He got up and 
 went on a few steps^ and then took out his knife. 
 '^ Couldn't we cut a way through the bushes ? " he 
 asked. They went nearer the hedge and looked, 
 but it had been kept thick that cattle might not 
 stray into the marsh. The outside twigs could be 
 cut of course, but hawthorn is hard and close- 
 grained. With such little tools as their pocket- 
 knives it would take hours — very likely they would 
 break them. 
 
 '' If we only had something to drink/' said Mark. 
 They had no more apples. Though it was a marsh, 
 though they were on the shore, there was not a drop 
 of water; if they went back to the sedges they 
 could not get at the water, they would sink to 
 the knees in mud first. The tall reed-grass and 
 " gix," and other plants which so impeded their pro- 
 gress, were not high enough to protect them in the 
 least from the sun. The hedge ran north and south, 
 and at noonday gave no shadow. As they went 
 slowly forward, Mark felt the ground first with his 
 spear to prevent their falling into another hollow. 
 They pulled rushes, and bit the soft white part which 
 was cool to the tongue. But the stalks of plants
 
 Central Africa. 89 
 
 and grass_, eacli so easily bent when taken by itself, 
 in the mass like this began to prove stronger than 
 they were. 
 
 They had to part them with their arms first, like 
 swimming, and then push through, and the cease- 
 less resistance wore out their power. Even Bevis at 
 last agreed that it was not possible, they must go 
 back to the path in the sedges on their right. After 
 standing still a minute to recover themselves they 
 turned to the right and went towards the sedges. 
 In about twenty yards Mark, who had been sound- 
 ing with his spear, touched something that splashed, 
 he stopped and thrust again, there was no mistake, 
 it was water. On going nearer, and feeling for the 
 bottom with the spear, Mark found it was deep too, 
 he could not reach the bottom. The grasses grew 
 right to the edge, and the water itself was so 
 covered with weeds that, had they not prodded the 
 ground before they moved, they would have stepped 
 over the brink into it. The New Sea, receding, had 
 left a long winding pool in a hollow which shut 
 them ofi" from getting to the path in the sedges 
 unless by returning the weary way they had 
 come. 
 
 *^This is dreadful," said Mark, when they had 
 followed the water a little distance and were certain
 
 90 Bevis. 
 
 they could not cross. " We can't get out and we 
 can^t go back ; I am so tired, I can't push through 
 much longer/' 
 
 " We must go on/' said Bevis ; " somehow or 
 other we must go on." He too dreaded the idea of 
 returning through the entangled vegetation. It was 
 less dense on the verge of the pool than by the hedge, 
 and by feeling their way with the spear they got 
 on for a while. Thirsty as he was Mark could not 
 drink from the weed-grown water ; indeed he could 
 not see the water at all for weeds and green scum, 
 and if he pushed these aside with his spear the sur- 
 face bubbled with marsh gases. Bevis too per- 
 suaded him not to drink it. Slowly they worked 
 on, the marsh on one side, and the hedge on the 
 other. 
 
 ^^ Look," said Mark presently. " There's a 
 willow ; can't we climb up and see round ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Bevis ; and they changed their course 
 to get to it ; it was nearer the hedge. They felt 
 the ground rise, it was two yards higher by the 
 willow, and harder ; when the sea came up the spot 
 in fact was an islet. There were bushes on it, 
 brambles, and elder in flower ; none of these grow 
 in water itself, but flourish on the edge. There were 
 several tall willow-poles. Bevis put down his bow
 
 Central Africa, 9 1 
 
 and arrows, took off his jacket (the pockets of whicli 
 were stuffed full of things), took hold of a pole, and 
 climbed up. Mark did the same with another. The 
 poles were not large enough to bear their weight 
 very high ; they got up about six or eight feet. 
 
 " There's Sindbad's Island,'"* said Mark, pointing 
 to the right. Far away, beyond the sedges and the 
 reeds, there was a broad strip of clear water, and 
 across it the island of Serendib. " If we only had a 
 canoe/^ 
 
 "Perhaps we could make one/^ said Bevis. 
 '^ They make them sometimes of willow — and from 
 oak, only we have nothing to cover the framework; 
 sometimes they weave the rushes so close as to keep 
 out water — '^ 
 
 ^^ I can plait rushes,^^ said Mark ; " I can plait 
 eight ; but they would not keep out water. What's 
 over the hedge ? '^ 
 
 They looked that way ; they could see over the 
 thick, close hawthorn, but behind it there rose tall 
 ash-poles, which shut out the view completely. 
 
 ^' It is a thick double-mound/' said Bevis. " There's 
 ash in the middle ; like that in our field, you 
 know.'' 
 
 In front they could see nothing but the same end- 
 less reed-grass, except that there were more bushes
 
 92 Bevis. 
 
 and willows interspersed among it, showing that 
 there must be numerous banks. Tired of holding 
 on to the poles, which had no boughs of size enough 
 to rest on, they let themselves gradually slide down. 
 As they descended Mark spied a dove's nest in one 
 of the hawthorn bushes ; tired as he was he climbed 
 up the pole again, and looked into it from a higher 
 level. There was an q^^ in it ; he had half a 
 mind to take it, but remembered that it would be 
 awkward to carry. 
 
 ^^ We shall never get home,'' he said, after he had 
 told Bevis of the nest. 
 
 " Pooh," said Bevis. " Here^s something for you 
 to drink." He had found a great teazle plant, 
 whose leaves formed cups round the stem. In four 
 of these cups there was a little darkish water, which 
 had been there since the last shower. Mark eagerly 
 sipped from the one which had the most, though 
 it was full of drowned gnats ; it moistened his lips, 
 but he spluttered most of it out again. It was 
 not only unpleasant to the taste but warm. 
 
 " I hate Africa," he shouted ; '^ I )iate it." 
 
 " So do I," said Bevis ; " but we've got to get 
 through it somehow." He started again; Mark 
 followed sullenly, and Pan came behind Mark. Thus 
 the spaniel, stepping in the track they made, had the
 
 Centra I Africa . 9 3 
 
 least difficulty of either. Pan^s tail drooped, he 
 was very hungry and very thirsty, and he knew it 
 was about' the time the dishes were rattling in the 
 kitchen at home. 
 
 " Listen/' said Mark presently, putting his hand 
 on Bevis's shoulder^ and stopping him. 
 
 Bevis listened. " I can't hear anything,'' he said, 
 '^except the midsummer hum." 
 
 The hum was loud in the air above them, almost 
 shrill, but there was not another sound. Now 
 Mark had called attention to it the noonday silence 
 in that wild deserted place was strange. 
 
 '' Where are all the things ? " said Mark, looking 
 round. " All the birds have gone." 
 
 Certainly they could hear none, even the brook- 
 sparrows in the sedges by the New Sea were quiet. 
 There was nothing in sight alive but a few swifts at 
 an immense height above them. Neither wood- 
 pigeon, nor dove, nor thrush called ; not even a 
 yellow-hammer. 
 
 " I know," whispered Bevis. ^^ I know — they are 
 afraid." 
 
 '' Afraid ? " 
 
 "Yes; can't you see Pan does not hunt 
 about ? " 
 
 '^ What is it ? " asked Mark in an undertone.
 
 94 Bevis. 
 
 grasping his spear tightly. '' There are no mummies 
 here ? " 
 
 "No/^ said Bevis. "It's the serpent, you know; 
 he's a hundred feet long ; he's come over from the 
 Unknown Island, and he's waiting in these sedges 
 somewhere to catch something ; the birds are afraid 
 to sing." 
 
 " Could he swallow a man ? " said Mark. 
 
 '^ Swallow a man/' with curling lip. '^ Swallow a 
 buffalo easily." 
 
 " Hush ! what's that ? " A puff of wind rustled 
 the grasses. 
 
 "It's the snake/' said Mark, and off he tore. 
 Bevis close behind him. Pan at his heels. In this 
 wild panic they dashed quickly through the grasses, 
 which just before had been so wearisome an obstacle. 
 But the heat pulled them up in ten minutes, 
 panting. 
 
 " Did you see him ? " said Bevis. 
 
 " Just a little bit of him — I think," said Mark. 
 
 " We've left him behind." 
 
 " He'll find us by our track." 
 
 "Let's tie Pan up, and let him swallow Pan." 
 
 " Where's a rope ? Have you any string ? Give 
 me your handkerchief." 
 
 They were hastily tying their handkerchiefs
 
 Central Africa, 95 
 
 together^ when Mark^ looking round to see if the 
 monstrous serpent was approaching, shouted, — 
 
 " There's a tree ! '' 
 
 There was a large hollow willow or pollard in the 
 hedge. They rushed to it, they clasped it as ship- 
 wrecked men a beam. Mark was first, he got 
 inside on the " touchwood/' and scrambled up a 
 little way, then he worked up, his back against one 
 side, and his knees the other. Bevis got under- 
 neath, and '^ bunted '' him up. Bunting is shoving 
 with shoulder or hands. There were brambles on 
 the top ; Mark crushed through, and in a minute 
 was firmly planted on the top. 
 
 '^ Give me my spear, and your bow, and your 
 hand,'' he said breathlessly. 
 
 The spear and the bow were passed up : Bevis 
 followed, taking Mark's hand just at the last. Mark 
 put the point of his spear downwards to stab the 
 monster. Bevis fitted an arrow to his bow. Pan 
 looked up, but could not climb. They watched the 
 long grasses narrowly, expecting to see them wave 
 from side to side every instant, as the python wound 
 his sinuous way. There was a rustling beneath, but 
 on the other side of the hedge. Bevis looked and 
 saw Pan, who had crept through. 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " said Mark^ as
 
 96 Bevis, 
 
 Bevis slung his bow on his shoulder as if it was a 
 rifle, and began to move out on the hollow top of 
 the tree, which as it became hollow had split, and 
 partly arched over. Bevis did not answer : he crept 
 cautiously out on the top which vibrated under 
 him ; then suddenly seizing a lissom bough, he 
 slipped off and let himself down. He was inside the 
 hedge that had so long baffled them. Mark saw in 
 an instant, darted his spear down and followed. So 
 soon as he touched ground, off they set running. 
 There were no sedges here, nothing but short 
 grasses and such herbage as grows under the per- 
 petual shade of ash-poles, and they could run 
 easily. The ease of motion was, in itself, a relief, 
 after the struggle in the reed-grass. When they had 
 raced some distance, and felt safe, they stopped. 
 
 " Why, this is a wood ! '' said Mark, looking 
 round. Ash-stoles and poles surrounded them on 
 every side. 
 
 " So it is,'' said Bevis. "No, it's a jungle." 
 
 They walked forward and came to an open space, 
 round about a broad spreading oak. 
 
 " I shall sit down here," said Bevis. 
 
 But as they were about to sit down. Pan, who 
 had woke up when he scented rabbits, suddenly 
 disappeared in a hollow.
 
 Central Africa. 97 
 
 " What^s tliat/^ said Mark. He went to see, and 
 heard a sound of lapping. 
 
 " Water ! ^^ shouted Mark, and Bevis came to 
 him. Deep down in a narrow channel there was 
 the merest trickle of shallow water_, but running, 
 and clear as crystal. It came from chalk, and it 
 was limpid. Pan could drink, but they could not. 
 His hollow tongue lapped it up like a spoon ; but it 
 was too shallow to scoop up in the palm of the hand, 
 and they had no tube of '^ gix,^^ or reed, or oat 
 straw, or buttercup stalk to suck through. They 
 sprang into the channel itself, alighting on a place 
 the water did not cover, but with the stream under 
 their feet they could not drink. Nothing but a 
 sparrow could have done so. 
 
 Presently Bevis stooped, and with his hands 
 scratched away the silt which formed the bottom, a 
 fine silt of powdered chalk, almost like quicksand, 
 till he had made a bowl-like cavity. The stream 
 soon filled it, but then the water was thick, being 
 disturbed, and they had to wait till it had settled. 
 Then they lapped too, very carefully, with the hollow 
 palm, taking care that the water which ran through 
 their fingers should fall below, and not above the 
 bowl, or the weight of the drops would disturb it 
 again. With perseverance they satisfied their thirst ; 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 Bevis, 
 
 then they returned to the oak, and took out their 
 provisions ; they could eat now. 
 
 '^This is a jolly jungle/' said Mark, with his 
 mouth full. 
 
 '^ That's a banyan/' said Bevis, pointing with the 
 knuckle-end of the drum-stick he was gnawing at 
 the oak over them. ^^ It's about eleven thousand 
 years old." 
 
 Then Mark took the drum-stick, and had his 
 turn at it. When it was polished, Pan had it : he 
 cracked it across with his teeth, just as the hyenas 
 did in the cave days, for the animals never learnt to 
 split bones, as the earliest men did. Pan cracked it 
 very disconsolately : his heart was with the fleshpots. 
 
 Boom ! 
 
 They starred. It was the same peculiar sound 
 they had heard before, and seemed to come from an 
 immense distance. A pheasant crowed as he heard 
 it in the jungle close by them, and a second 
 farther away. 
 
 " What can it be ? " whispered Mark. " Is there 
 anything here ? " — glancing around. 
 
 '^ There may be some genii," said Bevis quietly. 
 " Very likely there are some genii : they are 
 everywhere. But I do not know what that was. 
 Listen ! "
 
 Central Africa, 99 
 
 They listened : tlie wood was still; so still, they 
 could hear a moth or a chafer entangled in the 
 leaves of the oak overhead, and trying to get out. 
 Looking up there, the sky was blue and clear, and 
 the sunlight fell brightly on the open space by the 
 streamlet. Therewasnothingbutthe hum. The long, 
 long summer days seem gradually to dispose the 
 mind to expect something unusual. Out of such an 
 expanse of light, when the earth is tangibly in the 
 midst of a vast illumined space, what may not come ? 
 — perhaps something more than is common to the 
 senses. The mind opens with the enlarging day. 
 
 It is said the sandhills of the desert under the 
 noon-day sun emit strange sounds ; that the rocky 
 valleys are vocal ; the primeval forest speaks in its 
 depths; hollow ocean sends a muttering to the 
 becalmed vessel; and up in the mountains the 
 bound words are set loose. Of old times the hunts- 
 men in our own woods met the noonday spirit under 
 the leafy canopy. 
 
 Bevis and Mark listened, but heard nothing, 
 except the entangled chafer, the midsummer hum, 
 and, presently. Pan snuffling, as he buried his nos- 
 trils in his hair to bite a flea. They laughed at 
 him, for his eyes were staring, and his flexible 
 nostrils turned up as if his face was not alive but 
 
 H 2
 
 I oo Bevis, 
 
 stuffed. The boom did not come again, so they 
 finished their dinner. 
 
 '^ I feel jolly lazy/^ said Mark. ^^ You ought to 
 put the things down on the map." 
 
 " So I did/' said Bevis, and he got out his brown 
 paper, and Mark held it while he worked. He drew 
 Fir-Tree Gulf and the Nile. 
 
 '^ Write that there is a deep hole there/' said 
 Mark, " and awful crocodiles : that's it. Now 
 Africa — you want a very long stroke there; write 
 reeds and bamboos/' 
 
 " No, not bamboos, papyrus," said Bevis. 
 *' Bamboos grow in India, where we are now. 
 There's some/' pointing to a tall wild parsnip, or 
 '^ gix," on the verge of the streamlet. 
 
 "I'm so lazy," said Mark. "I shall go to 
 sleep." 
 
 '^No you won't/' said Bevis. " 1 ought to go to 
 sleep, and you ought to watch. Get your spear, 
 and now take my bow." 
 
 Mark took the bow sullenly. 
 
 " You ought to stand up, and walk up and 
 down." 
 
 " I can't," said Mark very short. 
 
 ''Very well; then go farther away, where you 
 can see more round you. There, sit down there. 
 
 it
 
 te 
 
 (C 
 
 Cen tra I Africa . i o i 
 
 Mark sat down at the edge of the shadow of the 
 oak. ^^ Don^t you see you can look into the 
 channel; if there are any savages they are sure to 
 creep up that channel. Do you see ? '^ 
 Yes, I see/^ said Mark. 
 
 And mind nothing comes behind that wood- 
 bine/' pointing to a mass of woodbine which hung 
 from some ash-poles, and stretched like a curtain 
 across the view there. " That's a very likely place 
 for a tiger : and keep your eye sharp on those nut- 
 tree bushes across the brook — most likely you'll 
 see the barrel of a matchlock pushed through 
 there.'^ 
 
 " I ought to have a matchlock/' said Mark. 
 
 " So you did; but we had to start with what we 
 had, and it is all the more glory to us if we get 
 through. Now mind you keep awake." 
 
 "Yes/' said Mark. 
 
 Bevis^ having given his orders, settled himself 
 very comfortably on the moss at the foot of the 
 oak, tilted his hat aside to shelter him still more, 
 and, with a spray of ash in his hand to ward off 
 the flies, began to forget. In a minute up. he 
 started. 
 
 '' Mark ! " 
 
 " Yes j" still sulky.
 
 102 Bevis. 
 
 '^There's another oak — no, it's a banyan up 
 farther; behind you/' 
 
 '' I know.'' 
 
 ^^Well, if you hear any rustle there, it's a 
 python." 
 
 *' Very well." 
 
 '' And those dead leaves and sticks in the hole 
 there by the stump of that old tree ? " 
 
 *' I see." 
 
 ^^ There's a cobra there." 
 
 " All right." 
 
 " And if a shadow comes over suddenly." 
 
 " What's that, then ? " said Mark. 
 
 '^ That's the roc from Sinbad's Island." 
 
 " I say^ Bevis/' as Bevis settled himself down 
 again. "Bevis, don't go to sleep." 
 
 " Pooh ! " 
 
 " But it's not nice." 
 
 " Rubbish." 
 
 " Bevis." 
 
 " Don't talk silly." 
 
 In a minute Bevis was fast asleep. He always 
 slept quickly, and the heat and the exertion made 
 him forget himself still quicker.
 
 103 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 THE JUNGLE. 
 
 Mark was aloDe. He felt without going nearer 
 that Bevis was asleep, and dared not wake him lest 
 he should be called a coward. He moved a little 
 way so as to have the oak more at his back, and to 
 get a clearer view on all sides. Then he looked 
 up at the sky, and whistled very low. Pan, who 
 was half asleep too, got up slowly, and came to him; 
 but finding that there was nothing to eat, and dis- 
 liking to be stroked and patted on such a hot day, 
 he went back to his old place, the barest spot he 
 could find, mere dry ground. 
 
 Mark sat, bow and arrow ready in his hand, the 
 arrow on the string, with the spear beside him, and 
 his pocket-knife with the big blade open, and looked 
 into the jungle. It was still and silent. The chafer 
 had got loose, and there was nothing but the hum 
 overhead. He kept the strictest watch, scarce
 
 1 04 Bevis. 
 
 allowing himself to blink his eyes. Now he looked 
 steadily into the brushwood he could see some dis- 
 tance, his glance found a way through between 
 the boughs, till presently, after he had searched 
 out these crevices, he could command a circle of 
 view. 
 
 Like so many slender webs his lines of sight thus 
 drawn through mere chinks of foliage radiated from 
 a central spot, and at the end of each he seemed as 
 if he could feel if anything moved as much as he 
 could see it. Each of these webs strained at his 
 weary mind, and even in the shade the strong glare 
 of the summer noon pressed heavily on his eyelids. 
 Had anything moved, a bird or moth, or had the 
 leaves rustled, it would have relieved him. This 
 expectation was a continual effort. His eyes closed, 
 he opened them, frowned and blinked; then he 
 reclined on one arm as an easier position. His eyes 
 closed, the shrill midsummer hum sounded low 
 and distant, then loud, suddenly it ceased — he was 
 asleep. 
 
 The sunburnt woodbine, the oaks dotted with 
 coppery leaves where the second shoot appeared, 
 the ash-poles rising from the hollow stoles, and 
 whose pale sprays touching above formed a green 
 surface, hazel with white nuts, stiff, ragged thistles
 
 The yungle. 105 
 
 on the stream bank^ burrs with brown-tipped 
 hooks, the hard dry ground, all silent, fixed, held 
 in the light. 
 
 The sun slipped through the sky like a yacht 
 under the shore where the light wind coming over 
 a bank just fills the sails, but leaves the surface 
 smooth. Through the smooth blue the sun slipped 
 silently, and no white fleck of foam cloud marked 
 his speed. But in the deep narrow channel of the 
 streamlet there was a change — the tiny trickle of 
 water was no longer illumined by the vertical 
 beams, a slight slant left it to run in shadow. 
 
 Burr ! came a humble-bee whose drone was now 
 put out as he went down among the grass and 
 leaves, now rose again as he travelled. Burr ! The 
 faintest breath of air moved without rustling the 
 topmost leaves of the oaks. The humble-bee went 
 on, and disappeared behind the stoles. 
 
 A little flicker of movement happened among the 
 woodbine, not to be seen of itself, but as a some- 
 thing interrupting the light like a larger mote 
 crossing the beam. The leaves of the woodbine in 
 oue place were drawn together and coated with a 
 white web and a tiny bird came to take away the 
 destroyer. Then mounting to a branch of ash he 
 sang, " Sip, sip — chip, chip ! '^
 
 io6 Bevis. 
 
 Again the upper leaves of the oak moved and 
 jostling together caused a slight sound. Coo ! coo ! 
 there was a dove beyond the hazel bushes across 
 the stream. The shadow was more aslant and rose 
 up the stalks of the rushes in the channel. Over 
 the green surface of the ash sprays above, the 
 breeze drew and rippled it like water. A jay 
 came into the farther oak and scolded a distant 
 mate. 
 
 Presently Pan awoke, nabbed another flea, looked 
 round and shook his ears, from which some of the 
 hair was worn by continual rubbing against the 
 bushes under which he had crept for so many years. 
 He felt thirsty, and remembering the stream, went 
 towards it, passing very lightly by Bevis, so closely 
 as to almost brush his hat. The slight pad, pad 
 of his paws on the moss and earth conveyed a sense 
 of something moving near him to Bevis^ mind. 
 Bevis instantly sat up, so quickly, that the spaniel, 
 half alarmed, ran some yards. 
 
 Directly Bevis sat up he saw that Mark had fallen 
 asleep. He thought for a moment, and then took a 
 piece of string from his pocket. Stepping quietly 
 up to Mark he made a slip-knot in the string, lifted 
 Mark^s arm and put his hand through the loop 
 above the wrist, then he jerked it tight. Mark
 
 The Jungle, 107 
 
 scrambled up in terror — it might have been the 
 python : — 
 
 "0! I say!'' 
 
 Before he could finish, Bevis had dragged him 
 two or three steps towards an ash-pole, when Mark, 
 thoroughly awake, jerked his arm free, though the 
 string hung to it. 
 
 '^ How dare you ? '' said Bevis, snatching at the 
 string, but Mark pushed him back. " How dare 
 you ? you're a prisoner." 
 
 '' I'm not," said Mark very angrily. 
 
 '' Yes, you are ; you were asleep." 
 
 '' I don't care." 
 
 '' I will tie you up." 
 
 " You shan't." 
 
 '^ If you sleep at your post, you have to be tied 
 to a tree, you know you have, and be left there to 
 starve." 
 
 '' I won't." 
 
 " You must, or till the tigers have you. Do you 
 hear ? stand still ! " 
 
 Bevis tried to secure him, Mark pushed him in 
 turn. 
 
 '' You're a wretch." 
 
 " I hate you ! " 
 
 " I'll kill you ! "
 
 1 08 Bevis. 
 
 " I'll shoot you ! " 
 
 Mark darted aside and took his spear; Bevis 
 had his bow in an instant and began to draw it. 
 Mark, knowing that Bevis would shoot his hardest, 
 ran for the second oak. Bevis in his haste pulled 
 hard, but let the arrow slip before he could take 
 aim. It glanced upon a bough and shot up nearly 
 straight into the air, gleaming as it went — a streak 
 of light — in the sunshine. Mark stopped by the 
 oak, and before Bevis could fetch another arrow 
 poised his spear and threw it. The spear flew 
 direct at the enemy, bat in his haste Mark forgot 
 to throw high enough, he hurled it point-blank, 
 and the hardened point struck the earth and chipped 
 up crumbling pieces of dry ground; then it slid 
 like a serpent some way through the thin grasses. 
 
 Utterly heedless of the spear, which in his rage 
 he never saw, Bevis picked up an arrow from the 
 place where he had slept, fitted the notch to the 
 string and looked for Mark, who had hidden behind 
 the other oak. Guessing that he was there, Bevis 
 ran towards it, when Mark shouted to him, — 
 
 ^^ Stop ! I say, it's not fair ; I have nothing, and 
 you'll be a coward." 
 
 Bevis paused, and saw the spear lying on the 
 ground.
 
 The yungle. 109 
 
 " Come and take your spear/^ lie said directly ; 
 '' I won^t shoot/^ He put his bow on the ground. 
 Mark ran out, and had his spear in a moment. 
 Bevis stooped to hft his bow^ but suddenly in his 
 turn cried _, — 
 
 ^^ Stop ! Don^t throw ; I want to say something.''^ 
 
 Mark, who had poised his spear, put it down again 
 on the grass. 
 
 ^^ We ought not to fight now," said Bevis. " You 
 know we are exploring, people never fight then, else 
 the savages kill those who are left ; they wait till 
 they get home, and then fight." 
 
 '*■ So they do," said Mark j ''but I shall not be 
 left tied to a tree." 
 
 '' Very well, not this time. Now we must shake 
 hands." 
 
 They shook hands, and Pan, seeing that there 
 was now no danger of a chance knock from a flying 
 stick, came forth from the bush where he had taken 
 shelter. 
 
 '' But you want everything your own way," said 
 Mark sulkily. 
 
 ^' Of course I do," said Bevis, glaring at him, 
 '' Fm captain." 
 
 But you do when you are not captain. 
 You are a big story." 
 
 
 3i
 
 1 1 o Bevis. 
 
 "rmnot.'' 
 
 " You are." 
 
 " Tm not/' 
 
 "People are not to contradict rae/^ said Bevis, 
 looking very defiant indeed, and standing bolt up- 
 right. " I say I am cap tain.''' 
 
 Mark did not reply, but picked up bis bat, wbicb 
 bad fallen off. Without another word each gathered 
 up bis things, then came the question which way to 
 go ? Bevis would not consult bis companion ; bis 
 companion would not speak first. Bevis shut bis 
 lips very tight, pressing his teeth together; he 
 determined to continue on and try and get round the 
 New Sea. He was not sure, but fancied they should 
 do so by keeping somewhat to the right. He walked 
 to the channel of the stream, sprang across it, and 
 pushing bis way through the hazel bushes, went in 
 that direction ; Mark followed silently, holding bis 
 arm up to stop the boughs which as Bevis parted 
 them swung back sharply. 
 
 After the hazel bushes there was fairly clear walk- 
 ing between the ash-poles and especially near the 
 oak-trees, each of wbicb had an open space about it. 
 Bevis went as straight as he could, but had to wind 
 in and out round the stoles and sometimes to make a 
 curve when there was a thick bramble bush in the
 
 The Jimgle. 1 1 1 
 
 way. As they passed in Indian file under some 
 larger poles, Mark suddenly left the path and began 
 to climb one of them. Bevis stopped, and saw that 
 there was a wood-pigeon^s nest. The bird was on 
 the nest, and though she felt the ash-pole tremble as 
 Mark came up, hand over hand, cracking little dead 
 twigs, though her nest shook under her, she stayed 
 till his hand almost touched it. Then she flew up 
 through the pale green ash sprays, and Mark saw 
 there were two eggs, for the sticks of which the nest 
 was made were so thinly put together that, now the 
 bird was gone, he could see the light through, and 
 part of the eggs lying on them. 
 
 He brought one of the eggs down in his left hand, 
 sliding down the pole slowly not to break it. The 
 pure white of the wood-pigeon's ^^^ is curiously and 
 delicately mottled like the pores of the finest human 
 skin. The enamel of the surface, though smooth 
 and glossy, has beneath it some water-mark of under 
 texture like the arm of the Queen of Love, glossy 
 white and smooth, yet not encased, but imperceptibly 
 porous to that breath of violet sweetness which 
 announces the goddess. The sunlight fell on the 
 oval as Mark, without a moment's pause, took a 
 pin from the hem of his jacket and blew the Q%^. 
 
 So soon as he had finished, Bevis went on again,
 
 112 Bevis. 
 
 and came to some hawthorn bushes, through which 
 they had much trouble to push their way, receiving 
 several stabs from the long thorns. As it was 
 awkward with the egg in his hand, Mark dropped it. 
 
 There was a path beyond the hawthorn, very 
 little used, if at all, and green, but still a path — a 
 trodden line — and Bevis went along it, as it seemed 
 to lead in the direction he wished. By the side 
 of the path he presently found a structure of ash 
 sticks, and stopped to look at it. At each end 
 four sticks were driven into the ground, two and 
 two, the tops crossing each other so as to make 
 a small Y. Longer sticks were laid in these V's, 
 and others across at each end. 
 
 ^' It^s a little house,^' said Mark, forgetting the 
 quarrel. " Here's some of the straw on the ground ; 
 they thatch it in winter and crawl under." (It was 
 about three feet high.) 
 
 "I don't know,'' said Bevis. 
 
 ^^I'm sure it is," said Mark. "They are little 
 men, the savages who live here, they're pigmies, you 
 know." 
 
 '^ So they are," said Bevis, quite convinced, and 
 likewise forgetting his temper. " Of course they 
 are, and that's why the path is so narrow. But I 
 believe it's not a house, I mean not a house to live
 
 The Jungle. 113 
 
 in. It's a place to worship at, where they have a 
 fetich/' 
 
 " I think it's a house/' said Mark. 
 
 " Then where's the fireplace ? '"* asked Bevis 
 decidedly. 
 
 "No more there is a fireplace," said Mark 
 thoughtfully. " It's a fetich-place.'"' 
 
 Bevis went on again, leaving the framework 
 behind. Across those bars the barley was thrown 
 in autumn for the pheasants, which feed by darting 
 up and dragging down a single ear at a time ; thus 
 by keeping the barley ofi" the ground there is less 
 waste. They knew this very well. 
 
 " Bevis," said Mark presently. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Let's leave this path.'^ 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " Most likely we shall meet some savages — or 
 perhaps a herd of wild beasts, they rush along these 
 paths in the jungle and crush over everything — 
 perhaps elephants.'^ 
 
 " So they do," said Bevis, and hastily stepped 
 out of the path into the wood again. They went 
 under more ash-poles where the pigeons' nests were 
 numerous ; they counted five all in sight at once, 
 and only a few yards apart, for they could not see 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 I T 4 Bevis. 
 
 far tlirougli tlie boughs. Some of the birds were 
 sitting, others were not. Mark put up his spear 
 and pushed one off her nest. There was a continual 
 fluttering all round them as the pigeons came down 
 to, or left their places. Never had they seen so many 
 nests — they walked about under them for a long 
 time, doing nothing but look up at them, and talk 
 about them. 
 
 '' I know,^^ said Bevis, " I know — these savages 
 here think the pigeons sacred, and don^t kill them — 
 that's why there are so many.'' 
 
 Not much looking where they were going, they 
 came out into a space where the poles had been cut 
 in the winter, and the stoles bore only young shoots 
 a few feet high. There was a single waggon track, 
 the ruts overhung with grasses and bordered T\4th 
 rushes, and at the end of it, where it turned, they 
 saw a cock pheasant. They tried to go through 
 between the stoles, but the thistles were too thick 
 and the brambles and briars too many ; they could 
 flourish here till the ash poles grew tall and kept 
 away the sun. So they followed the waggon track, 
 which led them again under the tall poles. 
 
 To avoid the savages they kept a very sharp look- 
 out, and paused if they saw anything. There was 
 a huge brown crooked monster lying asleep in one
 
 The yungle. 115 
 
 place, they could not determine whetlier an elephant 
 or some unknown beast, till, creeping nearer from 
 stole to bush and bush to stole, they found it to 
 be a thrown oak, from which the bark had been 
 stripped, and the exposed sap had dried brown 
 in the sun. So the vast iguanodon may have 
 looked in primeval days when he laid him down to 
 rest in the brushwood. 
 
 " When shall we come to the New Sea again ? '^ 
 said Mark presently, as they were moving more 
 slowly through a thicker growth. 
 
 " I cannot think,'^ said Bevis. ^^ If we get lost 
 in this jungle, we may walk and walk and walk and 
 never come to anything except banyan-trees, and 
 cobras, and tigers, and savages.''^ 
 
 " Are you sure we have been going straight ? ^' 
 
 ^^ How do I know ? " 
 
 ^' Did you follow the sun ? ^' asked Mark. 
 
 " No, indeed, I did not ; if you walk towards the sun 
 you will go round and round, because the sun moves. 
 
 " I forgot. ! I know, where's the compass ? 
 
 " How stupid ! '' said Bevis. " Of course it was 
 in my pocket all the time.^^ 
 
 He took it out, and as he lifted the brazen lid the 
 white card swung to and fro with the vibration of 
 his hand. 
 
 I 2 

 
 1 1 6 Bevis. 
 
 "Rest your hand against a pole," said Mark. 
 This support steadied Bevis's hand, and the card 
 gently came to a standstill. The north, with the 
 three feathers, pointed straight at him. 
 
 "Now, which way was the sea ? ^' said Mark, 
 trying to think of the direction in which they had 
 last seen it. " It was that side," he said, holding 
 out his right hand ; he faced Bevis. 
 
 " Yes, it was,'' said Bevis. " It was on the 
 right hand, now that would be east " [to Mark], 
 " so if we go east we must be right." 
 
 He started with the compass in his hand, keeping 
 his eye on it, but then he could not see the stoles 
 or bushes, and walked against them, and the card 
 swung so he could not make a course. 
 
 " What a bother it is," he said, stopping, " the 
 card won't keep still. Let me see ! ■" He thought 
 a minute, and as he paused the three feathers 
 settled again. " There's an oak," he said. "The 
 oak is just east. Come on." He went to the oak, 
 and then stopped again. 
 
 " I see," said Mark, watching the card till it 
 stopped. " The elder bush is east now." 
 
 They went to the elder bush and waited : there 
 was a great thistle east next, and afterwards a 
 bough which had fallen. Thus they worked a bee-
 
 The Jungle. 1 1 7 
 
 line, very slow but almost quite true. The ash- 
 poles rattled now as the breeze freshened and 
 knocked them together. 
 
 " What a lot of leaves/' said Bevis presently ; '' I 
 never saw such a lot/' 
 
 '*" And they are so deep/' said Mark. They had 
 walked on dead leaves for some little while before 
 they noticed them, being so eagerly engaged with 
 the compass. Now they looked the ground was 
 covered with brown beech leaves, so deep, that 
 although their feet sunk into them^ they could not 
 feel the firm ground, but walked on a yielding 
 substance. A thousand woodcocks might have 
 thrown them over their heads and hidden easily 
 had it been their time of year. The compass 
 led them straight over the leaves, till in a minute 
 or two they saw that they were in a narrow deep 
 coombe. It became narrower and with steeper sides 
 till they approached the end, when the chalk showed 
 not white but dull as it crumbled, the flakes hanging 
 at the roots of minute plants. 
 
 " I don't like these leaves," said Mark. " There 
 may be a cobra, and you can't see him ; you may 
 step on him without knowing." 
 
 Hastily he and Bevis scrambled a few feet up the 
 chalky side ; the danger was so obvious they rushed
 
 1 1 8 Bevts. 
 
 to escape it before discussing. Wlien they had got 
 over this alarm, they found the compass still told 
 them to go on, which they could not do without 
 scaling the coombe. They got up a good way with- 
 out much trouble, holding to hazel boughs, for the 
 hazel grows on the steepest chalk clifi's, but then 
 the chalk was bare of all but brambles, whose 
 creepers came down towards them ; why do bramble 
 creepers, like water, always come down hill ? 
 Under these the chalk was all crumbled, and 
 gave way under the foot, so that if they put one 
 foot up higher it slipped with their weight, and 
 returned them to the same level. 
 
 Two rabbits rushed away, and were lost beneath 
 the brambles. Without conscious thinking they 
 walked aslant, and so gained a few feet every ten 
 yards, and then came to a spot where the crust of 
 the top hung over, and from it the roots of beech 
 trees came curving down into the hollow space in 
 search of earth. To one of these they clung by 
 turns, some of the loose chalky clods fell on them, but 
 they hauled themselves up over the projecting edge. 
 Bevis went first, and took all the weapons from Mark ; 
 Pan went a long way round. 
 
 At the summit there was a beautiful beech-tree, 
 with an immense round trunk rising straight up.
 
 The Jungle, 119 
 
 and they sat down on the moss, wliich always grows 
 at the foot of the beech, to rest after the struggle 
 up. As they sat down they turned round facing the 
 cliff, and both shouted at once, — 
 '' The New Sea ! ''
 
 1 20 Bevis. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE WITCH. 
 
 The blue water had lost its glitter^ for they were 
 now between it and the sun^ and the freshening 
 breeze, as it swept over, darkened the surface. They 
 were too far to see the waves, but that they were 
 rising was evident since the water no longer re- 
 flected the sky like a mirror. The sky was cloud- 
 less, but the water seemed in shadow, rough and 
 hard. It was full half a mile or more down to where 
 the wood touched the shore of the New Sea and 
 shut out their view, so that they could not tell how 
 far it extended. Serendib and the Unknown Island 
 were opposite, and they could see the sea all round 
 them from the height where they sat. 
 
 '' We left the sea behind us,'' said Mark. " The 
 compass took us right away from it.'' 
 
 " We began wrong somehow," said Bevis. In 
 fact they had walked in a long curve, so that when
 
 The Witch. 121 
 
 they thought the New Sea was on Mark's right, it 
 was really on his left hand. ^' I must put down on 
 the map that people must go west, not east, or they 
 will never get round/' 
 
 ''It must be thousands of miles round/' said Mark; 
 " thousands and thousands." 
 
 '' So it is," said Bevis_, '' and only to think nobody 
 ever saw it before you and me." 
 
 '' What a long way we can see/' said Mark, 
 pointing to where the horizon and the blue wooded 
 plain below, beyond the sea, became hazy together. 
 '' What country is that ? " 
 
 "I do not know; no one has ever been there." 
 
 '' Which way is England ? " asked Mark. 
 
 '' How can I tell when I don't know where we 
 are ? " 
 
 The ash sprays touching each other formed a 
 green surface beneath them, extending to the right 
 and left — a green surface into which every now and 
 then a wood-pigeon plunged, closing his wings as the 
 sea-birds dive into the sea. They sat in the shadow 
 of the great beech, and the wind, comiug up over the 
 wood, blew cool against their faces. The swallows 
 had left the sky, to go down and glide over the rising 
 waves below. 
 
 '' Come on," said Bevis, incapable of rest unless
 
 
 12 2 Bevis, 
 
 he was dreaming. '^ If we keep along the top of 
 the hill we shall know where we are going, and per- 
 haps see a way round presently." 
 
 They followed the edge of the low cliff as nearly 
 as they could, walking under the beeches where it 
 was cool and shady, and the wind blew through. 
 Twice they saw squirrels, but they were too quick, 
 and Bevis could not get a shot with his bow. 
 
 We ought to take home something," said Mark, 
 
 Something wonderful. There ought to be some 
 pieces of gold about, or a butterfly as big as a plate. 
 Can't you see something ? '' 
 
 '^ There's a dragon-fly," said Bevis. ^^ If we can't 
 catch him, we can say we saw one made of emerald, 
 and here's a feather." 
 
 He picked up a pheasant's feather. The dragon- 
 fly refused to be caught, he rushed up into the air 
 nearly perpendicularly; and seeing another squirrel 
 some way ahead, they left the dragon-fly and crept 
 from beech trunk to beech trunk towards him. 
 
 '^ It's a red squirrel," whispered Mark. " That's a 
 different sort." In summer the squirrels are thought 
 to have redder fur than in winter. Mark stopped now, 
 and Bevis went on by himself ; but the squirrel saw 
 Pan, who had run along and came out beyond him. 
 Bevis shot as the squirrel rushed up a tree, and his
 
 The Witch. 123 
 
 arrow struck the bark, quivered a moment, and 
 stuck there. 
 
 The savages will see some one has been hunt- 
 ing/^ said Mark. ^' They are sure to see that 
 
 arrow." 
 
 In a few minutes they came to some hazel bushes, 
 and pushing through these there was a lane under 
 them in a hollow ten feet deep. They scrambled 
 down and followed it, and came to a boulder-stone, 
 on which some specks sparkled in the sunshine, so 
 that they had no doubt it was silver ore. Eound a 
 curve of the lane they emerged on the brow of a 
 green hill, very steep ; they had left the wood behind 
 them. The trees from here hid the New Sea, and 
 in front, not far off, rose the Downs. 
 
 ^^ What are those mountains ? '^ asked Mark. 
 
 ^' The Himalayas, of course,'"' said Bevis. ^^ Let's 
 go to them.'' 
 
 They went along the brow, it was delicious 
 walking there, for the sun was now much lower, and 
 the breeze cool, and beneath them were meadows, 
 and a brook winding through. But suddenly they 
 came to a deep coombe — a nullah. 
 
 " Look ! " said Mark, pointing to a chimney just 
 under them. The square top, blackened by soot, 
 stood in the midst of apple-trees, on whose boughs
 
 124 Bevis. 
 
 the young green apples showed. The thatch of the 
 cottage was concealed by the trees. 
 
 " A hut ! '' said Bevis. 
 
 '^ Savages ! '^ said Mark, " I know, I'll pitch a 
 stone down the chimney, and you get your bow 
 ready, and shoot them as they rush out." 
 
 " Capital ! '^ said Bevis. Mark picked up a flint, 
 and ^^ chucked '^ it — it fell very near the chimney, 
 they heard it strike the thatch and roll down. Mark 
 got another, and most likely, having found the range, 
 would have dropped it into the chimney this time, 
 when Bevis stopped him. 
 
 ^' \t maybe a witch/' he said. '^ Don't you know 
 what John told us ? if you pitch a stone down a 
 witch's chimney it goes off bang ! and the stone 
 shoots up into the air like a cannon-ball." 
 
 " I remember," said Mark. " But John is a 
 dreadful story. I don't believe it." 
 
 " No, no more do I. Still we ought to be careful. 
 Let's creep down and look first." 
 
 They got down the hillside with diflBculty, it was 
 so steep and slippery — the grass being dried by the 
 sun. At the bottom there was a streamlet running 
 along deep in a gully, a little pool of the clearest 
 water to dip froui, and a green sparred wicket-gate 
 in a hawthorn hedge about the garden. Peering
 
 The Witch. 125 
 
 cautiously througli the gate they saw an old woman 
 sitting under the porch beside the open door, with 
 a black teapot on the window-ledge close by, and a 
 blue teacup, in which she was soaking a piece of 
 bread, in one hand. 
 
 ''It's a witch/' whispered Mark. " There's a 
 black cat by the wall- flowers — that's a certain 
 sign. 
 
 '' And two sticks with crutch-handles," said 
 Bevis. ''But just look there." He pointed to 
 some gooseberry bushes loaded with the swelling 
 fruit, than which there is nothing so pleasant on a 
 warm, thirsty day. They looked at the gooseberries, 
 and thirsted for them; then they looked at the 
 witch. 
 
 " Let's run in and pick some, and run out quick," 
 whispered Mark. 
 
 " You stupid ; she'd turn us into anything in a 
 minute." 
 
 i^ Well— shoot her first," said Mark "Take 
 steady aim ; John says if you draw their blood they 
 can't do anything. Don't you remember, they stuck 
 the last one with a prong." 
 
 " Horrid cruel," said Bevis. 
 
 " So it was," said Mark ; " but when you want 
 gooseberries."
 
 126 Bevis, 
 
 iC 
 
 I wish we had some moly,'' said Bevis ; '' you 
 know, the plant Ulysses had. Mind before we start 
 next time we must find some. Who knows what 
 fearful magic people we might meet ? ^' 
 
 ^^ It was stupid not to think of it/' said Mark. 
 " Do you know, I believe she's a mummy.'' 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 *^ She hasn't moved ; and I can't see her draw her 
 breath." 
 
 " No more she does. This is a terrible place." 
 
 '^ Can we get away without her seeing ? " 
 
 '^ I believe she knows we're here now, and very 
 likely all we have been saying." 
 
 " Did she make that curious thunder we heard ? " 
 
 *' No ; a witch isn't strong enough ; it wants an 
 enchanter to do that." 
 
 ^^ But she knows who did it ? " 
 
 " Of course she does. Tliere, she's moved her 
 arm ; she's alive. Aren't those splendid goose- 
 berries ? " 
 
 " I'll go in," said Bevis ; '^ you hold the gate open, 
 so that I can run out." 
 
 " So I will ; don't go very near." 
 
 Bevis fitted an arrow to the string, and went up 
 the garden path. But as he came near, and saw 
 how peaceful the old lady looked, he removed the
 
 The Witch. 127 
 
 arrow from the string again. She took off her 
 spectacles as he came up ; he stopped about ten 
 yards from her. 
 
 '' Mrs. Old Woman^ are you a witch ? ^^ 
 
 " No_, I bean''t a witch/^ said the old lady ; ^^ I 
 wishes I was ; IM soon charm a crock o^ gold.^' 
 
 '^ Then_, if you are not a witch^ will you let us have 
 some gooseberries ? heron's sixpence." 
 
 " You med have some if you want's 'em ; I 
 shan't take yer money." 
 
 '^ What country is this ? " said Bevis^ going 
 closer, as Mark came up beside him." 
 
 " This be Calais." 
 
 " Granny, don't you know who they be ? " said a 
 girl, coming round the corner of the cottage. She 
 was about seventeen,, and very pretty, with the 
 bloom which comes on sweet faces at that age. 
 Though they were but boys they were tall, and 
 both handsome ; so she had put a rose in her o 
 bosom. '' They be Measter Bevis and Measter Mark. 
 You know, as lives at Longcot." 
 
 '^Aw, to be sure." The old lady got up and 
 curtseyed. ^' You'll come in, won't 'ee ? " 
 
 They went in and sat down on chairs on the stone 
 floor. The girl brought them a plate of the goose- 
 berries and a jug of spring-water. Bevis had
 
 128 Bevis. 
 
 not eaten two before he was up and looking at an 
 old gun in the corner; the barrel was rusty^ the 
 brass guard tarnished, the ramrod gone, still it was 
 a gun. 
 
 " Will it go off ? '' he said. 
 
 " Feyther used to make un/' said the girl. 
 
 Next he found a big black book, and lifted up 
 the covers, and saw a rude engraving of a plant. 
 , " Is that a magic book ? '^ said he. 
 
 "I dunno," she replied. '^Mebbe. Granny used 
 to read un."'^ 
 
 It was an old herbal. 
 
 " Can^t you read ? " said Bevis. 
 
 The girl blushed and turned away. 
 
 '' A' be a lazy wench,'' said the old woman. •' A' 
 can't read a mossel." 
 
 " I bean't lazy." 
 
 '^ You be.'' 
 
 Bevis, quite indifferent to that question, was 
 peering into every nook and corner, but found 
 nothing more. 
 
 " Let's go," said he directly. 
 
 Mark would not stir till he had finished the 
 gooseberries. 
 
 '^ Tell me the way round the — the — " he was 
 going to say sea, but recollected that they would
 
 The Witch. 129 
 
 not be able to understand how he and Mark were 
 on an expedition, nor would he say pond — ''^ round 
 the water^^^ he said. 
 
 ^^ The Longpond ? ^' said the girl. ^^ You can't 
 go round, there^s the marsh — not unless you 
 goes back to Wood Lane, and nigh handy your 
 place.^^ 
 
 ^^ Which way did 'ee come ? '' asked the old 
 woman. 
 
 '^ They come through the wood/^ said the girl. 
 " I seen um ; and they had the spannul.'^ 
 
 She was stroking Pan, who loved her, as she had 
 fed him with a bone. She knew the enormity of 
 taking a strange dog through a wood in the 
 breeding-season. 
 
 '^ How be um going to get whoam ? " said the 
 old woman. 
 
 " We^re going to walk, of course,^' said Bevis. 
 
 " It^s four miles. '^ 
 
 "Pooh! We've come thousands. Come on, 
 Mark; we^ll get round somehow.^' 
 
 But the girl convinced him after a time that it 
 was not possible, because of the marsh and the brook, 
 and showed him too how the shadows of the elms 
 were lengthening in the meadow outside the garden 
 at the foot of the hill. Bevis reluctantly decided 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 J 30 Be vis. 
 
 that they must abandon the expedition for that day, 
 and return home. The girl offered to show them 
 the way into the road. She led them by a narrow 
 path beside the streamlet in the gully, and then 
 along the steep side of the hill, where there were 
 three or four more cottages, all built on the slope, 
 steep as it was. The path in front of the doors 
 had a kind of breastwork, that folk might not 
 inadvertently tumble over and roll — if not quite 
 sober — into the gully beneath. Yet there were 
 small gardens behind, which almost stood up on 
 end, the vegetables appearing over the roofs. 
 
 Upon the breastwork or mound they had planted 
 a few flowers, all yellow, or yellow-tinged, mari- 
 golds, sunflowers, wall-flowers, a stray tulip, the 
 gaudiest they knew. These specks of brightness 
 by the dingy walls and grey thatch and whitened 
 turf, for the chalk was but an inch under, came of 
 instinct on that southern slope, as hot Spain flaunts a 
 yellow flag. 
 
 Six or eight children were about. One sat crying 
 in the midst of the path, so unconscious under the 
 wrong he had endured as not to see them, and they 
 had to step right over his red head. Some stared 
 at them with unchecked rudeness ; one or two 
 curtseyed or tugged at their forelocks. The hap-
 
 The Witch. 131 
 
 piest of all was sitting on the breastwork (of dry- 
 earth) eating a small turnip from which he had 
 cut the dirt and rind with a rusty table-knife. As 
 they passed he grinned and pushed the turnip in 
 their faces, as much as to say, "Have a bite/^ 
 Two or three women looked out after they had gone 
 by, and then some one cried, '^ Baa ! ^^ making a 
 noise like a sheep, at which the girl who led them 
 flushed up, and walked very quickly, with scorn and 
 rage, and hatred flashing in her eye. It was a 
 taunt. Her father was in gaol for lamb-stealing. 
 Her name was Aholibah, and they taunted her by 
 dwelling on the last syllable. 
 
 The path went to the top of the hill, and round 
 under a red barn, and now they could see the village, 
 of which these detached cottages were an outpost, 
 scattered over the slope, and on the plain on the 
 other side of the coombe, a quarter of a mile 
 distant. 
 
 "There's the windmill/' said the girl, pointing 
 to the tower-like building. " You go tow-ward 
 he. He be on the road. Then you turn to the 
 right till you comes to the handing-post. Tlien 
 you go to the left, and that'll take 'ee straight 
 whoam." 
 
 " Thank you," said Bevis. " I know now ; it's 
 
 K 2
 
 1 3 2 Bevis. 
 
 not far to Big Jack's house. Please have this six- 
 pence/' and he gave her the coin, which he had 
 unconsciously held in his hand ever since he had 
 taken it out to pay for the gooseberries. It was all 
 he had; he could not keep his money. 
 
 She took it, but her eyes were on him, and not on 
 the money ; she would have liked to have kissed 
 him. She watched them till she saw they had got 
 into the straight road, and then went back, but not 
 past the cottages. 
 
 They found the road very long, very long and 
 dull, and dusty and empty, except that there was a 
 young labourer — a huge fellow — lying across a 
 flint heap asleep, his mouth open and the flies thick 
 on his forehead. Bevis pulled a spray from the 
 hedge and laid it gently across his face. Except 
 for the sleeping labourer, the road was vacant, and 
 every step they took they went slower and slower. 
 There were no hons here, or monstrous pythons, or 
 anything magic. 
 
 " We shall never get home," said Mark. 
 
 " I don't believe we ever shall," said Bevis ; *' I 
 hate this road." 
 
 While they yawned and kicked at stray flints, or 
 pelted the sparrows on the hedge, a dog-cart came 
 swiftly up behind them. It ran swift and smooth
 
 The Witch. 133 
 
 and even balanced^ the slender shafts bending 
 slightly like the spars of a yacht. 
 
 It was drawn by a beautiful chestnut mare_, too 
 powerful by far for many_, which struck out with 
 her fore-feet as if measuring space and carrying the 
 car of a god in the sky, throwing her feet as if 
 there were no road but elastic air beneath them. 
 The man was very tall and broad and sat upright — 
 a wonderful thing in a countryman. His head was 
 broad like himself, his eyes blue, and he had a long 
 thick yellowy beard. The reins were strained taut 
 like a yacht^s cordage, but the mare was in the 
 hollow of his strong hand. 
 
 They did not hear the hoofs till he was close, for 
 they were on a flint heap, searching for the best to 
 throw. 
 
 " It's Jack,'' said Mark. 
 
 Jack looked them very hard in the face, but it 
 did not seem to dawn upon him who they were 
 till he had gone past a hundred yards, and then he 
 pulled up and beckoned. He said nothing but 
 tapped the seat beside him. Bevis climbed up in 
 front, Mark knelt on the seat behind — so as to look 
 in the direction they were going. They drove two 
 miles and Jack said nothing, then he spoke : — 
 
 '' Where have you been ? "
 
 134 Bevis. 
 
 " To Calais.'^ 
 
 " Bad — bad/^ said Jack. '^ Don^t go there again/' 
 At the turnpike it took him three minutes to find 
 enough to pay the toll. He had a divine mare, his 
 harness, his cart were each perfect. Yet for all his 
 broad shoulders he could barely muster up a groat. 
 He pulled up presently when there were but two 
 fields between them and the house at Longcot ; he 
 wanted to go down the lane, and they alighted to 
 walk across the fields. After they had got down 
 and were just turning to mount the gate, and the 
 mare obeying the reins had likewise half turned. 
 Jack said, — 
 
 ^^Hum!'' 
 
 '^ Yes/' said Mark from the top bar. 
 
 '^ How are they all at home ? " i.e. at Mark's. 
 
 " Quite well,'' said Mark. 
 
 " All ? " said Jack again. 
 
 '' Frances bruised her arm — " 
 
 " Much ? " anxiously. 
 
 " You can't see it — her skin's like a plum," said 
 Mark; ^^if you just pinch it it shows." 
 
 " Hum ! " and Jack was gone. 
 
 Late in the evening they tried hard to catch the 
 donkey, that Mark might ride home. It was not 
 far, but now the day was over he was very tired,
 
 The Witch, 135 
 
 so too was Bevis. Tired as ttey were^ they chased 
 the donkey up and down — six times as far as it 
 was to Mark^s house — but in vain^ the moke knew 
 them of old, and was not to be charmed or cowed. 
 He showed them his heels, and they failed. So 
 Mark stopped and slept with Bevis, as he had done 
 so many times before. As they lay awake in the 
 bedroom, looking out of the window opposite at a 
 star, half awake and half asleep^ suddenly Bevis 
 started up on his arm. 
 
 ^' Let's have a war," he said. 
 
 "That would be first-rate," said Mark, "and 
 have a great battle.^' 
 
 " An awful battle,^ ^ said Bevis, " the biggest and 
 most awful ever known." 
 
 " Like Waterloo ? " said Mark. 
 
 " Pooh ! " 
 
 " Agincourt ? " 
 
 " Pooh ! " 
 
 '' Mai— Mai," said Mark, trying to think of Mal- 
 plaquet. 
 
 " Oh ! more than anything," said Bevis ; " some- 
 body will have to write a history about it." 
 
 " Shall we wear armour ? " 
 
 '^That would be bow and arrow time. Bows 
 and arrows don^t make any banging.^ 
 
 a
 
 1 36 Bevis. 
 
 "No more they do. It wants lots of banging 
 and smoke — else its nothing/^ 
 
 " No ; only chopping and sticking/^ 
 
 "And smashing and yelling/' 
 
 " No — and that's nothing/' 
 
 " Only if we have rifles/' said Mark thought- 
 fully ; " you see, people don't see one another ; they 
 are so far ofiP, and nobody stands on a bridge and 
 keeps back all the enemy all by himself." 
 
 "And nobody has a triumph afterwards with 
 elephants and chariots^ and paints his face ver- 
 milion." 
 
 " Let's have bow and arrow time/' said Mark ; 
 " it's much nicer — and you sell the prisoners for 
 slaves and get heaps of money, and do just as you 
 like, and plough up the cities that don't please 
 you." 
 
 " Much nicer/' said Bevis ; " you very often kill 
 all the lot and there's nothing silly. I shall be 
 King Richard and have a battle-axe— no, let's be 
 the Normans." 
 
 " Wouldn't King Arthur do ?" 
 " No ; he was killed, that would be stupid. I've 
 a great mind to be Charlemagne." 
 " Then I shall be Roland." 
 '^ No ; you must be a traitor."
 
 The Witch. 137 
 
 **" But I want to fight your side/' said Mark. 
 
 " How many are there we can get to make the 
 war?'' 
 
 They consulted^ and soon reckoned up fourteen 
 or fifteen. 
 
 " It will be jolly awful/' said Mark ; '^ there will 
 be heaps of slain." 
 
 " Let's have Troy/' said Bevis. 
 
 "That's too slow/' said Mark; ''it lasted ten 
 years." 
 
 '' Alexander the Great — let's see ; whom did he 
 fight ? " 
 
 " I don't know ; people nobody ever heard of — 
 nobody particular, Indians and Persians and all that 
 sort." 
 
 " I know/' said Bevis ; '' of course ! I know . 
 Of course I shall be Julius Caesar ! " 
 
 " And I shall be Mark Antony." 
 
 " And we will fight Pompey." 
 
 " But who shall be Pompey ? " said Mark. 
 
 '' Pooh ! there's Bill, and Wat, and Ted ; any- 
 body will do for Pompey.' 
 
 a
 
 138 Bevis. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SWIMMING. 
 
 " Put your hands on the rail. Hold it as far off as 
 you can. There — now let the water lift your feet 
 up behind you.^^ 
 
 Bevis took hold of the rail, which was on a level 
 with the surface, and then leaning his chest forward 
 upon the water, felt his legs and feet gradually 
 lifted up, till he floated. At first he grasped the 
 rail as tight as he could, but in a minute he found 
 that he need not do so. Just to touch the rail 
 lightly was enough, for his extended body was as 
 buoyant as a piece of wood. It was like taking a 
 stick and pressing it down to the bottom, and then 
 letting it go, when it would shoot up directly. The 
 water felt deliciously soft under him, bearing him 
 up far more gently than the grass, on which he was 
 so fond of lying. 
 
 "Mark!'' he shouted. "Do like this. Catch 
 hold of the rail — it's capital ! "
 
 Swimmiitg. 139 
 
 Mark, who liad been somewhat longer undressing 
 than impatient Bevis, came in and did it, and there 
 they both floated, much delighted. The water was 
 between three and four feet deep. When Bevis's 
 papa found that they could not be kept from roaming, 
 and were bent on boating on the Longpond, which 
 was a very different thing to the shallow brook, 
 where they were never far from shore, and out of 
 which they could scramble, he determined to teach 
 Bevis and his friend to swim. Till Bevis could 
 swim, he should never feel safe about him ; and 
 unless his companion could swim too, it was of no 
 use, for in case of accident, one would be sure to try 
 and save the other, and perhaps be dragged down. 
 
 They had begged very hard to be allowed to have 
 one of the boats in order to circumnavigate the 
 New Sea, which it was so difficult to walk round ; 
 and he promised them if they would really try and 
 learn to swim, that they should have the boat as a 
 reward. He took them to a place near the old 
 quarry they had discovered, in one corner of Fir- 
 Tree Gulf, where the bottom was of sand, and 
 shelved gently for a long way out ; a line of posts 
 and rails running into the water, to prevent cattle 
 straying, as they could easily do where it was shallow 
 like this. The field there, too, was away from any
 
 1 40 Bevis, 
 
 road, so that they could bathe at all times. It was a 
 sunny morning_, and Bevis, eager for his lesson, had 
 torn off his things, and dashed into the water, like 
 Pan. 
 
 " Now try one hand," said his " governor." " Let 
 one hand lie on the water — put your arm out 
 straight — and hold the rail with the other," 
 
 Bevis, rather reluctantly, did as he was told. He 
 let go with his right hand, and stretched it out, — 
 his left hand held him up just as easily, and his 
 right arm seemed to float of itself on the surface. 
 But now, as the muscles of his back and legs un- 
 consciously relaxed, his legs drew up under him, 
 and he bottomed with his feet and stood upright. 
 
 " Why's that ? " he said. " Why did I come up 
 like that ? " 
 
 " You must keep yourself a little stiff,'' said the 
 governor ; '^ not rigid — not quite stiff — ^just feel 
 your muscles then." 
 
 Bevis did it again, and floated with one hand only 
 on the rail : he found he had also to keep his left 
 arm quite straight and firm. Then he had to do it 
 with only two fingers on ; while Mark and the 
 governor stood still, that no ripple might enter his 
 mouth, which was only an inch above the surface. 
 Next, Mark was taken in hand, and learnt the same
 
 Swimming, 141 
 
 things ; and having seen Bevis do it, lie had not tlie 
 least difficulty. Tlie governor left them awhile to 
 practise by themselves^ and swam across to the 
 mouth, of tlie Nile, on the opposite side of the gulf. 
 When he came back he found tbey had got quite 
 confident ; so confident, that Bevis, thinking to sur- 
 pass this simple lesson, had tried letting go with 
 botb hands, when his chin immediately went under, 
 and he struggled up spluttering. 
 
 The governor laughed. ^^ I thought you would do 
 that,^' he said. " You only want a little — a very little 
 support, just two fingers on the rail; but you must 
 have some, and when you swim you have to supply 
 it by your own motion. But you see bow little is 
 wanted.^^ 
 
 " I see,^' said Bevis. ^^ Why_, we can very nearly 
 swim now — can^t we, Mark ? ^' 
 
 *^' Of course we can," said Mark, kicking up his 
 heels and making a tremendous splash. 
 
 " Now," said the governor, ^^ come here ;" and he 
 made Bevis go on his knees in shallow water, and 
 told him to put both hands on the bottom. He did 
 so ; and when he was on all fours, facing the shore, 
 the water only reached just above his elbow, which 
 was not deep enough, so he had to move backwards 
 till it touched his chest. He had then to extend his
 
 142 Bevis, 
 
 legs beliind him, till the water lifted them up, while 
 his hands remained on the bottom. His chest rested 
 on the water, and all his body was buoyed up in the 
 same pleasant way as when he had hold of the rail. 
 
 By letting his arms bend or give a little, he could 
 tell exactly how much the water would bear him up, 
 exactly how strong it was under him. He let himself 
 sink till his chin was in the water and it came half- 
 way to his lower lip, while he had his head well back, 
 and looked up at the sycamore- trees growing in the 
 field above the quarry. Then he floated perfectly, 
 and there seemed not the least pressure on his 
 hands; there was a little, but so little it appeared 
 nothing, and he could fancy himself swimming. 
 
 '^Now walk along with your hands,'' said the 
 governor. 
 
 Bevis did so; and putting one hand before the 
 other, as a tumbler does standing on his head, 
 moved with ease, his body floating, and having no 
 weight at all. One hand would keep him, or even 
 one finger when he put it on a stone at the bottom 
 so that it did not sink in as it would have done into 
 the sand ; but if he extended his right arm, it had a 
 tendency to bring his toes down to the bottom. 
 Mark did the same thing, and there they crawled 
 about in the shallow water ou their hands only, and
 
 Swimming, 143 
 
 the rest floatiDg, laughing at each other. They 
 could hardly believe that it was the water did it ; 
 it kept them up just as if they were pieces of wood. 
 The governor left them to practise this while he 
 dressed, and then made them get out_, as they had 
 been in long enough for one morning. 
 
 ^' Pan does not swim like you do/^ said Mark, as 
 they were walking home. 
 
 ^^No/^ said the governor, ^^ he paddles; he runs 
 in the water the same as he does on land.^' 
 " Why couldn't we do that ? '' asked Mark. 
 " You can, but it is not much use : you only get 
 along so slowly. When you can swim properly, you 
 can copy Pan in a minute. '^ 
 
 The governor could not go with them again for 
 two days on account of business ; but full of their 
 swimming, they looked in the old bookcase, and 
 found a book in which there were instructions, and 
 among other things they read that the frog was the 
 best model. Out they ran to look for a frog ; but as it 
 was sunny there were none visible, till Mark remem- 
 bered there was generally one where the ivy of the 
 garden wall had spread over the ground in the corner. 
 In that cool place they found one, and Bevis 
 picked it up. The frog was cold to the touch even 
 in the summer day, so they put it on a cabbage-
 
 1 44 Bevis. 
 
 leaf and carried it to the stone trough in the yard. 
 No sooner did it feel the water than the frog struck 
 out and crossed the trough, first in one direction, 
 and then in another, afterwards swimming all round 
 close to the sides, but unable to land, as the stone 
 was to it like a wall. 
 
 '^ He kicks,^' said Mark, leaning over the trough ; 
 " he only kicks ; he doesn^t use his arms.''^ 
 
 The frog laid out well with his legs, but kept his 
 forelegs, or arms, still, or nearly so. 
 
 " Now, what's the good of a frog ? '' said Bevis ; 
 ^^ men don't swim like that.'' 
 
 " It's very stupid," said Mark ; '^ he's no model 
 at all." 
 
 '' Not a bit." 
 
 The frog continued to go round the trough much 
 more slowly. 
 
 ^'No use watching him." 
 
 So they went away, but before they had gone 
 ten yards Bevis ran back. 
 
 •* He can't get out," he said ; and placing the 
 cabbage-leaf under the frog, he lifted the creature 
 out of the trough and put him on the ground. No 
 sooner was the frog on the ground than he went 
 under the trough in the moist shade there, for the 
 cattle as they drank splashed a good deal over.
 
 Swimming. 145 
 
 When they told the governor^ he said that what 
 they had noticed was correct, but the frog was a 
 good model in two things nevertheless ; first in the 
 way he kicked, and secondly in the way he leaned 
 his chest on the water. But a man had to use his 
 arms so as to balance his body and keep his chin 
 and mouth from going under, besides the assistance 
 they give as oars to go forward. 
 
 Next morning they went to the bathing-place 
 again. Bevis had now to hold the rail as pre- 
 viously, but when he had got it at arm's length he 
 was told to kick like the frog. 
 
 " Draw your knees up close together and kick, 
 and send your feet wide apart,^'' said the governor. 
 Bevis did so, and the thrust of his legs sent him 
 right up against the rail. He did this several times, 
 and was then ordered to go on hands and knees in 
 the shallow water, just as he had done before, and 
 let his legs float up. When they floated he had to 
 kick, to draw his knees up close together, and then 
 strike his feet back wide apart. The thrust this 
 time lifted his hands ofl" the bottom on which they 
 had been resting, lifted them right up, and sent 
 him quite a foot nearer the shore. His chest was 
 forced against the water like an inclined plane, and 
 he was thus raised an inch or so. When the im- 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 Bevis. 
 
 pulse ceased lie sank as much^ and his hands touched 
 the bottom once more. 
 
 This pleased him greatly — it was quite half- 
 swimming; but he found it necessary to be care- 
 ful while practising it that there were no large 
 stones on the bottom_, and that he did not get in 
 too shallow water, else he grazed his knees. In the 
 water you scarcely feel these kind of hurts, and 
 many a bather has been surprised upon getting out 
 to find his knees or legs bruised, or even the skin 
 off, from contact with stones or g-raveL of which he 
 was unaware at the time. 
 
 Mark had no difficulty in doing the same, it was 
 even easier for him, as he had only to imitate, which 
 is not so hard as following instructions. The second, 
 indeed, often learns quicker than the first. They 
 kicked themselves along in fine style. 
 
 ^' Keep your feet down,'' said the governor ; 
 " don't let them come above the surface, and don't 
 splash. Mark, you are not drawing your knees up, 
 you are only lifting your heels ; it makes all the 
 difference." 
 
 He then made them hold on to the rail in the 
 deepest water they could fathom — standing himself 
 between them and the deeper water — and after let- 
 ting their legs float, ordered them to kick there.
 
 Swinim{n(^. 147 
 
 but to keep their arms straight and stiff, not to 
 attempt to progress^ only to practise the kick. The 
 object was that they might kick deep and strong, 
 and not get into a habit of shallow kicking, as they 
 might while walking on their hands on the sand. 
 All that lesson they had to do nothing but kick. 
 
 In a day or two they were all in the water again, 
 and after a preliminary splashing, just to let off 
 their high spirits — otherwise they would not pay 
 attention — serious business began. 
 
 " Now,^^ said the governor, ^^ you must begin to 
 use your arms. You are half-independent of touch- 
 ing the bottom already — you can feel that you can 
 float without your feet touching anything ; now you 
 must try to float altogether. You know the way I 
 use mine.^^ 
 
 They had seen him many times, and had imitated 
 the motion on shore, first putting the flat hands 
 together, thumb to thumb ; the thumbs in their 
 natural position, and not held under the palm ; the 
 tips of the thumbs crossing (as sculls cross in scull- 
 ing) j the fingers together, but not squeezed tight, 
 a little interstice between them matters nothing, 
 while if always squeezed tight it causes a strain on 
 the wrist. The flat hands thus put together held 
 four to six inches in front of the breast, and then 
 
 L 2
 
 148 Bevis. 
 
 shot out — not with a jerk, quick, but no savage jerk, 
 which wastes power — and the palms at the extremity 
 of the thrust turned partly aside, and more as they 
 oar the water till nearly vertical. 
 
 Do not attempt a complete sweep — a complete 
 half- circle — oar them round as far as they will go 
 easily without an effort to the shoulders, and ther 
 bring them back. The object of not attempting a 
 full sweep is that the hands may come back easilv, 
 and without disturbing the water in front of the 
 chest and checking progress, as they are apt to do. 
 They should slip back, and then the thumbs being 
 held naturally, just as you would lay your flat hand 
 on the table, they do not meet with resistance as 
 they do if held under the palm. If the fingers are 
 kept squeezed tight together when the hands are 
 brought back to the chest, should they vary a 
 hair^s breadth from a level position they stop pro- 
 gress exactly like an oar held still in the water, 
 and it is very difficult to keep them absolutely level. 
 But if the fingers are the least degree apart, 
 natural, if the hand inclines a trifle, the fingers 
 involuntarily open and the water slips through, 
 besides which, as there is no strain, the hands return 
 level with so much greater ease. The thrust forward 
 is so easy — it is learnt in a moment — you can imitate
 
 Swimming , 1 49 
 
 it the first time you see it — that the bringing back 
 is often thought of no account. In fact, the bring- 
 ing back is the point, and if it be not studied you 
 will never swim well. This he had told them from 
 time to time on shore, and they had watched him as 
 he swam slowly by them, on purpose that they 
 might observe the manner. But to use the arms 
 properly on shore, when they pass through air and 
 meet with no resistance, is very diffei'ent to using 
 them properly in the water. 
 
 Bevis had to stand facing the shore in water as 
 deep as his chest ; then to stoop a little — one foot 
 in front of the other for ease — till his chin nearly 
 rested on the surface, and then to strike out with 
 his arms. He was not to attempt anything with 
 his feet, simply to stand and try the stroke. He 
 put his flat hands together, pushed them out, and 
 oared them round as he had often done on land. 
 As he oared them round they pushed him forward, 
 so that he had to take a step on the bottom ; they 
 made him walk a step forward. This he had to 
 repeat twenty times, the governor standing by, and 
 having much trouble to make him return his hands 
 to his chest without obstructing his forward pro- 
 gress. 
 
 Bevis became very impatient now to swim arms
 
 150 Bevis, 
 
 and legs together ; lie was sure he could do it, for 
 his arms, as they swept back, partly lifted him up 
 and pushed him on. 
 
 '* Very well,^^ said the governor. " Go and try. 
 Here, Mark.'' 
 
 He took Mark in hand, but before they had had 
 one trial Bevis had started to swim, and imme- 
 diately his head went under unexpectedly, so that 
 he came up spluttering, and had to sit on the rail 
 till he could get the water out of his throat. 
 While he sat there in no good temper Mark had 
 his lesson. The governor then went for a swim 
 imself, being rather tired of reiterating the same 
 nstructions, leaving them to practise. On his 
 return — he did not go far, only just far enough 
 to recover his patience — he set them to work at 
 another thing. 
 
 Bevis had to go on his hands on the bottom as 
 he had done before, and let his limbs float behind. 
 Then he was told to try striking out with the right 
 hand, keeping the left on the sand to support him- 
 self. He did so, and as his arm swept back it pushed 
 him forward just as an oar would a boat. The next 
 time he did it he kicked with his legs at the same 
 moment, and the impetus of the kick and the motion 
 of his right arm together lifted his left hand
 
 Swun77iing. 1 5 1 
 
 momentarily off the bottom, and sent him along. 
 This he did himself without being told, the idea of 
 doing so would occur to any one in the same 
 position. 
 
 '^ That's right/' said the governor. ^^ Do that 
 
 again. 
 
 Bevis did it again and again, and felt now that he 
 was three-parts swimming ; he swam with his legs, 
 and his right arm, and only just touched the bottom 
 with his left hand. After he had repeated it six or 
 seven times he lifted his left hand a little way, and 
 made a quarter stroke with it too, and then jumped 
 up and shouted that he could swim. 
 
 Mark had to have his lesson some yards away, 
 for Bevis had so splashed the water in his excite- 
 ment that it was thick with the sand he had dis- 
 turbed. Bevis continued his trials, raising his left 
 arm a little more every time till he could very nearly 
 use both together. They were then both set to 
 work to hold on to the rail, let their limbs float, and 
 strike out with one arm, alternately left and right, 
 kicking at the same moment. This was to get into 
 the trick of kicking and striking out with the hands 
 together. Enough had now been done for that 
 morning. 
 
 They came up again the next day, and the governor
 
 152 Bevis, 
 
 left tliem this time almost to themselves to practise 
 what they had learnt. They went on their hands on 
 the sand^ let their limbs float, and by degrees began 
 to strike out with both hands, first lifting the left 
 hand a few inches, then more, till presently, as they 
 became at home in the water, they could nearly use 
 both. 
 
 The next time they bathed the governor set 
 Bevis a fresh task. He was made to stand facing 
 the shore in water as deep as his chest, then to lean 
 forward gently on it — without splash — and to strike 
 out with both his arms and legs together. He did 
 it immediately, at the first trial, but of course stood 
 up directly. Next he was told to try and make two 
 strokes — one is easily made, but the difficulty is 
 when drawing up the knees and bringing the hands 
 back for the second stroke. The chin is almost 
 certain to go under, and some spluttering to follow. 
 Bevis did his best, and held his breath, and let his 
 head go down well till he drew some water up his 
 nostrils, and was compelled to sit on the rail and 
 wait till he could breathe properly again. 
 
 Mark tried with exactly the same result. The 
 first stroke when the feet pushed from the ground 
 was easy ; but when he endeavoured to draw up 
 his knees for the second, down went his head.
 
 Swimming, 153 
 
 The only orders they received were to keep on 
 trying. 
 
 Two days afterwards they bathed again, but 
 though they asked the governor to tell them some- 
 thing else he would not do so, he ordered them to 
 try nothing but the same thing over and over again, 
 to face the shore and strike out. If they liked they 
 could push forward very hard with their feet, if it 
 was done without splash, and the impetus would 
 last through two strokes, and help to keep the 
 body up while they drew up their knees for the 
 second stroke. Then he went for a swim across to 
 the Nile and left them. 
 
 They tried their very hardest, and then went on 
 their hands on the sand to catch the idea of floating 
 again. After that they succeeded, but so nearly 
 together that neither could claim to be first. They 
 pushed off from the ground hard, struck out, drew 
 up their knees and recovered their hands, and made 
 the second stroke. They had to hold their breath 
 while they did it, for their mouths ivoulcl go under, 
 but still it was done. Shouting to the governor to 
 come back they threw themselves at the water, bold 
 as spaniels dashing in, wild with delight. 
 
 "You can swim,'^ said the governor as he ap- 
 proached.
 
 154 Bevis. 
 
 C( 
 
 Of course we can/^ said Bevis, rushing out in 
 the field for a dance on the sward, and then back 
 splash into the water again. That morning they 
 could hardly be got away from it, and insisted on 
 bathing next day whether convenient or not, so the 
 governor was obliged to accompany them. This 
 time he took the punt, and let them row him to the 
 bathing-place. The lake was too deep there for 
 poling. They had been in boats with him before, 
 and could row well; it is remarkable that there is 
 nothing both boys and girls learn so quickly as 
 rowing. The merest little boy of five years old will 
 learn to handle an oar in a single lesson. They 
 grounded the punt and undressed on the sward 
 where there was more room. 
 
 '^ Now,'^ said the governor, as they began to swim 
 their two strokes again, " now do this — stand up to 
 your chest, and turn towards the rail, and when you 
 have finished the second stroke catch hold of it.'' 
 
 Bevis found that this was not so easy as it sounded, 
 but after five or six attempts he did it, and then of 
 his own motion stood back an extra yard and 
 endeavoured to swim three strokes, and then seize 
 it. This was very difficult and he could not manage 
 it that morning. Twice more the governor came 
 with them and they had the punt, and on the second
 
 Swimming. 1 5 5 
 
 time they caught the third stroke. They pushed 
 off, that was one stroke^ swam one good stroke 
 while floating, and made a third partly complete 
 stroke, and seized the rail. 
 
 " That will do,""^ said the governor. He was 
 satisfied : his object from the beginning had been 
 so to teach them that they could teach themselves. 
 With a band beneath the chest he could have 
 suspended them (one at a time) from the punt in 
 deep water, and so taught them, but he considered 
 it much better to let them gradually acquire a 
 knowledge of how far the water would buoy them 
 up, and where it would fail to do so, so as to become 
 perfectly confident, but not too confident. For 
 water, however well you can swim, is not a thing to 
 be played with. They had seen now that everything 
 could be done in water no deeper than the chest, 
 and even less than that, so that he had reason to 
 believe if left to themselves they would not venture 
 further out till quite competent. He had their solemn 
 promise not to go into deeper water than their 
 shoulders. If you go up to your chin, the slightest 
 wavelet will lift you ofi" your feet, and in that way 
 many too venturesome people have been drowned 
 not twelve inches from safety. 
 
 Thev might go to their shoulders, always on con-
 
 156 Bevis, 
 
 dition of facing the shore and swimming towards it. 
 When they thought they could swim well enough 
 to go out of their depth he would come and watch. 
 Both promised most faithfully, and received per- 
 mission to go next time by themselves, and in a 
 short while, if they kept their word, they should have 
 the boat. 
 
 If any ladies should chance to read how Bevis and 
 Mark learnt to swim, when they are at the seaside 
 will they try the same plan ? Choose a smooth sea 
 and a low tide (only to have it shallow) . Kneel in 
 the water. Place the hands on the sand, so that the 
 water may come almost over the shoulders — not 
 quite, say up to them. Then let the limbs and 
 body float. The pleasant sense of suspension with- 
 out effort will be worth the little trouble it costs. 
 On the softest couch the limbs feel that there is 
 something solid, a hard framework beneath, and 
 so the Sybarites put cushions on the floor under the 
 feet of their couches. On the surface of the buoyant 
 sea there is nothing under the soft couch. They will 
 find that there is no pressure on the hands. They 
 have no weight. Now let them kick with both feet 
 together, and the propulsion will send them forward. 
 
 Next use one arm in swimming style. Next use 
 one arm and kick at the same time. Try to use
 
 Swimming, 157 
 
 botli arms, lifting the hand from the sand a little 
 first,, and presently more. Stand up to the chest in 
 water, stoop somewhat and bend the knee, one foot 
 in front of the other, and use the arms together, 
 walking at the same time, so as to get the proper 
 motion of the hands. Place the hands on the sand 
 again, and try to use both arms once more. 
 
 Finally, stand up to the chest, face the shore, lean 
 forward, and push off and try a stroke — the feet will 
 easily recover themselves. Presently two strokes 
 will become possible, after awhile three ; that is 
 swimming. The sea is so buoyant, so beautiful, 
 that let them only once feel the sense of floating, and 
 they will never rest till they have learned. Ladies 
 can teach themselves so quickly, and swim better 
 than we do. The best swimming I ever saw was 
 done by three ladies together : the waves were large, 
 but they swam with ease, the three graces of the 
 sea.
 
 158 Bevis. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SAVAGES. 
 
 Bevis and Mark went eagerly to bathe by tliem- 
 selves_, but immediately left the direct path. Human 
 beings must be kept taut^ or^ like a rope, they will 
 slacken. The very first morning they took a leap- 
 ing-pole with them, a slender ash sapling, rather 
 more than twice their own height, which they picked 
 out from a number in the rick -yard, intending to 
 jump to and fro the brook on the way. But before 
 they had got half way to the brook they altered 
 their minds, becoming eager for the water, and 
 raced to the bathing-place. The pole was now to 
 be an oar, and they were to swim, supported by an 
 oar, like shipwrecked people. 
 
 So soon as he had had a plunge or two, Bevis put 
 one arm over the pole and struck out with the other, 
 thinking that he should be able in that way to have 
 a long swim. Directly his weight pressed on the
 
 Savages. • 159 
 
 pole it went under^ and did not support liim in the 
 least. He put it next beneath his chest, with both 
 arms over it, but immediately he pushed off down it 
 went again. Mark took it and got astride, when the 
 pole let his feet touch the bottom. 
 
 " It^s no use/^ he said. '' What^s the good of 
 people falling overboard with spars and oars ? What 
 stories they must tell.^^ 
 
 ^^ I can^t make it out/^ said Bevis ; and he tried 
 again, but it was no good, the pole was an encum- 
 brance instead of a support, for it insisted upon 
 slipping through the water lengthways, and would 
 not move just as he wished. In a rage he gave it 
 a push, and sent it ashore, and turned to swimming 
 to the rail. They did not know it, but the governor, 
 still anxious about them, had gone round a long dis- 
 tance, so as to have a. peep at them from the hedge 
 on the other side of Fir-Tree Gulf by the Nile. He 
 could tell by the post and rails that they did not go 
 out of their depth, and went away without letting 
 thejn suspect his presence. 
 
 When they got out, they had a run in the sun- 
 shine, which dried them much better than towels. 
 The field sloped gently to the right, and their usual 
 run was on the slope beside a nut-tree hedge towards 
 a group of elms. All the way there and back the
 
 1 60 Bevis. 
 
 sward was short and soft, almost like that of the 
 Downs which they could see, and dotted with bird's- 
 foot lotuS; over whose yellow flowers they raced. 
 But this morning, being no longer kept taut, after 
 they had returned from the elms with an enormous 
 mushroom they had found there, they ran to the old 
 quarry, and along the edge above. The perpen- 
 dicular sandcliff fell to an enclosed pool beneath, in 
 which, on going to the very edge, they could see 
 themselves reflected. Some hurdles and flakes — a 
 stronger kind of hurdle — had been placed here that 
 cattle might not wander over, but the cart-horses, 
 who rub against everything, had rubbed against 
 them and dislodged two or three. These had rolled 
 down, and the rest hung half over. 
 
 While they stood still looking down over the 
 broad waters of their New Sea, the sun burned their 
 shoulders, making the skin red. Away they ran 
 back to dress, and taking a short path across a 
 place where the turf had partly grown over a shal- 
 low excavation pricked their feet with thistles, and 
 had to limp the rest of the way to their clothes. 
 Now, there were no thistles on their proper race- 
 course down to the elms and back. 
 
 As they returned home they remembered the 
 brook, and went down to it to jump with the leaping-
 
 Savages, 1 6 1 
 
 pole. But the soft ooze at the bottom let the polo 
 sink in, and Bevis, who of course must take the first 
 leap, was very near being hung up in the middle of 
 the brook. Under his weight, as he sprang ofi", 
 the pole sank deep into the ooze, and had it been 
 a stifier mud the pole would have stopped upright, 
 when he must have stayed on it over the water, or 
 have been jerked oJ9f among the flags. As it was it 
 did let him get over, but he did not land on the firm 
 bank, only reaching the mud at the side, where he 
 scrambled up by grasping the stout stalk of a 
 willow-herb. In future he felt with the butt of the 
 pole till he found a firm spot, where it was sandy, 
 or where the matted roots of grasses and flags had 
 bound the mud hard. Then he flew over well up on 
 the grass. 
 
 Mark took his turn, and as he put the butt in the 
 water a streak of mud came up where a small jack 
 fish had shot away. So they went on down the 
 bank leaping alternately, one carrying the towels 
 while the other flew over and back. 
 
 Sometimes they could not leap because the trip- 
 ping was bad, undermined where cowslips in the 
 spring hung over the stream, bored with the holes 
 of water-rats, which when disused become covered 
 with grass, but give way beneath the foot or the 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 1 62 Bevis, 
 
 hoof that presses on them pitching leaper or rider 
 into the current, or it was rotten from long-decaying 
 roots, or about to slip. Sometimes the landing was 
 bad, undermined in the same way, or higher than the 
 tripping, when you have not only to get over, but to 
 deliver yourself od a higher level ; or swampy, where 
 a wet furi'ow came to the brook ; or too far, where 
 there was nothing but mud to come on. They had 
 to select their jumping-places, and feel the ground 
 to the edge first. 
 
 ^^ Kerens the raft ! '^ shouted Mark, who was 
 ahead, looking out for a good place. 
 
 " Is it ? ^^ said Bevis, running along on the other 
 side. They had so completely forgotten it, that it 
 came upon them like something new. Bevis took 
 a leap and came over, and they set to work at once 
 to launch it. The raft slipped gradually down the 
 shelving shore of the drinking-place, and they thrust 
 it into the stream. Bevis put his foot on board, 
 but immediately withdrew it, for the water rushed 
 through twenty leaks, spurting up along the joins. 
 Left on the sand in the sun's rays the wood of the 
 raft shrank a little, opening the planking, while 
 the clay they had daubed on to caulk the crevices 
 had cracked, and the moss had dried up and was 
 ready to crumble. The water came through every-
 
 Savages, 163 
 
 where, and the raft was half-fall even when left to 
 itself without any pressure. 
 
 ''We ought to have thatched it/^ said Mark. ''We 
 ought to have made a roof over it. Let's stop the 
 leaks.'' 
 
 " ! come on/' said Bevis, " don't let's bother. 
 E-affcs are no good, no more than poles or oars 
 when you fall overboard. We shall have a ship soon." 
 
 The raft was an old story, and he did not care about 
 it. He went on with the leaping-pole, but Mark 
 stayed a minute and hauled the raft on shore as 
 far as his strength would permit. He got about 
 a quarter of it on the ground, so that it could not 
 float away, and then ran after Be vis. 
 
 They went into the Peninsula, and looked at all 
 the fir-trees, to see if any would do for a mast for 
 the blue boat they were to have. As it had no 
 name, they called it the blue boat to distinguish it 
 from the punt. Mark thought an ash-pole would do 
 for the mast, as ash-poles were so straight and could 
 be easily shaved to the right size ; but Bevis would 
 not hear of it, for masts were never made of ash, but 
 always of pine, and they must have their ship 
 proper. He selected a tree presently, a young fir, 
 straight as an arrow, and started Mark for the 
 axe, but before he had gone ten yards Mark came 
 
 M 2
 
 1 64 Bevis. 
 
 back, saying that the tree would be of no use unless 
 they liked to wait till next year, because it would be 
 green, and the mast ought to be made of seasoned 
 wood. 
 
 " So it ought/' said Bevis. " What a lot of 
 trouble it is to make a ship." 
 
 But as they sat on the railing across the isthmus 
 swinging their legs, Mark remembered that there 
 were some fir-poles which had been cut a long 
 time since behind the great wood-pile, between it 
 and the walnut-trees, out of sight. Without a word 
 away they ran, chose one of these and carried it into 
 the shed where Bevis usually worked. They had 
 got the dead bark off and were shaving away when 
 it was dinner-time, which they thought a bore, but 
 which wise old Pan, who was never chained now, 
 considered the main object of life. 
 
 Next morning as they went through the meadow, 
 where the dew still lingered in the shade, on the way 
 to the bathing- place, taking Pan with them this 
 time, they hung about the path picking clover- 
 heads and sucking the petals, pulling them out and 
 putting the lesser ends in their lips, looking at the 
 white and pink bramble flowers, noting where the 
 young nuts began to show, pulling down the wood- 
 bine, and doing everything but hasten on to their
 
 Savages. 165 
 
 work of swimming. They stopped at the gate by 
 the New Sea^ over whose smooth surface slight 
 breaths of mist were curling, and stood kicking 
 the ground and the stones as flighty horses paw. 
 
 "We ought to be something/' said Mark dis- 
 contentedly. 
 
 " Of course we ought/' said Bevis. " Things are 
 very stupid unless you are something.''^ 
 
 " Lions and tigers/' said Mark, growling, and 
 showing his teeth. 
 
 " Pooh ! '' 
 
 '' Shipwrecked people on an island." 
 
 " Fiddle ! They have plenty to do and are always 
 happy, and we are not.'' 
 
 *' No ; very unhappy. Let's try escaping — 
 prisoners running away." 
 
 '' Hum ! Hateful ! " 
 
 " Everything's hateful." 
 
 " So it is." 
 
 " This is a very stupid sea." 
 
 " There's nothing in it." 
 
 " Nothing anywhere." 
 
 " Let's be hermits." 
 
 " There's always only one hermit." 
 
 '' Well, you live that side " (pointing across), 
 " and I'll live this."
 
 1 66 Bevis. 
 
 " Hermits eat pulse and drink water/' 
 '' What's pulse ? 
 I suppose it's barley water." 
 
 ry nau ts puise i " 
 
 " I supp( 
 
 " Horrid." 
 
 '' Awful." 
 
 " You say what we shall be then." 
 
 " Pan, you old donk/' said Bevis, rolling Pan 
 over with his foot. Lazy Pan lay on his back, and 
 let Bevis bend his ribs with his foot. 
 
 " Caw, caw ! " a crow went over down to the shore, 
 where he hoped to find a mussel surprised by the 
 dawn in shallow water. 
 
 Bang ! '' Hoi ! Hoo ! Yah ! " The discharge was 
 half a mile away, but the crow altered his mind, 
 and flew over the water as near the surface as he 
 could without touching. Why do birds always 
 cross the water in that way ? 
 
 " That's Tom," said Mark. Tom was the bird- 
 keeper. He shot first, and shouted after. He 
 potted a hare in the corn with bits of flint, a button, 
 three tin tacks, and a horse-stub, which scraped the 
 old barrel inside, but slew the game. That was for 
 himself. Then he shouted his loudest to do his duty 
 — for other people. The sparrows had flown out of 
 the corn at the noise of the gun, and settled on the 
 hedge ; when Tom shouted they were frightened
 
 Savages. 167 
 
 from the hedge^ and went back into the wheat. 
 From which learn this, shoot first and shout after. 
 
 " Shall we say that was a gun at sea ? '' continued 
 Mark. 
 
 '' They are always heard at night/^ said Bevis. 
 " Pitch black, you know." 
 
 " Everything is somehow else/' said Mark. 
 
 Pan closed his idle old eyes, and grunted with 
 delight as Bevis rubbed his ribs with his foot. Bevis 
 put his hands in his pockets and sighed deeply. 
 The sun looked down on these sons of care, and all 
 the morning beamed. 
 
 '' Savages ! '' shouted Mark kicking the gate to 
 with a slam that startled Pan up. " Savages, of 
 course ! " 
 
 '' Why ? " 
 
 " They swim, donk : don't they ? They're always 
 in the water, and they have catamarans and ride 
 the waves and dance on the shore, and blow 
 shells—" 
 
 '' Trumpets ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Canoes ? " 
 
 '' Yes." 
 
 " No clothes ? " 
 
 "No."
 
 i68 Bevis, 
 
 '^ All jolly?'' 
 
 '' Everything.-" 
 
 '' Hurrah ! " 
 
 Away they ran towards the bathing-place to be 
 savages, but Mark stopped suddenly, and asked 
 what sort they were ? They decided that they were 
 the South Sea sort, and raced on again, Pan keeping 
 pace with a kind of shamble ; he was too idle to run 
 properly. They dashed into the water, each with a 
 wood-pigeon's feather, which they had found under 
 the sycamore-trees above the quarry, stuck in his 
 hair. At the first dive the feathers floated away. 
 Upon the other side of the rails there was a large 
 aspen-tree whose lowest bough reached out over the 
 water, which was shallow there. 
 
 Though they made such a splashing when Bevis 
 looked over the railings a moment, he saw some 
 little roach moving to and fro under the bough. 
 The wavelets from his splashing rolled on to the 
 sandy shore, rippling under the aspen. As he looked, 
 a fly fell on its back out of the tree, and struggled 
 in vain to get up. Bevis climbed over the rails, 
 picked an aspen leaf, and put it under the fly, which 
 thus on a raft, and tossed up and down as Mark 
 dived, was floated slowly by the undulations to the 
 strand. As he got over the rails a kingfisher shot out
 
 Savages. 1 69 
 
 from the mouth of the Nile opposite, and crossed 
 aslant the gulf, whistling as he flew. 
 
 " Look ! " said Mark. ^' DonH you know that's a 
 ' sign J Savages read ' signs/ and those birds mean 
 that there are heaps of fish. 
 
 ''Yes, but we ought to have a proper language. '' 
 
 '' Kalabala-blong ! '^ said Mark. 
 
 "Hududu-blow-fluz ! '^ replied Bevis, taking a 
 header from the top of the rail on which he had been 
 sitting, and on which he just contrived to balance 
 himself a moment without falling backwards. 
 
 '' Umplumum ! " he shouted, coming up again. 
 
 '' Ikiklikah,'' and Mark disappeared. 
 
 *' Noklikah,''' said Bevis, giving him a shove 
 under as he came up to breathe. 
 
 " That's not fair/' said Mark, scrambling up. 
 
 Bevis was swimming, and Mark seized his feet. 
 More splashing and shouting, and the rocks re- 
 sound. The echo of their voices returned from the 
 quarry and the high bank under the firs. 
 
 They raced presently down to the elms along the 
 sweet soft turf, sprinkling the dry grass with the 
 sparkling drops from their limbs, and the sunlight 
 shone on their white shoulders. The wind blew 
 and stroked their gleaming backs. They rolled 
 and tumbled on the grass, and the earth was under
 
 1 70 Bevis. 
 
 them. From tlie water to the sun and the wind 
 and the grass. 
 
 They played round the huge sycamore trunks 
 above the quarry, and the massive boughs stretched 
 over — from a distance thev would have seemed 
 mere specks beneath the immense trees. They 
 raced across to a round hollow in the field and sat 
 down at the bottom, so that they could see nothing 
 but the sky overhead, and the clouds drifting. 
 They lay at full length, and for a moment were still 
 and silent; the sunbeam and the wind, the soft 
 touch of the grass, the gliding cloud, the eye-loved 
 blue gave them the delicious sense of growing 
 strong in drowsy luxury. 
 
 Then with a shout, renewed, they ran, and Pan 
 who had been waiting by their clothes was startled 
 into a bark of excitement at their sudden onslaught. 
 As they went homewards they walked round to the 
 little sheltered bay where the boats were kept, to 
 look at the blue boat and measure for the mast. It 
 was beside tbe punt, half drawn up on the sand, 
 and fastened to a willow root. She was an ill- 
 built craft with a straight gunwale, so that when 
 afloat she seemed lower at stem and stern than 
 abeam, as if she would thrust her nose into a wave 
 instead of riding it. The planks were thick and
 
 Savages. 1 7 1 
 
 heavy and looked as if they had not been bent 
 enough to form the true buoyant curve. 
 
 The blue paint had scaled and faded_, the row- 
 locks were mended with a piece cut from an old 
 rake^handle, there was a small pool of bilge water 
 in the sternsheets from the last shower, full of 
 dead insects, and yellow willow leaves. A clumsy 
 vessel put together years ago in some by- water of 
 the far distant Thames above Oxford, and not good 
 enough even for that unknown creek. She had 
 drifted somehow into this landlocked pond and 
 remained unused, hauled on the strand beneath 
 the willows; she could carry five or six, and if 
 they bumped her well on the stones it mattered 
 little to so stout a frame. 
 
 Still she was a boat, with keel and carve, and 
 like lovers they saw no defect. Bevis looked at 
 the hole in the seat or thwart, where the mast 
 would have to be stepped, and measured it (not 
 having a rule with him) by cutting a twig just to 
 the length of the diameter. Mark examined the 
 rudder and found that the lines were rotten, having 
 hung dangling over the stern in the water for so 
 long. Next they stepped her length, stepping 
 on the sand outside, to decide on the height 
 of the mast, and where were the ropes to be
 
 172 Bevis. 
 
 fastened ? for they meant to have some standing 
 rigging. 
 
 At home afterwards in the shed, while Bevis 
 shaved the fir-pole for the mast, Mark was set to 
 carve the leaping-pole, for the South Sea savages 
 have everything carved. He could hardly cut the 
 hard dried bark of the ash, which had shrunk on 
 and become like wood. He made a spiral notch 
 round it, and then searched till he found his old 
 spear, which had to be ornamented and altered 
 into a bone harpoon. A bone from the kitchen 
 was sawn off while in the vice, and then half 
 through two inches from the largest end. Tapping 
 a broad chisel gently, Mark split the bone down to 
 the sawn part, and then gradually filed it sharp. 
 He also filed three barbs to it, and then fitted the 
 staff of the spear into the hollow end. While he 
 was engraving lines and rings on the spear with 
 his pocket-knife, the dinner interrupted his work. 
 
 Bevis, wearying of the mast, got some flints, and 
 hammered them to split off flakes for arrowheads, 
 but though he bruised his fingers, he could not 
 chip the splinters into shape. The fracture always 
 ran too far, or not far enough. John Young, the 
 labourer, came by as he was doing this sitting on 
 the stool in the shed, and watched him.
 
 Savages. 173 
 
 '' I see a man do that once/' said John. 
 
 '* How did he do it ? tell me ? what's the trick ? " 
 said BeviSj impatient to know. 
 
 " Aw, I dunno ; I see him at it. A' had a gate- 
 hinge snopping um.'' 
 
 The iron hinge of a gate, if removed from the 
 post, forms a fairly good hammer, the handle of 
 iron as well as the head. 
 
 '* Where was it ? what did he do it for ? ** 
 
 ^^ Aw, up in the Downs. Course he did it to sell um.'' 
 
 The prehistoric art of chipping flints lingered 
 among the shepherds on the Downs, till the per- 
 cussion-cap came in, and no longer having to get 
 flakes for the flintlock guns they slowly let it 
 disappear. Young had seen it done, but could not 
 describe how. 
 
 Bevis battered his flints till he was tired ; then he 
 took up the last and hurled it away in a rage with 
 all his might. The flint whirled over and over and 
 hummed along the ground till it struck a small 
 sarsen or boulder by the wood-pile, put there as a 
 spur- stone to force the careless carters to drive 
 straight. Then it flew iuto splinters with the jerk 
 of the stoppage. 
 
 '' Here's a sharp 'un," said John Young, picking 
 up a flake, " and here's another."
 
 1 74 Bevis, 
 
 Altogether tliere were three pointed flakes which 
 Bevis thought would do. Mark had to bring some 
 reeds next day from the place where they grew 
 half a mile below his house in a by-water of the 
 brook. They were green^ but Bevis could not wait 
 to dry them. He cut them off a little above the 
 knot or joint, split the part above, and put the flint 
 flake in, and bound it round and round with horse- 
 hair from the carter's store in the stable. But 
 when they were finished, they were not shot off, lest 
 they should break; they were carried indoors into 
 the room upstairs where there was a bench, and 
 which they made their armoury. 
 
 They made four or five darts next of deal shaved 
 to the thickness of a thin walking-stick, and not 
 quite so long. One end was split in four — once 
 down and across that — and two pieces of card- 
 board doubled up thrust in, answering the purpose 
 of feathering. There was a slight notch two-thirds up 
 the shaft, and the way was to twist a piece of twine 
 round it there crossed over a knot so as just to 
 hold, the other end of the twine firmly coiled about 
 the wrist, so that in throwing the string was taut 
 and the point of the dart between the fingers- 
 Hurling it the string imparted a second force, and the 
 dart, twirling like an arrow, flew fifty or sixty yards.
 
 Savages. 175 
 
 Slings they made with a square of leather from 
 the sides of old shoes, a small hole out out in the 
 centre that the stone might not slip, but these they 
 could never do much with, except hurl pebbles from 
 the rick-yard, rattling up into the boughs of the oak, 
 on the other side of the field. The real arrows to 
 shoot with — not the reed arrows to look at — were 
 tipped with iron nails filed to a sharp point. They 
 had much trouble in feathering them; they had 
 plenty of goose-feathers (saved from the Christmas 
 plucking), but to glue them on properly was not 
 easy.
 
 1 76 Bevis, 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SAVAGES CONTINDED THE CATAMARAN. 
 
 With all their efforts, they could not make a blow- 
 tube, such as are used by savages. Bevis thought 
 and thought, and Mark helped him, and Pan 
 grabbed his fleas, all together in the round blue 
 summer-house ; and they ate a thousand straw- 
 berries, and a basketful of red currants, ripe, from 
 the wall close by, and two young summer apples, 
 far from ready, and yet they could not do it. The 
 tube ought to be at least as long as the savage, 
 using it, was tall. Tliey could easily find sticks 
 that were just the thickness, and straight, but the 
 difficulty was to bore through them. No gimlet 
 or auger was long enough; nor could they do it 
 with a bar of iron, red-hot at the end ; they could 
 not keep it true, but always burned too much one 
 side or the other. 
 
 Perhaps it might be managed by inserting a
 
 Savages continued — The Catamaran, 177 
 
 short piece of tin tubing, and making a little fire in 
 it, and gradually pushing it down as the fire burnt. 
 Only, as Bevis pointed out, the fire would not live in 
 such a narrow place without any draught. A short 
 tube was easily made out of elder^ but not nearly 
 long enough. The tinker, coming round to mend 
 the pots, put it into their heads to set him to make 
 a tin blow-pipe, five feet in length ; which he pro- 
 mised to do, and sent it in a day or two. But 
 as he had no sheet of tin broad enough to roll the 
 tube in one piece, he had made four short pipes 
 and soldered thera together. Nothing would go 
 straight through it because the joints were not quite 
 perfect, inside there was a roughness which caught 
 the dart and obstructed the puff, for a good blow- 
 tube must be as smooth and well bored as a gun- 
 barrel. 
 
 When they came to look over their weapons, they 
 found they had nob got any throw-sticks, nor a 
 boomer;ing. Throw-sticks were soon made, by 
 cutting some with a good thick knob ; and a boom- 
 erang was made out of a curved branch of ash, 
 which they planed down smooth one side, and cut to 
 a slight arch on the other. 
 
 '' This is a capital boomerang,^^ said Bevis. 
 " Now we shall be able to knock a rabbit over 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 Bevis. 
 
 without any noise, or frightening the rest, and it 
 will come back and we can kill three or four 
 running/' 
 
 " Yes, and one of the mallards," said Mark. 
 ^' Don't you know ? — they are always too far for an 
 arrow, and besides, the arrow would be lost if it 
 did not hit. Now we shall have them. But which 
 way ought we to throw it — the hollow first, or the 
 bend first ? '' 
 
 *' Let's try," said Bevis, and ran with the boom- 
 erang from the shed into the field. 
 
 Whiz ! Away it went, bend first, and rose against 
 the wind till the impetus ceased, when it hung a 
 moment on the air, and slid to the right, falling 
 near the summer-house. Next time it turned to 
 the left, and fell in the hedge ; another time it hit 
 the hay-rick : nothing could make it go straight. 
 Mark tried his hardest, and used it both ways, but 
 in vain — the boomerang rose against the wind, and, 
 so far, acted properly, but directly the force with 
 which it was thrown was exhausted, it did as it 
 liked, and swept round to the left or the right, and 
 never once returned to their feet. 
 
 "A boomerang is a stupid thing," said Bevis, 
 '^ I shall chop it up. I hate it." 
 
 " No ; put it upstairs," said Mark, taking it
 
 Savages continued — The Catamaran. 179 
 
 from liim. So the boomerang was added to tiie 
 collection in tlie bench-room. A crossbow was the 
 next thing_, and they made the stock from a stout 
 elder branch, because when the pith was taken out, 
 it left a groove for the bolt to slide up. The bow was 
 a thick briar, and the bolt flew thirty or forty yards, 
 but it did not answer, and they could hit nothing 
 with it. A crossbow requires delicate adjustment, 
 and to act well, must be made almost as accurately 
 as a rifle. 
 
 They shot a hundred times at the sparrows on 
 the roof, who were no sooner driven ofi" than they 
 came back like flies, but never hit one ; so the 
 crossbow was hung up with the boomerang. Bevis, 
 from much practice, could shoot far better than that 
 with his bow and arrow. He stuck up an apple on 
 a stick, and after six or seven trials hit it at twenty 
 yards. He could always hit a tree. Mark was 
 afraid to throw his bone-headed harpoon at a 
 tree, lest the head should break ofi*; but he had 
 another, without a bone head, to cast ; and he too 
 could generally hit a tree. 
 
 *^ Now we are quite savages,^^ said Bevis, one 
 evening, as they sat up in the bench-room, and the 
 sun went down red and fiery, opposite the little 
 window, filling the room with a red glow and 
 
 N 2
 
 1 80 Bevis. 
 
 gleaming on their faces. It put a toucli of colour 
 on the pearSj which were growing large, just outside 
 the window, as if they were ripe towards the sunset. 
 The boomerang on the wall was lit up with the 
 light ; so was a parcel of canvas, on the floor, which 
 they had bought at Latten town, for the sails of 
 their ship. 
 
 There was an oyster barrel under the bench, 
 which was to contain the fresh water for their 
 voyage, and there had been much discussion as to 
 how they were to put a new head to it. 
 
 '^ We ought to see ourselves on the shore with 
 spears and things when we are sailing round/' said 
 Mark. 
 
 '' So as not to be able to land for fear." 
 
 '^ Poisoned arrows," said Mark. " I say, how 
 stupid ! we have not got any poison.^' 
 
 "No more we have. We must get a lot of 
 poison." 
 
 " Curious plants nobody knows anything about 
 but us." 
 
 " Nobody ever heard of them." 
 
 •^ And dip our arrows and spears in the juice." 
 
 "No one ever gets well after being shot with 
 them." 
 
 " If the wind blows hard ashore and there are no
 
 Savages continued — The Catamaran. 1 8 1 
 
 harbours it will be awful with the savages all along 
 waiting for us/' 
 
 " We shall see them dancing and shouting with 
 bows and throw-sticks^ and yelling/' 
 
 '^ That's you and me/' 
 
 '' Of course. And very likely if the wind is very 
 hard we shall have to let down the sails, and fling 
 out an anchor and stay till the gale goes down/' 
 
 '^ The anchor may drag/' 
 
 " Then we shall crash on the rocks/' 
 
 ''And swim ashore/' 
 
 " You can't. There's the breakers and the savages 
 behind them. I shall stop on the wreck, and the sun 
 will go down." 
 
 *' Red like that/' pointing out of window. 
 
 " And it will blow harder still." 
 
 '' Black as pitch/' 
 
 " Horrible." 
 
 '' No help." 
 
 " Fire a gun/' 
 
 '' Pooh ! " 
 
 " Make a raft/' 
 
 ''The clouds are sure to break, or something." 
 
 " I say," said Bevis, " won't all these things " — 
 pointing to the weapons — " do first-rate for our 
 war ? "
 
 1 8 2 Bevis. 
 
 '^ Capital. There will be arrows sticking up every- 
 where all over the battle-field." 
 
 " Broken lances and horses without riders.^'' 
 
 '^ Dints in the ground." 
 
 ^' Knights with their backs against trees and heaps 
 of soldiers chopping at them." 
 
 ^^ Flashing swords ! the ground will shake when we 
 charge." 
 
 " Trumpets ! " 
 
 '' Groans ! " 
 
 '' Grass all red ! " 
 
 " Blood-red sun like that ! " The disc growing 
 larger as it neared the horizon shone vast through 
 some distant elms. 
 
 ** Flocks of crows." 
 
 '^ Heaps of white bones.^^ 
 
 " And we will take the shovels and make a tumulus 
 by the shore." 
 
 The red glow on the wall slowly dimmed, the colour 
 left the pear, and the song of a thrush came from the 
 orchard. 
 
 " I want to make some magic," said Bevis, after a 
 pause. ^^ The thing is to make a wand." 
 
 ^' Genii are best," said Mark. " They do anything 
 you tell them." 
 
 ^^ There ought to be a black book telling you how
 
 Savages contmued — The Catamaran. 183 
 
 to do it somewhere/^ said Bevis ; '^ but IVe looked 
 
 through the bookcase and there's nothing/' 
 
 '^ Are you sure you have quite looked through? " 
 ^^ I'll try again," said Bevis. " There's a lot of 
 
 books, but never anything that you want." 
 
 " I know/' said Mark suddenly. ^^ There's the 
 
 bugle in the old cupboard — that will do for the 
 
 war." 
 
 " So it will ; I forgot it." 
 
 '^Andaflag." 
 
 '^ No ; we must have eagles on a stick." 
 
 Knock ! They jumped ; Polly had hit the ceiling 
 underneath with the handle of a broom. 
 
 ^^ Supper." 
 
 When they went to bathe next morning, Bevis 
 took with him his bow and arrows, intending to 
 shoot a pike. As they walked beside the shore they 
 often saw jacks basking in the sun at the surface of 
 the water, and only a few yards distant. He had 
 fastened a long thin string one end to the arrow and 
 the other to the bow, so that he might draw the 
 arrow back to him with the fish on as the savages 
 do. Mark brought his bone-headed harpoon to try 
 and spear something, and between them they also 
 carried a plank, which was to be used as a cata- 
 maran.
 
 1 84 Bevis, 
 
 A paddle they had made was tied to it for con- 
 venience^ that their hands might not be too full. 
 Mark went first with one end of the plank on his 
 shoulder,, and Bevis followed with the other on his, 
 and as they had to hold it on edge it rather cut 
 them. Coming near some weeds where they had 
 seen a jack the day before, they put the catamaran 
 down, and Bevis crept quietly forward. The jack 
 was not there, but motioning to Mark to stand still, 
 Bevis went on to where the first railings stretched 
 out into the water. 
 
 There he saw a jack about two pounds' weight 
 basking within an inch of the surface, and aslant to 
 him. He lifted his bow before he went near, 
 shook out the string that it might slip easily like 
 the coil of a harpoon, fitted the arrow, and holding 
 it almost up, stole closer. He knew if he pulled the 
 bow in the usual manner the sudden motion of his 
 arms would send the jack away in an instant. With 
 the bow already in position, he got within six yards 
 of the fish, which, quite still, did not seem to see 
 anything, but to sleep with eyes wide open in the 
 sun. The shaft flew, and like another arrow the jack 
 darted aslant into deep water. 
 
 Bevis drew back his arrow with the string, not 
 altogether disappointed, for it had struck the water
 
 Savages continued — The Catamaran, 185 
 
 very near if not exactly at tlie place the fisli had 
 occupied. But he thought the string impeded the 
 shaft, and took it off for another trial. Mark 
 would not stay behind ; he insisted upon seeing the 
 shooting, so leaving the catamaran on the grass, 
 they moved gently along the shore. After a while 
 they found another jack, this time much larger, and 
 not less than four pounds' weight, stationary in a 
 tiny bay, or curve of the land. He was lying 
 parallel to the shore, but deeper than the first, per- 
 haps six inches beneath the surface. Mark stood 
 where he could see the dark line of the fish, while 
 Bevis, with the bow lifted and arrow half drawn, took 
 one, two, three, and almost another step forward. 
 
 Aiming steadily at the jack's broad side, just 
 behind the front fins, where the fish was widest, 
 Bevis grasped his bow firm to keep it from the 
 least wavering (for it is the left hand that shoots), 
 drew his arrow, and let go. So swift was the shaft, 
 unimpeded, and drawn too this time almost to the 
 head, in traversing the short distance between, that 
 the jack, quick as he was, could not of himself 
 have escaped. Bevis saw the arrow enter the water, 
 and, as it seemed to him, strike the fish. It did 
 indeed strike the image of the fish, but the real 
 jack slipped beneath it.
 
 1 86 Bevis. 
 
 Bevis looked and looked, lie was so certain lie 
 had hit it, and so he had hit the mark he aimed at, 
 which was the refraction, but the fish was unhurt. 
 It was explained to him afterwards that the fish 
 appears higher in the water than it actually is, and 
 that to have hit it he should have aimed two inches 
 underneath, and he proved the truth of it by trying 
 to touch things in the water with a long stick. The 
 arrow glanced after going two feet or so deep, and 
 performed a curve in the water exactly opposite to 
 that it would have traced in the air. In the air it 
 would have curved over, in the water it curved 
 under, and came up to the surface not very far out ; 
 the water checked it so. Bevis fastened the string 
 again to another arrow, and shot it out over the 
 first, so that it caught and held it, and he drew them 
 both back. 
 
 They fetched the catamaran, and went on till they 
 came to the point where there was a wall of stones 
 rudely put together to shield the land from the full 
 shock of the waves, when the west wind rolled 
 them heavily from the Indian Ocean and the Golden 
 Sea. Putting the plank down again, Mark went 
 forward with his harpoon, for he knew that shoals 
 of fish often played in the water when it was still, 
 just beneath this rocky wall. As he expected, they
 
 Savages continued — The Catamaran, 187 
 
 were there this morning, for the most part roach, 
 but a few perch. He knelt and crept out on all 
 fours to the edge of the wall, leaving his hat on the 
 sward. Looking over, he could see to the stony 
 bottom, and as there was not a ripple, he could see 
 distinctly. 
 
 He put his harpoon gently, without a splash, into 
 the sunlit water, and let it sink slowly in among 
 the shoal. The roach swam aside a yard or so from 
 it, but showed no more fear than that it should not 
 touch them. Mark kept his harpoon still till a 
 larger roach came slowly by within eighteen inches 
 of the point, when he jerked it at the fish. It 
 passed six inches behind his tail, and though Mark 
 tried again and again, thrusting quickly, he could 
 not strike them with his single point. To throw it 
 like a dart he knew was useless, they were too deep 
 down, nor could he hit so small an object in motion. 
 He could not do it, but some days afterwards he 
 struck a small tench in the brook, and got him out. 
 The tench was still, so that he could put the head 
 of his harpoon almost on it. 
 
 They marched on, and presently launched the 
 catamaran. It would only support one at a time 
 astride and half in the water, but it was a capital 
 thing. Sitting on it, Bevis paddled along the
 
 1 88 Bevis. 
 
 shore nearly to the rocky wall and back^ but he did 
 not forget his promise, and was not out of his 
 depth; he could see the stones at the bottom all 
 the time. Mark tried to stand on the plank, but 
 one edge would go down and pitch bim off. He 
 next tried to lie on it on his back, and succeeded so 
 long as he let his legs dangle over each side, and 
 so balanced it. Then they stood away, and swam 
 to it as if it had been the last plank of a wreck. 
 
 " Look ! '^ said Mark, after they had done this 
 several times. He was holding the plank at arm's 
 length with his limbs floating. " Look ! '' 
 
 '' I see. What is it ? " 
 
 " This is the way. We ought to have held the 
 jumping-pole like this. This is the way to hold an 
 oar and swim.'' 
 
 " So it is," said Bevis, " of course, that's it ; 
 we'll have the punt, and try with a scull." 
 
 Held at arm's length, almost anything will keep 
 a swimmer afloat ; but if he puts it under his arm 
 or chest, it takes a good-sized spar. Splashing 
 about, presently the plank forgotten for the moment 
 slipped away, and, impelled by the waves they 
 made, floated into deep water. 
 
 " I'm sure I could swim to it," said Bevis, and 
 he was inclined to try.
 
 Savages contintced — The Catamarayt. 189 
 
 '^ We promised not/^ said Mark. 
 
 " You stupe — I know that ; but if there's a plank, 
 that's not dangerous then.'' ''^ Stupe " was their 
 word for stupid. He waded out till the water was 
 over his shoulders, and tried to lift him. 
 
 " Don't — don't/' said Mark. Bevis began to lean 
 his chest on the water. 
 
 " If you're captain,," cried Mark, ^^ jou ought not 
 to." 
 
 "No more I ought/' said Bevis, coming back. 
 *' Get my bow." 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 "Go and get my bow." 
 
 " I shan't, if you say it like that." 
 
 " You shall. Am I not captain ? " 
 
 Mark was caught by his own argument, and went 
 out on the sward for the bow. 
 
 "Tie the arrow on with the string," shouted 
 Bevis. Mark did it, and brought it in, keeping it 
 above the surface. Bevis climbed on the railings, 
 half out of water, so that he could steady himself 
 with his knees against the rail. 
 
 ''Now, give me the bow," he said. He took good 
 aim, and the nail, filed to a sharp point, was driven 
 deep into the soft deal of the plank. With the 
 string he hauled the catamaran gently back, but it
 
 1 90 Bevis. 
 
 would not come straight ; it slipped sideways (like 
 the boomerang in the air), and came ashore under 
 the aspen bough. 
 
 When they came out they bathed again in the air 
 and the sunshine; they rolled on the sward, and 
 ran. Bevis, as he ran and shouted, shot off an 
 arrow with all his might to see how far it would go. 
 It went up, up, and curving over, struck a bough 
 at the top of one of the elms, and stopped there by 
 the rooks^ nests. Mark shouted and danced on the 
 bird^s-foot lotus, and darted his spear, heedless of 
 the bone-head. It went up into the hazel boughs of 
 the hedge among the young nuts, and he could not 
 get it till dressed, for the thistles. 
 
 They ran again and chased each other in and out 
 the sycamore trunks, and visited the hollow, shout- 
 ing their loudest, till the distant herd looked up 
 from their grazing. The sun-light poured upon 
 them, and the light air came along ; they bathed in 
 air and sunbeam, and gathered years of health like 
 flowers from the field. 
 
 After they had dressed they took the catamaran 
 to the quarry to leave it there (somewhat out of 
 sight lest any one should take it for firewood), so as 
 to save the labour of carrying it to and fro. There 
 was a savage of another tribe in the quarry, and
 
 Savages contimLed — The Catamaran. 191 
 
 they crept on all fours,, taking great pains that he 
 should not see them. It was the old man who was 
 supposed to look after the boats, and generally to 
 watch the water. Had they not been so occupied 
 they would have heard the thump, thump of the 
 sculls as he rowed, or rather moved the punt up to 
 where the narrow mound separated the New»Sea 
 from the quarry. 
 
 He was at work scooping out some sand, and 
 filling sacks with the best, with which cargo he 
 would presently voyage home, and retail it to the 
 dairymaids and at the roadside inns to eke out that 
 spirit of juniper-berries needful to those who have 
 dwelt long by marshy places. They need not have 
 troubled to conceal themselves from this stranger 
 savage ; he would not have seen them if they had 
 stood close by him, A narrow life narrows the 
 sweep of the eye. Miserable being, he could see no 
 farther than one of the mussels of the lake which 
 travel in a groove. His groove led to the sanded 
 inn-kitchen, and his shell was shut to all else. But 
 they crept like skirmishers, dragging the catamaran 
 laboriously behind them, using every undulation of 
 the ground to hide themselves, till they had got it 
 into the hollow, where they left it beside a heap of 
 stones. Then they had to crawl out again, and for
 
 192 Bevis. 
 
 thirty yards along the turf, ti'' '.hey could stand up 
 unseen. 
 
 " Let's get the poison/' said Mark, as they were 
 going home. 
 
 So they searched for the poison-plants. The 
 woody nightshade they knew very well, having been 
 warned long ago against the berries. It was 
 now only in flower, and it would be some time 
 before there were any berries ; but after think- 
 ing it over they decided to gather a bundle of stalks, 
 and soak them for the deadly juice. There were stems 
 of arum in the ditches, tipped with green berries. 
 These they thought would do, but shrank from 
 touching. The green looked unpleasant and slimy. 
 
 Next they hunted for mandragora, of which John 
 Young had given them an account. It grew in 
 waste places, and by the tombs in the churchyard, 
 and shrieked while you pulled it up. This they 
 could not find. Mark said perhaps it wanted an 
 enchanter to discover it, but he gathered a quantity 
 of the dark green milfoil from the grass beside the 
 hedge and paths, and crammed his pockets with it. 
 Some of the lads had told him that it was a deadly 
 poison. It is the reverse — thus reputation varies — 
 for it was used to cure mediaeval sword-cuts. 
 They passed the water-parsnip, unaware of its 
 pernicious qualities, looking for noisome hemlock.
 
 Savages contimted — The Catamaran. 1 9 
 
 '> 
 
 " There^s another kind of nightshade/^ said Bevis; 
 '^ because I read about it in that old book indoors, 
 and it^s much stronger than this. We must have 
 some of it.'' 
 
 They looked a long time, but could not find it ; 
 and, full of their direful object, did not heed 
 sounds of laughter on the other side of the hedge 
 they were searching, till they got through a gap 
 and jumped into the midst of a group of haymakers 
 resting for lunch. The old men had got a little 
 way apart by themselves, for they wanted to eat like 
 Pan. All the women were together in a " gaggle,'^ 
 a semicircle of them sitting round a young girl who 
 lounged on a heap of mown grass, with a huge 
 labourer lying full length at her feet. She had 
 a piece of honey suckle in her hand, and he had a 
 black wooden '^ bottle " near him. 
 
 There was a courting going on between these 
 two, and all the other women, married and single, 
 collected round them, to aid in the business with 
 jokes and innuendoes. 
 
 Bevis and Mark instantly recognized in the girl 
 the one who at ^^ Calais '^ had shown them the road 
 home, and in the man at her feet the fellow who was 
 asleep on the flint heap. 
 
 Her large eyes, like black cherries — for black 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 Bevis. 
 
 eyes and black cherries have a faint tint of red 
 behind them — were immediately bent full on Bevis 
 as she rose and curtseyed to him. Her dress at 
 the throat had come unhooked, and showed the line 
 to which the sun had browned her, and where the 
 sweet clear whiteness of the untouched skin began. 
 The soft roundness of the swelling plum as it ripens 
 filled her common print, torn by briars, with grace- 
 ful contours. In the shadow of the oak her large 
 black eyes shone larger, loving and untaught. 
 
 Bevis did not speak. He and Mark were a little 
 taken aback, having jumped through the gap so 
 suddenly from savagery into haymaking. They 
 hastened through a gateway into another field. 
 
 *^ How you do keep a-staring arter they ! '^ said 
 the huge young labourer to the girl. " Yen you 
 seen he afore ? It\s onely our young measter." 
 
 " I knows,'' said the girl, sitting down as Bevis 
 and Mark disappeared through the gateway. " He 
 put a bough on you to keep the flies off* while you 
 were sleeping." 
 
 " Did a' ? Then why didn't you ax 'un for a 
 quart ? " 
 
 Shehadslipped alongthe fields by the roadthatday, 
 and had seen Bevis put the bough over her lover's 
 face as he slept on the flint-heap — where she left
 
 Savages continued — The Catamaran. 195 
 
 him. The grateful labourer's immediate idea was to 
 ask Bevis for some beer. 
 
 Behind the hedge Bevis and Mark continued 
 their search for deadly poison. They took some 
 " gix," but were not certain that it was the true 
 hemlock. 
 
 '^ There's a sort of sorrel that's poison/' said 
 Mark. 
 
 ^*' And heaps of roots/' said Bevis. 
 
 They were now near home, and went in to 
 extract the essence from the plants they had. The 
 nightshade yielded very little juice from its woody 
 bines, or stalks ; the ^^ gix " not much more : the 
 milfoil, well bruised and squeezed, gave most. 
 They found three small phials, the nightshade and 
 ^^ gix " only filled a quarter of the phials used 
 for them : Mark had a phial three-parts full of 
 milfoil. These they arranged in a row on the 
 bench in the bench-room under the crossbow and 
 boomerang, for future use in war. They did not 
 dip their arrows or harpoon in yet, lest they 
 should poison any fish or animal they might kill, 
 and so render it unfit for food. 
 
 2
 
 196 Be vis. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SAVAGES CONTINUED MAKING THE SAILS. 
 
 The same evenings having got a great plateful of 
 cherries, they went to work in the bench-room to 
 cut out the sails from the parcel of canvas. There 
 had been cherries in town weeks before, but 
 these were the first considered ripe in the 
 country, which is generally later. With a cherry 
 in his mouth, Bevis spread the canvas out upon 
 the floor, and marked it with his pencil. ^The rig 
 was to be fore and aft, a mainsail and jib ; the 
 mast and gaff, or as they called it, the yard, were 
 already finished. It took forty cherries to get it 
 cut out properly, then they threw the other pieces 
 aside, and placed the sails on the floor in the position 
 they would be when fixed. 
 
 '* You are sure they^re not too big,'' said Mark, 
 " if a white squall comes." 
 
 " There are no white squalls now," said Bevis ou
 
 Savages continued — Making the Sails. 197 
 
 his knees, thoughtfully sucking a cherry-stone. 
 " It^s cyclones now. The sails are just the right 
 size, and of course we can take in a reef. You cut 
 off — let me see — twenty bits of string, a foot — no, 
 fifteen inches long : it^s for the reefs.'^ 
 
 Mark began to measure off the string from a 
 quantity of the largest make, which they had bought 
 for the purpose. 
 
 ^^ There^s the block," he said. '' How are you 
 going to manage about the pulley to haul up the 
 mainsail ? '^ 
 
 ^' The block's a bore,'' mused Bevis, rolling his 
 cherry-stone about. '' I don't think we could make 
 
 one — " 
 
 ^^ Buy one." 
 
 " Pooh ! There's nothing in Latten ; why you 
 can't buy anything." Mai^ was silent, he knew it 
 was true. " If we make a slit in the mast and 
 put a little wheel in off a window-blind or some- 
 thing—" 
 
 '' That would do first-rate." 
 
 '^No it wouldn't; it would weaken the mast, 
 stupe, and the first cyclone would snap it." 
 
 " So it would. Then we should drift ashore and 
 get eaten." 
 
 " Most likely."
 
 1 98 Bevis, 
 
 (C 
 
 Well, bore a hole and put the cord through 
 that ; that would not weaken it much/' 
 
 ^' No ; but I know ! A curtain-ring ! Don^t 
 you see, you fasten the curtain-ring, it's brass, to 
 the mast, and put the rope through, and it runs 
 easy — brass is smooth/' 
 
 "Of course. Who's that?'' 
 
 Some small stones came rattling in at the open 
 window, and two voices shouted, — 
 
 " I say. Holloa ! " 
 
 Bevis and Mark went to the window and saw two 
 of their friends. Bill and Wat, on the garden path 
 below. 
 
 " When's the war going to begin ? " asked Wat. 
 
 " Tell us about the war," said Bill. 
 
 " The war's not ready," said Bevis. 
 
 '^ Well how long is it going to be ? " 
 
 " Make haste." 
 
 " Everybody's ready." 
 
 '' Lots of them. Do you think you shall want 
 any more ? " 
 
 " I know six," said a third voice, and Tim came 
 round the corner, having waited to steal a straw- 
 berry, " and one's a whopper." 
 
 '' Let's begin." 
 
 " Now then."
 
 Savages continued — Makhig the Sails. 199 
 
 " ! donH make such a noise/^ said Bevis. Tlie 
 sails and the savages had rather put the war aside^ 
 but Mark had talked of it to others^ and the idea 
 spread in a minute ; ever^^body jumped at it, and 
 all the cry was War ! 
 
 '^ Make me lieutenant/^ said Andrew, appearing 
 from the orchard. 
 
 " I want to carry the flag/^ 
 
 " Come down and tell us/' 
 
 " How are we to tell you if you keep talking ? ^^ 
 said Mark j Bevis put his head out of window by 
 the pears, and they were quiet. 
 
 " I tell you the war^s not ready/' he said ; ^^ and 
 you're as bad as rebels — I mean you're a mutiny to 
 come here before you're sent for, and you ought to 
 be shot " — (^^ Executed," whispered Mark behind 
 him) — ^' executed, of course/' 
 
 " How are we to know when it's ready ? " 
 
 " You'll be summoned," said Bevis. " There 
 will be a muster-roll and a trumpet blown, and 
 you'll have to march a thousand miles/' 
 
 " All right." 
 
 ^' And the swords have to be made, and the eagles, 
 besides the map of the roads and the grub " — (" Pro- 
 visions," said Mark) — *' provisions, of course, and all 
 the rest, and how do you think a war is to be got
 
 (C 
 (C 
 
 200 Bevis. 
 
 ready in a minute, you stupes ! '^ in a tone of great 
 indignation. 
 
 They grumbled : they wanted a big battle on 
 the spot. 
 
 '' If you bother me much/^ said Bevis, " while Pm 
 getting the fleet ready, there shan^t be a war at all." 
 Are you getting a fleet ? " 
 
 Here are the sails," said Mark, holding up some 
 canvas. 
 
 " Well, you won^t be long ? " 
 
 " You'll let us know ? " 
 
 '^ Shall we tell anybody else ? '' 
 
 '* Lots," said Bevis ; ^^ tell lots. We're going to 
 have the biggest armies ever seen." 
 
 '' Thousands," said Mark. '' Millions ! '' 
 
 " Millions ! " said Bevis. 
 
 '^Hurrah ! " they shouted. 
 
 '^ Here," said Bevis, throwing the remainder of 
 the cherries out like a shower among them. 
 
 **^ Are you coming to quoits ? " 
 
 " ! no," said Mark, " we have so much to do ; 
 now go away." The soldiery moved off through the 
 garden, snatching lawlessly at any fruit they saw. 
 
 "Mark," said Bevis on his knees again, "these 
 sails will have to be hemmed, you know.^ 
 
 " So thev will." 
 
 a
 
 Savages continued — Making the Sails. 201 
 
 " We can't do it. You must take them liome to 
 Frances, and make lier stitcb them ; roll them up 
 and go directly/^ 
 
 " I don't want to go home/' said Mark. ^^ And 
 perhaps she won't stitch them/' 
 
 '^ I'm sure she will ; she will do anything for me." 
 
 '^ So she will," said Mark rather sullenly. 
 ^' Everybody does everything for you." 
 
 Bevis had rolled up the sails, quite indifferent as 
 to what people did for him, and put them into 
 Mark's unwilling hands. 
 
 " Now you can have the donkey, and mind and 
 come back before breakfast." 
 
 '^ I can't catch him," said Mark. 
 
 " No ; no more can I — stop. John Young's sure 
 to be in the stable, he can." 
 
 " Ah," said Mark, brightening up a little, '^ that 
 moke is a beast." 
 
 John Young, having stipulated for a " pot," went 
 to catch the donkey ; they sat down in the shed to 
 wait for him, but as he did not come for some time 
 they went after him. They met him in the next 
 field leading the donkey with a halter, and red as 
 fire from running. They took the halter and sent 
 John away for the "pot." There was a wicked 
 thought in their hearts, and they wanted witnesses
 
 202 Bevts. 
 
 away. So soon as John had gone, Mark looked at 
 Bevis, and Bevis looked at Mark. Mark growled, 
 Bevis stamped his feet. 
 
 '' Beast ! '' said Mark. 
 
 '' Wretch ! '' said Bevis. 
 
 " You — you — you, Thing/^ said Mark ; they 
 ground their teeth, and glared at the animal. They 
 led him all fearful to a tree, a little tree but stout 
 enough ; it was an ash, and it grew somewhat away 
 from the hedge. They tied him firmly to the tree, 
 and then they scourged this miserable citizen. 
 
 All the times they had run in vain to catch 
 him ; all the times they had had to walk when they 
 misrht have ridden one behind the other on his 
 back; all his refusals to be tempted; all the 
 wrongs they had endured at his heels boiled in 
 their breasts. They broke their sticks upon his 
 back, they cut new ones, and smashed them too, 
 they hurled the fragments at him, and then got some 
 more. They thrashed, thwacked, banged, thumped, 
 poked, prodded, kicked, belaboured, bumped, and 
 hit him, working themselves into a frenzy of rage. 
 
 Mark fetched a pole to knock him the harder as 
 it was heavy; Bevis crushed into the hedge, and 
 brought out a dead log to hurl at him, a log he could 
 but just lift and swung to throw with difficulty, — the
 
 Savages continued — Making the Sails. 203 
 
 same Bevis who put an aspen leaf carefully under the 
 fly to save it from drowning. The sky was blue, 
 and the evening beautiful, but no one came to help 
 the donkey. 
 
 When they were tired, they sat down and rested, 
 and after they were cooler and had recovered from 
 the fatigue, they loosed him — quite cowed this time 
 and docile, and Mark, with the parcel of sails, got on 
 his back. After all this onslaught there did not 
 seem any difference in him except that his coat had 
 been well dusted. This immunity aggravated them ; 
 they could not hurt him. 
 
 " Put him in the stable all night,'^ said Bevis, 
 '^ and don^t give him anything to eat/^ 
 
 " And no water,^' said Mark, as he rode off. " So 
 I will.^^ 
 
 And so he did. But the donkey had cropped all 
 day, and was full, and just before John Young caught 
 him had had a draught, rather unusual for him and 
 equal to an omen, at the drinking-place by the raft. 
 The donkey slept, and beat them. 
 
 After Mark had gone Bevis returned to the bench- 
 room, and fastened a brass curtain-ring to the mast, 
 which they had carried up there. When he had 
 finished, noticing the three phials of poison he 
 thought he would go and see if he could find out any
 
 204 Bevis. 
 
 more fatal plants. There was an ancient encyclo- 
 paedia in the bookcase, in which he had read many 
 curious things, such as would not be considered 
 practical enough for modern publication, which 
 must be dry or nothing. Among the rest was a 
 page of chemical signs and those used by the 
 alchemists, some of which he had copied off for 
 magic. Pulling out the volumes, which were piled 
 haphazard, like bricks shot out of a cart, there was 
 one that had all the alphabets employed in the 
 different languages, Coptic, Grothic, Ethiopic, 
 Syriac, and so on. 
 
 The Arabic took his fancy as the most myste- 
 rious — the sweeping curves, the quivering lines, 
 the blots where the reed pen thickened, there was no 
 knowing what such writing might not mean. How 
 mystic the lettering which forms the running orna- 
 ment of the Alhambra ! It is the writing of the 
 Orient, of the alchemist and enchanter, the astrologer 
 and the prophet. 
 
 Bevis copied the alphabet, and then he made a 
 roll of a broad sheet of yellowish paper torn from the 
 end of one of the large volumes, a fly-leaf, and wrote 
 the letters upon it in such a manner as their shape 
 and flowing contour arranged themselves. With 
 these he mingled the alchemic signs for fire and air
 
 Savages continued — Making the Sails. 205 
 
 and water, and so by the time the dusk crept into 
 the parlour and filled it with shadow he had com- 
 pleted a manuscript. This he rolled up and tied 
 with string, intending to bury it in the sand of the 
 quarry, so that when they sailed round in the ship 
 they might land and discover it. 
 
 Mark returned to breakfast, and said that 
 Frances had promised to hem the sails, and thought 
 it would not take long. Bevis showed him the 
 roll. 
 
 '^It looks magic,^^ said Mark. ^^What does it 
 mean ? '^ 
 
 " I don''t know," said Bevis. ^' That is what we 
 shall have to find out when we discover it. Besides 
 the magic is never in the writing; it is what you 
 see when you read it — it's like looking in a looking- 
 glass, and seeing people moving about a thousand 
 miles away." 
 
 " I know," said Mark. " We can put it in a sand- 
 martin's hole, then it won't get wet if it rains." 
 
 They started for the bathing-place, and carefully 
 deposited the roll in a sand-martin's hole some way 
 up the face of the quarry, covering it with sand. 
 To know the spot again, they counted and found it 
 was the third burrow to the right, if you stood by 
 the stone heap and looked straight towards the first
 
 2o6 Bevis. 
 
 sycamore-tree. Having taken the bearings, they 
 dragged the catamaran down to the water, and had 
 a swim. When they came out, and were running 
 about on the high ground by the sycamores, they 
 caught sight of a dog-cart slowly crossing the field 
 a long way off, and immediately hid behind a tree 
 to reconnoitre the new savage, themselves unseen. 
 
 " It's Jack," said Bevis ; '^ Fm sure it is." It 
 was Jack, and he was going at a walking pace, 
 because the track across the field was rough, and he 
 did not care to get to the gateway before the man 
 sent to open it had arrived there. His object was 
 to look at some grass to rent for his sheep. 
 
 " Yes, it's Jack," said Mark, very slowly and 
 doubtfully. Bevis looked at him. 
 
 " Well, suppose it is ; he won't hurt us. We can 
 easily shoot him if he comes here." 
 
 ^^ But the letter," said Mark. 
 
 " What letter ? " 
 
 Mark had started for his clothes, which were in a 
 heap on the sward, he seized his coat, and drew a 
 note much frayed from one of the pockets. He 
 looked at it, heaved a deep sigh, and ran with all 
 his might to intercept Jack. Bevis watched him 
 tearing across the field and laughed ; then he sat 
 down on the grass to wait for him.
 
 Savages coritinued — Making the Sails. 207 
 
 Markj out of breath and with thistles in his feet, 
 would never have overtaken the dog-cart had not 
 Jack seen him coming and stopped. He could not 
 speak, but handed up the note in silence, more like 
 Cupid than messengers generally. He panted so 
 that he could not run away directly, as he had 
 intended. 
 
 '* You rascal,'^ said Jack, flicking at him with his 
 whip. " How long have you had this in your 
 pocket ? ^' 
 
 Mark tried to run away, he could only trot ; Jack 
 turned his mare^s head, as if half-inclined to drive 
 after him. 
 
 ^' If you come,^' said Mark, shaking his fist, ^' we^ll 
 shoot you and stick a spear into you. Aha ! you^re 
 afraid ! aha ! ^' 
 
 Jack was too eager to read his note to take ven- 
 geance. Mark walked away jeering at him. The 
 reins hung down, and the mare cropped as the master 
 read. Mark laughed to think he had got off so 
 easily, for the letter had been in his pocket a week, 
 though he had faithfully promised to deliver it the 
 same day — for a shilling. Had he not been sent 
 home with the sails it might have remained another 
 week till the envelope was fretted through. 
 
 Frances asked if he had given it to Jack.
 
 2o8 Bevts. 
 
 Mark started. " Ah/^ said she, " you have forgotten 
 it.'' 
 
 "Of course I have/^ said Mark. "It's so long ago/' 
 
 '' Then you did really ? " 
 
 '^ How stupid you are/' said Mark ; and Frances 
 could not press him further, lest she should seem too 
 anxious about Jack. So the young dog escaped, 
 but he did not dare delay longer, and had not Jack 
 happened to cross the field meant to have ridden 
 up to his house on the donkey. When Jack had 
 read the note he looked at the retreating figure of 
 Cupid and opened his lips, but caught his breath as 
 it were and did not say it. He put his whip aside as 
 he drove on, lest he should unjustly punish the mare. 
 
 Mark strolled leisurely back to the bathing-place, 
 but when he got there Bevis was not to be seen. 
 He looked round at the water, the quarry, the syca- 
 more-trees. He ran down to the water's edge with 
 his heart beating and a wild terror causing a whirl- 
 ing sensation in his eyes, for the thought in the 
 instant came to him that Bevis had gone out of his 
 depth. He tried to shout " Bevis ! " but he was 
 choked; he raised his hands; as he looked across the 
 water he suddenly saw something white moving 
 among the fir-trees at the head of the gulf. 
 
 He knew it was Bevis, but he was so overcome he
 
 Savages continued — Making the Satis. 209 
 
 sat down on tlie sward to watch^ lie could not stand 
 up. The something white was stealthily passing 
 from tree to tree like an Indian. Mark looked 
 round, and saw his own harpoon on the grass, but 
 at once missed the bow and arrows. His terror had 
 suspended his observation, else he would have noticed 
 this before. 
 
 Bevis, when Mark ran with the letter to Jack, 
 had sat down on the sward to wait for him, and by- 
 and-by, while still, and looking out over the water, his 
 quiet eye became conscious of a slight movement 
 opposite at the mouth of the Nile. There was a 
 ripple, and from the high ground where he sat he 
 could see the reflection of the trees in the water there 
 undulate, though their own boughs shut off the 
 light air from the surface. He got up, took his bow 
 and arrows, and went into the firs. The dead dry 
 needles or leaves on the ground felt rough to his 
 naked feet, and he had to take care not to step on 
 the hard cones. A few small bramble bushes forced 
 him to go aside, so that it took him some little time 
 to get near the Nile. 
 
 Then he had to always keep a tree trunk in front 
 of him, and to step slowly that his head might not 
 be seen before he could see what it was himself. 
 He stooped as the ripples on the other side of the 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 2 1 o Bevis. 
 
 brook became visible; then gradually lifting his 
 head, sheltered by a large alder, he traced the 
 ripples back to the shore under the bank, and saw 
 a moor-cock feeding by the roots of a willow. Bevis 
 waited till the cock turned his back, then he stole 
 another step forward to the alder. 
 
 It was about ten yards to the willow which hung 
 over the water, but he could not get any nearer, for 
 there was no more cover beyond the alder — the true 
 savage is never content unless he is close to his 
 game. Bevis grasped his bow firm in his left hand, 
 drew the arrow quick but steadily — not with a jerk — 
 and as the sharp point covered the bird, loosed it. 
 There was a splash and a fluttering, he knew in- 
 stantly that he had hit. '' Mark ! Mark ! " he 
 shouted, and ran down the bank, heedless of the 
 jagged stones. Mark heard, and came racing 
 through the firs. 
 
 The arrow had struck the moor-cock's wing, but 
 even then the bird would have got away, for the 
 point had no barb, and in diving and struggling it 
 would have come out, had not he been so near the 
 willow. The spike went through his wiug and 
 nailed it to a thick root ; the arrow quivered as it 
 was stopped by the wood. Bevis seized him by the 
 neck and drew the arrow out.
 
 Savages continued — Making the Sails. 2 1 1 
 
 ^^Kill him! Kill him!'^ shouted Mark. The 
 other savage pulled the neck, and Mark, leaping 
 down the jagged stones, took the dead bird in his 
 eager hands. 
 
 " Kerens where the arrow went in." 
 " There's three feathers in the water." 
 " Feel how warm he is." 
 " Look at the thick red on his bill." 
 '^ See his claws." 
 '' Hurrah ! " 
 " Let's eat him." 
 " Eaw ? " 
 
 "No. Cook him." 
 " All right. Make a fire." 
 
 Thus the savages gloated over their prey. They 
 went back up the bank and through the firs to the 
 sward. 
 
 " Where shall we make the fire ? " said Mark. 
 " In the quarry ? " 
 
 " That old stupe may come for sand." 
 "■ So he may. Let's make it here." 
 " Everybody would see." 
 " By the hedge towards the elms then." 
 '^ No. I know, in the hollow." 
 " Of course, nobody would come there." 
 " Pick up some sticks." 
 
 p 2
 
 2 1 2 Bevis. 
 
 " Come and help m.Q." 
 
 '' I shall dress — there are brambles/' 
 
 So they dressed, and then found that Mark had 
 broken a nail, and Bevis had cut his foot with the 
 sharp edge of a fossil shell projecting from one of 
 the stones. But that was nothing, they could think 
 of nothing but the bird. While they were gather- 
 ing armsful of dead sticks from among the trees, 
 they remembered that John Young, who always 
 paunched the rabbits and hares and got every- 
 thing ready for the kitchen, said coots and moor- 
 hens must be skinned, they could not be plucked 
 because of the '^ dowl." 
 
 Dowl is the fluff, the tiny featherets no fingers can 
 remove. So after they had carried the wood they 
 had collected to the round hollow in the field beyond 
 the sycamore-trees, they took out their knives, and 
 haggled the skin off. They built their fire very 
 skilfully ; they had made so many in the Peninsula 
 (for there is nothing so pleasant as making a fire 
 out of doors), that they had learnt exactly how to do 
 it. Two short sticks were stuck in the ground and 
 a third across to them, like a triangle. Against this 
 frame a number of the smallest and driest sticks 
 were leaned, so that they made a tiny hut. Out- 
 side these there was a second layer of longer
 
 Savages continued — Making the Sails. 2 1 3 
 
 sticks j all standings or rather leaning against the 
 first. 
 
 If a stick is placed across^ ^jiiig horizontally^ 
 supposing it catches fire, it just burns through the 
 middle and that is all, the ends go out. If it is 
 stood nearly upright, the flame draws np it ; it is 
 certain to catch ; it burns longer and leaves a good 
 ember. They arranged the rest of their bundles 
 ready to be thrown on when wanted, and then put 
 some paper, a handful of dry grass, and a quantity 
 of the least and driest twigs, like those used in 
 birds^-nests, inside the little hut. Then having 
 completed the pile they remembered they had no 
 matches. 
 
 " It^s very lucky,^^ said Bevis. '^ If we had we 
 should have to throw them away. Matches are not 
 proper.^^ 
 
 ^^ Two pieces of wood,^^ said Mark. '^ I know ; 
 you rub them together till they catch fire, and one 
 piece must be hard and the other soft/^ 
 
 " Yes,^^ said Bevis, and taking out his knife he 
 cut ojff the end of one of the larger dead branches 
 they had collected, and made a smooth side to it. 
 Mark had some difl&culty in finding a soft piece 
 to rub on it, for those which touched soft crumbled 
 when rubbed on the hard surface Bevis had prepared.
 
 2 1 4 Bevis. 
 
 A bit of willow seemed best, and Bevis seizing it 
 first, rubbed it to and fro till his arm ached and his 
 face glowed. Mark, lying on the grass, watched to 
 see the slight tongue of flame shoot up, but it did 
 not come. 
 
 Bevis stopped, tired, and putting his hand on the 
 smooth surface found it quite warm, so that they 
 had no doubt thev could do it in time. Mark tried 
 next, and then Bevis again, and Mark followed 
 him ; but though the wood became warm it would 
 not burst into flame, as it ought to have done.
 
 215 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SAVAGES CONTINUED THE MAST FITTED. 
 
 '^ This is very stupid/^ said Bevis, throwing him- 
 self back at full length on the grass, and crossing 
 his arms over his face to shield his eyes from the 
 sun. 
 
 " They ought not to tell us such stupid things/' 
 said Mark. '^We might rub all day.^' 
 
 *'*' I know," said Bevis, sitting up again. '' It^s a 
 drill ; it^s done with a drill. Give me my bow — 
 there, don't you know how Jonas made the hole in 
 Tom's gun ? " 
 
 Jonas the blacksmith, a clever fellow in his way, 
 drilled out a broken nipple in the bird-keeper's 
 muzzle-loading gun, working the drill with a bow. 
 Bevis and Mark, always on the watch everywhere, 
 saw him do it. 
 
 They cut a notch or hole in the hard surface of 
 the thicker bough, and shaped another piece of wood
 
 2 1 6 Bevis, 
 
 to a dull point to fit in it. Bevis took this, placed it 
 against the string of his bow, and twisted the string 
 round it. Then he put the point of the stick in the 
 hole ; Mark held the bough firm on the ground, but 
 immediately he began to work the bow backwards 
 and forwards, rotating the drill alternate ways, he 
 found that the other end against which he pressed 
 with his chest would quickly fray a hole in his jacket. 
 They had to stop and cut another piece of wood 
 with a hole to take the top of the drill, and Bevis 
 now pressed on this with his left hand (finding that 
 it did not need the weight of his chest), and worked 
 the bow with his right. 
 
 The drill revolved swiftly, it was really very near 
 the savages^ fire-drill ; but the expected flame did 
 not come. The wood was not dry enough, or the 
 point of friction was not accurately adjusted • the 
 wood became quite hot, but did not ignite. You 
 may have the exact machinery and yet not be able to 
 use it, the possession of the tools does not make the 
 smith. There is an indefinite something in the 
 touch of the master^s hand which is wantiuar- 
 
 Bevis flung down the bow without a word, 
 heaving a deep sigh of rage. 
 
 " Flint and steel,^' said Mark presently. 
 
 •' Hum ! ''
 
 Savages continued — The Mast Fitted. 2 1 7 
 
 '^ There's a flint in the gateway," continued Mark. 
 " I saw it just now ; and you can knock it 
 against the end of your knife — " 
 
 " You stupe ; there's no tinder/' 
 
 " No more there is." 
 
 "I hate it— it's horrid/' said Bevis. ''What's 
 the use of trying to do things when everything can't 
 be done ? " 
 
 He sat on his heels as he knelt, and looked round 
 scowling. There was the water — no fire to be 
 obtained from thence ; there was the broad field — 
 no fire there ; there was the sun overhead. 
 
 '' Gro home directly, and get a burning-glass — 
 unscrew the telescope." 
 
 " Is it proper ? " said Mark, not much liking the 
 journey. 
 
 " It's not matches," said Bevis sententiously. 
 
 Mark knew it was of no use, he had to go, and he 
 went, taking ofi" his jacket before he started, as he 
 meant to run a good part of the way. It was not 
 really far, but as his mind was at the hollow all the 
 while the time seemed twice as long. After he had 
 gone Bevis soon found that the sunshine was too 
 warm to sit in, though while they had been so busy 
 and working their hardest they had never noticed it. 
 Directly the current of occupation was interrupted
 
 2 1 8 Bevis. 
 
 the sun became unbearable. Bevis went to the 
 shadow of the sycamores, taking the skinned bird 
 with him, lest a wandering beast of prey — some 
 weasel or jackal — should pounce on it. 
 
 He thought Mark was a very long time gone ; he 
 got up and walked round the huge trunk of the 
 sycamore, and looked up into it to see if any 
 immense boa-constrictor was coiled among its great 
 limbs. He thought they would some day build a 
 hut up there on a platform of poles. Far out over 
 the water he saw the Unknown Island, and remem- 
 bered that when they sailed there in the ship there 
 was no knowing what monsters or what enchant- 
 ments they might encounter. So he walked out 
 from the trees into the field to look for some moly 
 to take with them, and resist Circe. 
 
 The bird^s-foot lotus he knew was not it. There 
 was one blue spot of veronica still, and another 
 tiny blue flower which he did not know, besides 
 the white honeysuckle clover at which the grey 
 bees were busy, and would scarce stir from under 
 his footsteps. He found three button mushrooms, 
 and put them in his pocket. Wandering on 
 among the buttercup stalks and bunches of grass, 
 like a butterfly drawn hither and thither by every 
 speck of colour, he came to a little white flower on
 
 Savages contimied — The Mast Fitted, 1 1 9 
 
 a slender stem a few inches high, which he gathered 
 for moly. Putting the precious flower — good against 
 sorcery — in his breast-pocket for safety, he rose 
 from his knees, and saw Mark coming by the 
 sycamores. 
 
 Mark was hot and tired with running, yet he had 
 snatched time enough to bring four cherries for 
 Bevis. He had the burning-glass — a lens unscrewed 
 from the telescope, and sitting on the grass they 
 focussed the sun's rays on a piece of paper. The 
 lens was powerful and the summer sun bright, so 
 that in a few seconds there was a tiny black speck, 
 then the faintest whiff of bluish smoke, then a leap 
 of flame, and soon another, till the paper burned, 
 and their fire was lit. As the little hut blazed up 
 they put some more boughs on, and the dead leaves 
 attached to them sent up a thin column of smoke. 
 
 " The savages will see that,'' said Mark, " and 
 come swarming down from the hills.'"' 
 
 '^ We ought to have made the fire in a hole," said 
 Bevis, ^' and put turf on it." 
 
 '' What ever shall we do ? " said Mark. '' They'll 
 be here in a minute." 
 
 '' Fetich," said Bevis. '^ I know, cut that stick 
 sharp at the end, tie a handful of grass on it — 
 be quick — and run down towards the elms and stick
 
 2 20 Bevts. 
 
 it up. Then they^ll think we^re doing fetich, and 
 won't come any nearer." 
 
 ^' First-rate/' said Mark, and off he went with the 
 stick, and thrust it into the sward with a wisp of 
 grass tied to the top. Bevis piled on the branches, 
 and when he came back there was a large fire. 
 Then the difficulty was how to cook the bird ? If 
 they put it on the ashes, it would burn and be 
 spoiled; if they hung it up, they could not make it 
 twist round and round, and they had no iron pot to 
 boil it ; or earthenware pot to drop red-hot stones in, 
 and so heat the water without destroying the vessel. 
 The only thing they could do was to stick it on a 
 stick, and hold it to the fire till it was roasted, one 
 side at a time. 
 
 " The harpoon will do," said Bevis. " Spit him 
 on it." 
 
 '' No," said Mark ; " the bone will burn and get 
 spoiled — spit him on your arrow." 
 
 " The nail will burn out and spoil my arrow, and 
 I've lost one in the elms. Go and cut a long 
 stick." 
 
 " You ought to go and do it," said Mark ; " Tve 
 done everything this morning." 
 
 " So you have ; I'll go," said Bevis and away ; he 
 went to the nut-tree hedge. He soon brought back
 
 Savages continued — The Mast Fitted. 221 
 
 a straight hazel-rod to whicli he cut a point, the 
 bird was spitted, and they held it by turns at the 
 fire, sitting on the sward. 
 
 It was very warm in the round, bowl-like hollow, 
 the fire at the bottom and the sun overhead, but 
 they were too busy to heed it. Mark crept on 
 hands and knees up the side of the hollow while 
 Bevis was cooking, and cautiously peered over 
 the edge to see if any savages were near. There 
 were none in sight ; the fetich kept them at a 
 distance. 
 
 '^ We must remember to take the burning-glass 
 with us when we go on our voyage,^' said Bevis. 
 
 " Perhaps the sun won't shine.^^ 
 
 ^^No. Mind you tell me, we will take some 
 matches, too ; and if the sun shines use the glass, and 
 if he doesn't, strike a match.'* 
 
 '' We shall want a camp-fire when we go to war,'' 
 said Mark. 
 
 " Of course we shall." 
 
 '' Everybody keeps on about the war," said Mark. 
 '' They're always at me. 
 
 " I found these buttons," said Bevis ; " I had 
 forgotten them." 
 
 He put the little mushrooms, stems upwards, on 
 some embers which had fallen apart from the mainfire.
 
 222 Bevis. 
 
 The branches as they burned became white directly, 
 coated over with a film of ash, so that except just in 
 the centre they did not look red, though glowing with 
 heat under the white layer. Even the flames were 
 but just visible in the brilliant sunshine, and were 
 paler in colour than those of the hearth. Now and 
 then the thin column of grey smoke, rising straight 
 up out of the hollow, was puflfed aside at its summit 
 by the light air wandering over the field. As the 
 butterflies came over the edge of the hollow into 
 the heated atmosphere, they fluttered up high to 
 escape it. 
 
 '' Fm sure it's done,'' said Mark, drawing the 
 stick away from the fire. The bird was brown and 
 burnt in one place, so they determined to eat it and 
 not spoil it by over-roasting. When Bevis began 
 to carve it with his pocket-knife he found one leg 
 quite raw, the wings were burnt, but there was a 
 part of the breast and the other leg fairly well cooked. 
 These they ate, little pieces at a time, slowly, and in 
 silence, for it was proper to like it. But they did 
 not pick the bones clean. 
 
 " No salt," said Mark, putting down the piece he 
 had in his hand. 
 
 ^' No bread," said Bevis, flinging the leg away. 
 
 " We don't do it right somehow," said Mark.
 
 Savages continued — The Mast Fitted. 223 
 
 "It takes such a long time to learn to be 
 savages/^ 
 
 "Years/' said Bevis, picking a mushroom from 
 the embers, it burned his fingers and he had to wait 
 till it was cooler. The mushrooms were better, 
 their cups held some of the juice as they cooked, 
 retaining the sweet flavour. They were so small, 
 they were but a bite each. 
 
 " I am thirsty,^' said Mark. Bevis was the same, 
 so they went down towards the water. Mark began 
 to run down the slope, when Bevis suddenly re- 
 membered. 
 
 " Stop,'' he cried ; " you can't drink there." 
 
 '^ Why not ? " 
 
 " Why of course it's the New Sea. We must go 
 round to the Nile ; it's fresh water there." 
 
 So they ran through the firs to the Nile, and 
 lapped from the brook. On the way home a little 
 boy stepped out from the trees on the bank 
 where it was high, and he could look down at 
 them. 
 
 " I say ! " — he had been waiting for them — " 
 say ! " 
 ■ " Well ! " growled Mark. 
 
 "Bevis," said the boy. Bevis looked up, he 
 could not demean himself to answer such a mite.
 
 2 24 Devis, 
 
 The boy looked round to see that he was sure of his 
 retreat through the trees to the gap in the hedge 
 lie could crawl through, but they would find it 
 difficult. Besides^ they would have to run up the 
 bankj which was thick with brambles. He got his 
 courage together and shouted in bis shrill little 
 voice, — 
 
 *' I say, Ted says he shan't play if you don't have 
 war soon.'' 
 
 Mark picked up a dead branch and hurled it at 
 the mite ; the mite dodged it, and it broke against 
 a tree, then he ran for his life, but they did 
 not follow. Bevis said nothing till they reached 
 the blue summer-bouse at home and sat down. 
 Then he yawned. 
 
 " War is a bother," he said, putting his hands in 
 his pockets, and leaning back in an attitude of 
 weary despair at having to do something. If the 
 rest would not have played, he would have egged 
 them on with furious energy till they did. As they 
 were eager he did not care. 
 
 *^ ! well ! " said Mark, nodding his head up 
 and down as he spoke, as much as to indicate that 
 he did not care personally ; but still, ^' ! well ! 
 all I know is, if you don't go to war Ted will have 
 one all to himself, and have a battle with somebody
 
 Savages continued — The Mast Fitted. 225 
 
 (C 
 
 else. I believe lie sent Charlie/^ Charlie was the 
 mite. 
 
 " Did he say he would have a war all to himself ? " 
 said Bevis, sitting upright. 
 
 I don^t know/^ said Mark, nodding his head. 
 
 They say lots of things.^^ 
 
 " What do they say ? '' 
 
 ' ! heaps ; perhaps you don^t know how to 
 make war, and perhaps — ^' 
 
 '^ Fll have the biggest war," said Bevis, getting 
 up, "that was ever known, and Ted^s quite stupid. 
 Mind, he doesn't have any more cherries, that^s 
 certain. I hate him — awfully ! Let^s make the 
 swords." 
 
 *' All right," said Mark, jumping up, delighted 
 that the war was going to begin. He was as eager 
 as the others, only he did not dare say so. Most of 
 the afternoon they were cutting sticks for swords, 
 and measuring them so as to have all the same 
 length. 
 
 Next morning the governor went with them to 
 bathe, as he wanted to see how they were getting 
 on with their swimming. They had the punt, and 
 the governor stopped it about twenty yards from 
 the shore, to which they had to swim. Bevis dived 
 first, and with some blowing and spluttering and 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 2 26 Bevis. 
 
 splashing managed to get to where he could bottom 
 with his feet. He could have gone further than 
 that, but it was a new feeling to know that he was 
 out of his depth, and it made him swim too fast and 
 splash. Mark having seen that Bevis could do it, 
 and knowing he could swim as far as Bevis could, 
 did it much better. 
 
 The governor was satisfied and said they could 
 now have the blue boat, but on two conditions, first, 
 that they still kept their promise not to go out of 
 their depth, and secondly, that they were to try and 
 see every day how far they could swim along the 
 shore. He guessed they had rather neglected their 
 swimming; having learnt the art itself they had not 
 tried to improve themselves. He said he should 
 come with them once or twice a week, and see them 
 dive from the punt so as to get used to deep water. 
 
 If they would practise along the shore in their 
 depth till they could swim from the rocky point to 
 the rails, about seventy yards, he would give them 
 each a present, and they could then go out of their 
 depth. He was obliged to be careful about the 
 depth till they could swim a good way, because he 
 could not be always with them, and fresh water is 
 not so buoyant as the sea, so that young swimmers 
 soon tire.
 
 Savages continued — The Mast Fitted. 227 
 
 The same day they carried the mast up^ and fitted 
 it in the hole in the thwart. The mast was a little 
 too large, but that was soon remedied. The bow- 
 sprit was lashed to the ring to which the painter 
 was fastened, and at its inner end to the seat and 
 mast. Next the gaff was tried, and drew up and 
 down fairly well through the curtain-ring. But one 
 thing they had overlooked — the sheets, or ropes for 
 the jib, must work through something, and they 
 had not provided any staples. Besides this, there 
 was the rudder to be fitted with a tiller instead of 
 the ropes. Somehow they did not like ropes ; it 
 did not look like a ship. This instinct was right, 
 for ropes are not of much use when sailing ; you 
 have no power on the rudder as with a tiller. 
 
 After fitting the mast and bowsprit they un- 
 shipped them, and carried them home for safety till 
 the sails were ready. Bevis wanted Mark to go and 
 ask Frances to be quick, but Mark was afraid to 
 return just yet, as Frances would now know from 
 Jack that he had forgotten the letter. Every now 
 and then bundles of sticks for swords, and longer 
 ones for spears and darts, and rods for arrows, were 
 brought in by the soldiery. All these were taken 
 upstairs into the bench-room, or armoury, because 
 they did not like their things looked at or touched, 
 
 Q 2
 
 2 28 Bevis, 
 
 and there was a lock and key to that room. Bevis 
 always kept the key in his pocket now. 
 
 They could not fit a head to the oyster barrel for 
 the fresh water on the voyage, but found a large 
 round tin canister with a tight lid, such as contain 
 cornflour, and which would go inside the oyster 
 barrel. The tin canister would hold water, and 
 could be put in the barrel, so as to look proper. 
 More sticks kept coming, and knobbed clubs, till 
 the armoury was crowded with the shafts of 
 weapons. Now that Bevis had consented to go to 
 war, all the rest were eager to serve him, so that he 
 easily got a messenger to take a note (as Mark was 
 afraid to go) to Frances to be quick with the 
 stitching. 
 
 In the evening Bevis tore another broad folio page 
 or fly-leaf from one of the big books in the parlour, 
 and took it out into the summer-house, where they 
 kept an old chair — the back gone — which did very 
 well for a table. Cutting his pencil, Bevis took 
 his hat off and threw it on the seat which ran round 
 inside ; then kneeling down, as the table was so 
 low, he proceeded to draw his map of the coming 
 campaign.
 
 229 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE COUNCIL OP WAE. 
 
 '' I say ! '' 
 
 " Battleaxes— '' 
 
 '' St. George is right — '^ 
 
 *' Hold your tongue/^ 
 
 ^' Pikes twenty feet long/' 
 
 " Marching two and two/' 
 
 "Do stop/' 
 
 " I shall be general/' 
 
 " That you won't/' 
 
 " Romans had shields/' 
 
 " Battleaxes are best/' 
 
 " Knobs with spikes/' 
 
 " I say— I say ! " 
 
 " You're a donkey ! " 
 
 ''They had flags—' 
 
 " And drums/' 
 
 " I've got a flute/ 
 
 j> 
 
 f>
 
 230 Devis. 
 
 it T a 
 
 ''You!'' 
 
 ''Yes, me." 
 
 " Hi ! " " Tom/' " If you hit me, 111 hit you." 
 "Now." "Don't." "Be quiet." "Go on." 
 " Let's begin." " I will " — buzz — buzz — buzz ! 
 
 Phil, Tom, Ted, Jim, Frank, Walter, Bill, 
 "Charl," Val, Bob, Cecil, Sam, Fred, George, 
 Harry, Michael, Jack, Andrew, Luke, and half a 
 dozen more were talking all together, shouting 
 across each other, occasionally fighting, wrestling, 
 and rolling over on the sward under an oak. 
 There were two up in the tree, bellowing their views 
 from above, and little Charlie ("Charl") was 
 astride of a bough which he had got hold of, swing- 
 ing up and down, and yelling like the rest. Some 
 stood by the edge of the water, for the oak was 
 within a few yards of the New Sea, and alternately 
 made ducks and drakes, and turned to contradict 
 their friends. 
 
 On higher ground beyond, a herd of cows grazed 
 in perfect peace, while the swallows threaded a 
 maze in and out between them, but just above the 
 grass. The New Sea was calm and smooth as glass, 
 the sun shone in a cloudless sky, so that the shadow 
 of the oak was pleasant; but the swallows had come
 
 The Council of War. 231 
 
 down from the upper air, and Bevis, as he stood a 
 little apart listening in an abstracted manner to the 
 uproar, watched them swiftly gliding in and out. 
 He had convened a council of all those who wanted 
 to join the war in the fields, because it seemed best 
 to keep the matter secret, which could not be done 
 if they came to the house, else perhaps the battle 
 would be interfered with. This oak was chosen as 
 it was known to every one. 
 
 It grew alone in the meadow, and far from any 
 path, so that they could talk as they liked. They 
 had hardly met ten minutes when the confusion led 
 to frequent blows and pushes, and the shouting 
 was so great that no one could catch more than 
 disjointed sentences. Mark now came running 
 with the map in his hand; it had been forgotten, 
 and he had been sent to fetch it. As he came near, 
 and they saw him, there was a partial lull. 
 
 " What an awful row you have been making,'^ he 
 said, " I heard it all across the field. Why don't 
 you choose sides ? '' 
 
 " Who's to choose ? " said Ted, as if he did not 
 know that he should be one of the leaders. He was 
 the tallest and biggest of them all, a head and 
 shoulders above Bevis. 
 
 '^ You, of course,'' came in chorus.
 
 232 Bevis, 
 
 li 
 
 And you needn^t look as if you didn't want to/* 
 shouted somebody, at whicli there was a laugh. 
 
 " Now, Bevis, Bevis ! Sides/' They crowded 
 round, and pulled Bevis into the circle. 
 
 '^ Best two out of three/' said Mark. " Here's a 
 penny." 
 
 " Lend me one," said Ted. 
 
 Phil handed him the coin. 
 
 "You'll never get it back/' cried one of the 
 crowd. Ted was rather known for borrowing on the 
 score of his superior strength. 
 
 " Bevis, you're dreaming," as Bevis stood quiet 
 and motionless, still in his far-away mood. " Toss." 
 
 Bevis tossed, the penny spun, and he caught it on 
 the back of his hand ; Mark nudged him. 
 
 " Cry." 
 
 " Head," said Ted. Mark nudged again ; but it 
 was a head. Mark stamped his foot. 
 
 ''Tail," and it was a tail; Ted won the toss. 
 
 *' I told you how to do it/' whispered Mark to 
 Bevis in a fierce whisper, '^ and you didn't." 
 
 " Choose," shouted everybody. Ted beckoned to 
 Val, who came and stood behind him. He was the 
 next biggest, very easy tempered and a favourite, as 
 he would give away anything. 
 
 *' Choose," shouted everybody again. It was
 
 The Council of Wa7\ 233 
 
 Bevis^s turn, and of course he took Mark. So far it 
 was all understood, but it was now Ted^s turn, and 
 no one knew who he would select. He looked round 
 and called Phil, a stout, short, slow-speaking boy, 
 who had more pocket-money, and was more inclined 
 to books than most of them. 
 
 " Who shall I have ? '^ said Bevis aside to Mark. 
 
 " Have Bill/' said Mark. " He's strong.'' 
 
 Bill was called, and came over. Ted took another 
 — rank and file— and then Bevis, who was waking 
 up, suddenly called " Cecil." 
 
 " You stupe," said Mark. '' He can't fight." 
 
 Cecil, a shy, slender lad, came and stood behind 
 his leader. 
 
 " You'll lose everybody," said Mark. " Ted will 
 have all the big ones. There, he's got Tim. Have 
 Fred ; I saw him knock George over once." 
 
 Fred came, and the choosing continued, each try- 
 ing to get the best soldiers, till none were left but 
 little Charlie, who was an odd one. 
 
 " He's no good," said Ted ; ^^ you can put him 
 in your pocket." 
 
 '^ I hate you," said Charlie ; " after all the times 
 I've run with messages for you. Bevis, let me come 
 your side." 
 
 " Take him," said Ted ; '^ but mind, you'll have
 
 2 34 Bevis. 
 
 one more if you do_, and I shall get some one 
 else/' 
 
 " Then he^U get a bigger one/' said Mark. 
 *^ Don't have him ; he'll only be in the way." 
 
 Charlie began to walk off with his head hang- 
 
 ing. 
 
 " Cry-baby/' shouted the soldiery. " Pipe your 
 eye." 
 
 ^' Come here/' said Bevis ; Charlie ran back 
 delighted. 
 
 " Wellj you have done it/' said Mark in a rage. 
 " Now Ted will have another twice as big. What's 
 the use of my trying when you are so stupid ! I 
 never did see. We shall be whopped anyhow." 
 
 Quite heedless of these reproaches, Bevis asked 
 Ted who were to be his lieutenants. 
 
 "I shall have Val and Phil/' said Ted. 
 
 *' And I shall have ]\f ark and Cecil/' said Bevis. 
 " Let us count. How many are there on each side ? 
 Mark, write down all ours. Haven't you a pocket- 
 book ? well, do it on the back of the map. Ted, 
 you had better do the same." 
 
 " Phil/' said Ted, who was not much of a student, 
 ''you put down the names." 
 
 Phil, a reader in a slow way, did as he was 
 Mdden. There were fifteen on Bevis's side, ami
 
 The Coitncil of War, 235 
 
 fourteen on Ted^s, who was to choose another to 
 make it even. 
 
 " There's the muster-roll/' said Mark, holding up 
 the map. 
 
 ''But how shall we know one another ? " said 
 George. 
 
 " Who's friends, and who's enemies/' said Fred. 
 
 '^ Else we shall all hit one another anyhow/' said 
 another. 
 
 '' Stick feathers in our hats." 
 
 " Ribbons round our arms would be best/' said 
 Cecil. ^^ Hats may be knocked oft." 
 
 " Ribbons will do first-rate/' said Bevis. "I'll 
 have blue ; Ted, you have red. You can buy heaps 
 of ribbon for nothing." 
 
 " Phil/' said Ted, '^ have you got any money ? " 
 
 " Half-a- crown." 
 
 " Lend us, then." 
 
 " No, I shan't," said Phil : '' Pll buy the ribbons 
 myself." 
 
 " Let's have a skirmish now," said Bill. " Come 
 on, Yal," and he began to whirl his hands 
 about. 
 
 " Stop that/' said Bevis. " Ted, there's a truce, 
 and if you let your fellows fight it's breaking it. 
 Catch hold of Bill— Mark, Cecil, hold him.' 
 
 a
 
 236 Bevis. 
 
 Bill was seized, and hustled round behind the 
 oak, and kept there till he promised to be quiet. 
 
 " But when are we going to begin ? '"' asked 
 Jack. 
 
 " Be quick/' said Luke. 
 
 '^ War 1 war ! '^ shouted half a dozen, kicking up 
 their heels. 
 
 '^ Hold your noise," said Ted, cuffing one of his 
 followers. " Can't you see we're getting on as fast 
 as we can. Bevis, where are we going to fight ? " 
 
 '' In the Plain," said Bevis. " That's the best 
 place." 
 
 *' Plenty of room for a big battle," said Ted. 
 '^ 0, you've got it on the map, I see." 
 
 The Plain was the great pasture beside the New 
 Sea, where Bevis and Mark bathed and ran about 
 in the sunshine. It was some seventy or eighty 
 acres in extent, a splendid battle-field. 
 
 " We're not going to march," said Mark, taking 
 something on himself as lieutenant. 
 
 '^ We're not going to march," said Bevis. " But 
 I did not tell you to say so ; I mean we are not 
 going to march the thousand miles, Ted ; we will 
 suppose that." 
 
 '' All right," said Ted. 
 
 *^But we're going to have camps," continued
 
 The Cottncil of War. 237 
 
 Bevis. " YouVe going to have your camp just outside 
 the hedge towards the hills, because you live that 
 side^ and you will come that way. Here/' — he 
 showed Ted a circle drawn on the map to represent 
 a camp^ — '^ that's yours ; and this is ours on this 
 side, towards our house, as we shall come that way/' 
 
 ^^ The armies will encamp in sight of each other/' 
 said Phil. " That's quite proper. Go on, Bevis. 
 Shall we send out scouts ? " 
 
 " We shall light fires and have proper camps/' 
 said Bevis. 
 
 ^'And bring our great-coats and cloaks, and a 
 hamper of grub/' interrupted Mark, anxious to 
 show that he knew all about it. 
 
 Bevis frowned, but went on. '^ And I shall send 
 one of my soldiers to be with you, and you will send 
 one of yours to be with me — " 
 
 ^' Whatever for ? " said Ted. " That's a curious 
 thing." 
 
 " Well, it's to know when to begin. When we 
 are all there, we'll hoist up a flag — a handkerchief 
 will do on a stick — and you will hoist up yours, and 
 then when the war is to begin, you will send back 
 my soldier, and I will send back yours, and they will 
 cross each other as they are running, and when 
 your soldier reaches you, and mine reaches me — "
 
 2xS Bevis, 
 
 J 
 
 " I see/'' said Ted, '^ I see. Then we are to 
 march out so as to begin quite fair/' 
 
 '^ That's it/' said Bevis. '^ So as to begin at the 
 same minute, and not one before the other. I have 
 got it all ready, and you need not have sent people 
 to worry me to make haste about the war.'' 
 
 " Well, how was I to know if you never said any- 
 thing ? " said Ted. 
 
 '* And who are we to be ? " said Val. ^' Saxons 
 and Normans, or Crusaders, or King Arthur — " 
 
 '^ We're all to be Romans," said Bevis. 
 
 " Then it will be the Civil War," said Phil, who 
 had read most history. 
 
 " Of course it will," said Bevis, " aud I am to be 
 Julius Caesar, and Ted is to be Pompey." 
 
 '^ I won't be Pompey," said Ted ; " Pompey was 
 beat." 
 
 '^ You must/' said Bevis. 
 
 '' I shant." 
 
 " But you must." 
 
 " I won't be beaten." 
 
 " I shall beat you easily." 
 
 " That you won't/' very warmly. 
 
 *' Indeed I shall/' said Bevis quite composedly, 
 " as I am Caesar I shall beat you very easily." 
 
 ''' Of course we shall," added Mark.
 
 1 he Council of War. 239 
 
 " You won't ; Fve got the biggest soldiers, and I 
 shall drive you anyhow/' 
 " No, you won't/' 
 
 " I've got Val and Phil and Tim, and I mean to 
 have Ike, so now — " 
 
 " There, I told you," said Mark to Bevis. " He's 
 got all the biggest, and Ike is a huge big donk of a 
 fellow." 
 
 '^ It's no use," said Bevis, not in the least ruflfled ; 
 " I shall beat you." 
 
 " Not you," said Ted, hot and red in the face. 
 " Why I'll pitch you in the water first." 
 
 *^ Take you all your time," said Bevis, shutting his 
 lips tighter and beginning to look a little dangerous. 
 '' Shut up," said Yal. 
 
 " Stop/' said Phil and Bill and George, pressing 
 in. 
 
 '' Hush," said Cecil. " It's a truce." 
 '' Well, I won't be Pompey," said Ted sullenly. 
 " Then we must have somebody who will," said 
 Bevis sharply, '' and choose again." 
 
 " I wouldn't mind," said some one in the crowd. 
 *' Nor I," said another. 
 
 ''If I was general I wouldn't mind being Pompey. 
 Let me, Bevis." 
 
 '' Who's that," said Ted. '' If any one says that
 
 240 Bevis. 
 
 Fll smash him." When he found he could so easily 
 be superseded he surrendered. ^^Well, I'll be 
 Pompey/' he said, '^ but mind I shan't be beat/' 
 
 '^ Pompey ought to win if he can/' said Yal ; 
 '' that's only fair." 
 
 " What's the use of fighting if we are to be beat ? " 
 said Phil. 
 
 " Of course/' said Bevis, '^ how very stupid you 
 all are ! Of course, Ted is to win if he can ; he's only 
 to be called Pompey to make it proper. I know I 
 shall beat him, but he's to beat us if he can." 
 
 " Pm only to be called Pompey, mind/' said Ted ; 
 ^' mind that. We are to win if we can." 
 
 " Of course; " and so this delicate point was settled 
 after very nearly leading to an immediate battle. 
 
 " Hurrah for Pompey ! " shouted George, throw- 
 ing up his hat. 
 
 " Hurrah for Caesar ! " said Bill, hurling up his. 
 This was the signal for a general shouting and 
 uproar. They had been quiet ten minutes, and 
 were obliged to let off their suppressed energy. 
 There was a wild capering round the oak. 
 
 "Ted Pompey," said Charlie, little and impudent, 
 " what fun it will be to see you run away ! " For 
 which he had his ears pulled till he squealed. 
 
 " Now," shouted Mark, " let's get it all done.
 
 The Council of Wa7\ 241 
 
 Come on/' The noise subsided somewhat^ and they 
 gathered round as Ted and Bevis began to talk 
 again. 
 
 " Caesar/' said Phil to Bevis, ^' if you're Caesar 
 and Ted's Pompey, who are we ? We ought to 
 have names too." 
 
 ^'Fm Mark Antony/' said Mark, standing bolt 
 upright. 
 
 " Yery well," said Bevis. " Phil, you can be — let 
 me see, Yarro." 
 
 '^ All right, I'm Yarro," said Phil ; '^ and who's 
 Yal ? Oh, I know," — running names over in his 
 mind, — " he's Crassus. Yal Crassus, do you hear ? " 
 
 " Capital/' said Crassus. " Pm ready." 
 
 "Then there's Cecil," said Mark; '^ who's he?" 
 
 '' Cecil ! " said Phil. '' Cecil— Cis—Cis—Scipio, 
 of course." 
 
 " First-rate," said Mark. " Scipio Cecil, that's 
 your name." 
 
 " Write it down on the roll," said Bevis. The 
 names were duly registered; Pompey's lieutenants 
 as Yal Crassus and Phil Yarro, and Caesar's as 
 Mark Antony and Scipio Cecil. After which there 
 was a great flinging of stones into the water and 
 more shouting. 
 
 Let's see," said Ted. " If there's fifteen each 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
 a
 
 242 Bevis. 
 
 side, there will be five soldiers to each, five for 
 captainSj and five for lieutenants/' 
 
 "Cohorts/"' said Phil. " A cohort each, hurrah ! " 
 
 "Do be quiet/^ said Ted. " How can we go on 
 when you make such a row ? Caesar Bevis, are all 
 the swords ready ? ^^ 
 
 " No/' said Bevis. " We must fix the length, 
 and have them all the same.'''' 
 
 They got a stick, and after much discussion cut 
 it to a certain length as a standard ; Mark took 
 charge of it, and all the swords were to be cut off 
 by it, and none to be any thicker. There were to 
 be cross-pieces nailed or fastened on, but the ends 
 were to be blunt and not sharp. 
 
 '^ No sticking,^"* said Ted. " Only knocking.'' 
 
 ^^ Only knocking and slashing,'^ said Bevis. 
 " Stabbing won't do, and arrows won't do, nor 
 spears/' 
 
 " Why not ? " said Mark, who had been looking 
 forward to darting his javelin at Ted Pompey. 
 
 " Because eyes will get poked out/' said Bevis, 
 " and there would be a row. If anybody got stuck 
 and killed, there would be an awful row." 
 
 " So there would," said Mark. " How stupid ! " 
 Just as if people could not kill one another without 
 so much fuss !
 
 The Council of War. 243 
 
 '' And no hitting at faces/^ said Bevis, " else if 
 somebody's marked there will be a bother/' 
 
 '' No/' said Ted. '^ Mind, no slashing faces. 
 Knock swords together.-*' 
 
 '^ Knock swords together/' said Bevis. '^ Make 
 rattling and shout.'' 
 
 " Shout/' said Mark^ bellowing his loudest. 
 
 *' How shall we know when we're killed?" said 
 Cecil. 
 
 " Well^ you are a stupe/' said Val. ^* Keally you 
 are." They all laughed at Cecil. 
 
 '* But I don't know/' said Ted Pompey. " You 
 just think, how shall we know who's beat ? Cecil's 
 not so silly." 
 
 " No more he is," said Mark. " Bevis, how is it 
 to be managed ? " 
 
 " Those who run away are beaten," said Charlie. 
 '^You'll see Ted run fast enough." Away he 
 scampered himself to escape punishment. 
 
 ^' Of course/' said Bevis. " One way will be if 
 people run away. ! I know, if the camp is 
 taken." 
 
 '' Or if the captain is taken prisoner/' said Phil ; 
 '^ and tied up with a cord." 
 
 *' Yes," continued Bevis. " If the captain is taken 
 prisoner, and if the eagles are captured — " 
 
 E 2
 
 244 Be vis, 
 
 " Eagles/^ said Ted Pompey. 
 
 '^ Standards/^ said Phil. " That^s right : are we 
 to have proper eagles, Caesar Bevis ? '^ 
 
 '^ Yes/^ said Bevis. " Three brass rings round 
 sticks will do. Two eagles each^ don't you see, Ted, 
 like flags, only eagles, that^s proper.^^ 
 
 ''Who keeps the ground wins the victory/' said 
 Cecil. 
 
 '^ Eight/' said Ted. ^' I shall soon tie up Bevis — 
 we must bring cords." 
 
 " You must catch him first/' said Mark. 
 
 " Captains must be guarded/' said Val. " Strong 
 guards round them and awful fighting there/' lick- 
 ing his lips at the thought of it. 
 
 " Captain Caesar Bevis/' said Tim, who had not 
 spoken before, but had listened very carefully. ** Is 
 there to be any punching ? " 
 
 " Hum ! " Bevis hesitated, and looked at Ted. 
 
 " I think so," said Ted, who had long arms and 
 hard fists. 
 
 " If there's punching," cried Charlie from the oak, 
 into which he had climbed for safety ; " if there's 
 punching, only the big blokes can play." 
 
 " No punching," said Mark eagerly, not that he 
 feared, being stout and sturdy, but seizing at any- 
 thing to neutralize Ted's big soldiers.
 
 The Council of War, 245 
 
 ^' No punclaing/' shouted a dozen at once ; " only 
 pushing/^ 
 
 "Yery well," said Bevis^ "no punching, and no 
 tripping — pushing and wrestling quite fair/' 
 
 "Wrestling/' said Ted directly. "That will 
 do/' 
 
 " Stupid/' said Mark to Bevis ; then louder, 
 " Only nice wrestling, no ^ scrumpshing/ " 
 
 " No ^ scrumpshing/ " shouted everybody. 
 
 Ted stamped his foot, but it was of no use. Every- 
 body was for fair and pleasant fighting. 
 
 " Never mind," said Ted. " We'll shove you out 
 of the field." 
 
 *^ Yah ! yah ! " said Charlie, making faces at him. 
 
 " If anybody does what's agreed shan't be done," 
 said Mark, still anxious to stop Ted's design ; 
 " that will lose the battle, even if it's won." 
 
 " It ought to be all fair," said Val, who was very 
 big, but straightforward. 
 
 " If anything's done unfair, that counts against 
 whoever does it," said Cecil. 
 
 " No sneaking business," shouted everybody. 
 " No sneaking and hitting behind/' 
 
 '' Certainly not," said Bevis. " All quite fair." 
 
 '' Somebody must watch Ted, then," said Charlie 
 from the oak.
 
 246 Bevis, 
 
 Ted picked up a piece of dead stick and threw it 
 at him. He dodged it like a squirrel. 
 
 " If you say such things, '^ said Bevis, very angry, 
 " you shan^t fight. Do you hear ? ^' 
 
 "" Yes/'' said Charlie, penitent. '' I won't any 
 more. But it^s true/' he whispered to Fred under 
 him. 
 
 " Everything's ready now, isn't it ? " said Ted. 
 
 '' Yes, I think so/' said Bevis. 
 
 " You haven't fixed the day/' said Val. 
 
 " No, more I have." 
 
 " Let's have it to-day/' said Fred. 
 
 They caught it up and clamoured to have the 
 battle at once. 
 
 '^ The swords are not ready/' said Mark. 
 
 " Are the eagles ready ? " asked Phil. 
 
 " Two are/' said Mark. 
 
 '^ The other two shall be made this afternoon/' 
 said Bevis. " Phil, will you go in to Latten for the 
 blue ribbon for us ; here's three shillings." 
 
 ''Yes/' said Phil, "I'll get both at once— blue 
 and red, and bring you the blue." 
 
 '•' To-morrow, then," said Fred. " Let's fight 
 to-morrow." 
 
 But they found that three of them were going 
 out to-morrow. So, after some more discussion,
 
 The Council of War, 247 
 
 the battle was fixed for the day after, and it was to 
 begin in the evening, as some of them could not 
 come before. The camps were to be made as soon 
 after six o^clock as possible, and, this agreed to, 
 the council broke up, though it was understood 
 that if anything else occurred to any one, or the 
 captains wished to make any alterations, they were 
 to send despatches by special messengers to each 
 other. The swords and eagles for Ted's party were 
 to be fetched the evening before, and smuggled 
 out of window when it was dark, that no one might 
 see them. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " 
 
 So they parted, and the oak was left in silence, 
 with the grass all trampled under it. The cattle 
 fed down towards the water, and the swallows 
 wound in and out around them.
 
 248 Bevis. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE WAR BEGINS. 
 
 As they were walking home Mark reproached Bevis 
 with his folly in letting Ted, who was so tall himself, 
 choose almost all the big soldiers. 
 
 " It^s no use to hit you, or pinch you, or frown 
 at you, or anything/' grumbled Mark ; " you don't 
 take any more notice than a tree. Now Pompey 
 will beat us hollow/' 
 
 ^' If you say any more/' said Bevis, '^ I will hit 
 you ; and it is you who are the donk. I did 
 not want the big ones. I like lightning-quick 
 people, and Pve got Cecil, who is as quick as 
 anything — " 
 
 " What's the use of dreaming like a tree when 
 you ought to have your eyes open ; and if you're 
 like that in the battle — " 
 
 " I tell you the knights were not the biggest ; 
 they very often fought huge people and monsters.
 
 The War Begins. 249 
 
 And don't you remember how Ulysses served the 
 giant with one eye ? '^ 
 
 " I should like to bore a hole through Ted like 
 that/' said Mark. ^' He's a brute, and Phil's as 
 cunning as ever he can be, and you've been and lost 
 the battle." 
 
 " I tell you I've got Cecil, who is as quick as 
 lightning, and all the sharp ones, and if you say any 
 more I won't speak to you again, and I'll have some 
 one else for lieutenant." 
 
 Mark nodded his head, and growled to himself, 
 but he did not dare go farther. They worked all 
 the afternoon in the bench-room, cutting off the 
 swords to the same length, and fastening on the 
 cross-pieces. They did not talk, Mark was sulky, 
 and Bevis on his dignity. In the evening Phil 
 came with the ribbons. 
 
 Next morning, while they were making two more 
 eagles for Pompey, Yal Crassus came to say he 
 thought they ought to have telescopes, as officers 
 had field-glasses ; but Bevis said they were not 
 invented in the time of their war. The day was 
 very warm, still, and cloudless, and, after they had 
 fixed the three brass rings on each long rod for 
 standards, Bevis brought the old grey book of 
 ballads out of the parlour into the orchard. Though
 
 250 Bevis. 
 
 he had used it so often he could not find his 
 favourite place quickly, because the pages were not 
 only frayed but some were broader than others, and 
 would not run through the fingers, but adhered 
 together. 
 
 When he had found " Kyng Estmere," he and 
 Mark lay down on the grass under the shadow of a 
 damson-tree, and chanted the verses, reading them 
 first, and then singing them. Presently they came 
 to where : — 
 
 " Kyng Estmere threwe the harpe asyde, 
 And swith he drew his brand ; 
 And Estmere he, and Adler yonge, 
 Right stiffe in stour can stand. 
 
 " And aye their swords soe sore can byte, 
 Through help of gramarye, 
 That soone they have slayne the Kempery men. 
 Or forst them forth to flee." 
 
 These they repeated twenty times, for their minds 
 were full of battle; and Bevis said after they had 
 done the war they would study gramarye or magic. 
 Just afterwards Cecil came to ask if they ought not 
 to have bugles, as the Romans had trumpets, and 
 Bevis had a bugle somewhere. Bevis thought it 
 was proper, but it was of no use, for nobody could 
 blow the bugle but the old Bailitf, and he could
 
 The Wa7^ Begins. 251 
 
 only get one long note from it^ so dreadful that you 
 had to put 3^our hands to your ears if you stood 
 near. Cecil also said that in his garden at home 
 there was a bay-tree, and ought they not to have 
 wreaths for the victors ? Bevis said that was capital, 
 and Cecil went home with orders from Caesar to get 
 his sisters to make some wreaths of bay for their 
 triumph when they had won the battle. 
 
 Soon after sunset that evening the Bailiff looked 
 in, and said there was some sheet lightning in the 
 north, and he was going to call back some of the 
 men to put tarpaulins over two or three loaded 
 waggons, as he thought, after so much dry, hot 
 weather, there would be a great storm. The light- 
 ning increased very much, and after it grew dusk 
 the flashes lit up the sky. Before sunset the sky 
 had seemed quite cloudless, but now every flash 
 showed innumerable narrow bands of clouds, very 
 thin, behind which the electricity played to 
 and fro. 
 
 While Bevis and Mark were watching it, Bevis's 
 governor came out, and looking up said it would not 
 rain and there was no danger ; it was a sky-storm, 
 and the lightning was at least a mile high. But the 
 lightning became very fierce and almost incessant, 
 sometimes crooked like a scimitar of flame, some-
 
 252 Bevis. 
 
 times jagged, sometimes zigzag ; and now and then 
 vast acres of violet light, which flooded the ground 
 and showed every tree and leaf and flower, all still 
 and motionless ; and after which, though lesser 
 flashes were going on, it seemed for a moment quite 
 dark, so much was the eye overpowered. 
 
 Bevis and Mark went up into the bench-room, 
 where it was very close and sultry, and sat by the 
 open window with the swords for Pompey bound up 
 in two bundles and the standards, but they were 
 half afraid no one would come for them. Their 
 shadows were perpetually cast upon the white wall 
 opposite as the flashes came and went. The cross- 
 bow and lance, the boomerang and knobbed clubs 
 were visible, and all the tools on the bench. Now 
 and then, when the violet flashes came, the lightning 
 seemed to linger in the room, to fill it with a blaze 
 and stop there a moment. In the darkness that 
 followed one of these they heard a voice call 
 " Bevis " underneath the window, and saw Phil and 
 Val Crassus, who had come for the swords. Mark 
 lowered the bundles out of window by a cord, but 
 when they had got them they still stood there. 
 
 ^^ Why don't you go ? " said Mark. 
 
 '' Lightning," said Val. " It's awful." It really 
 was very powerful. The pears on the wall, and
 
 The War Begins. 253 
 
 everything however minute stood out more distinctly 
 defined than in daytime. 
 
 "It's a mile high/' said Bevis. "It won't hurt you." 
 
 " Ted wouldn't come/' said Phil. " He's gone to 
 bed, and covered his head. You don't know how it 
 looks out in the fields, all by yourself; it's all very 
 well for you indoors." 
 
 " I'll come with you," said Bevis directly ; up he 
 jumped and went down to them, followed by Mark. 
 
 '' Why wouldn't Ted come ? " said Mark. 
 
 " He's afraid," said Phil, " and so was I till Yal 
 said he would come with me. Will lightning come 
 to brass ? " The flashes were reflected from the 
 brass rings on the standards. 
 
 "I tell you it won't hurt," said Bevis, quite 
 sure, because his governor had said so. But when 
 they had walked up the field and were quite away 
 from the house and the trees which partly obstructed 
 the view, he was amazed at the spectacle, for all the 
 meadow was lit up ; and in the sky the streamers of 
 flame rose in and out and over each other, till you 
 could not tell which flash was which in the confusion 
 of lightning. Bevis became silent and fell into one 
 of his dream states, when, as Mark said, he was like 
 a tree. He was lost — something seemed to take 
 him out of himself. He walked on, and they went
 
 2 54 Bevis, 
 
 with him, till he came to the gate opening on the 
 shore of the New Sea. 
 
 " 0, look ! " they all said at once. 
 
 All the broad, still water, smooth as glass, shone 
 and gleamed, reflecting back the bright light above ; 
 and far away they saw the wood (where Bevis and 
 Mark once wandered) as plain as at noontide. 
 
 '^I can^t go home to-night," said Phil. Yal 
 Crassus said he could sleep at his house, which was 
 much nearer ; but he, too, hesitated to start. 
 
 " It is awful," said Mark. 
 
 " It's nothing," said Bevis. '' I like it." The 
 continuous crackling of the thunder just then 
 deepened, and a boom came rolling down the level 
 water from the wooded hill. Bevis frowned, and 
 held his lips tight together. He was startled, but 
 he would not show it. 
 
 " 1^11 go with you," he said ; and though Mark 
 pointed out that they would have to come back by 
 themselves, he insisted. They went with Pompey's 
 lieutenants till VaFs house, lit up by lightning, 
 was in sight ; then they returned. As they came 
 into the garden, Bevis said the battle ought to be 
 that nisfht, because it would read so well in the history 
 afterwards. The lightning continued far into the 
 night, and still flashed when sleep overcame them.
 
 The War Begins, 255 
 
 Next morning Bevis sprang up and ran to tlie 
 windoWj afraid it might be wet; but the sun was 
 shining and the wind was blowing tremendously, so 
 that all the willows by the brook looked grey as 
 their leaves were turned, and the great elms by the 
 orchard bowed to the gusts. 
 
 '^ It's dry/' shouted Bevis, dancing. 
 
 " Hurrah ! '' said Mark, and they sang, — 
 
 " Kyng Estmere threwe his harpe asyde, 
 And swith he drew his brand." 
 
 This was the day of the great battle, and they 
 were impatient for the evening. 
 
 There was a letter on the breakfast-table from 
 Bevis's grandpa, enclosing a P.O.O., a present of a 
 sovereign for him. He asked the governor to ad- 
 vance him the money in two half-sovereigns. The 
 governor did so, and Bevis immediately handed one 
 of them to Mark. 
 
 About dinner-time there came a special messenger 
 from Pompey with a letter, which was in Pompey's 
 name, but PhiFs handwriting. ''^ Ted Pompey to 
 Ca3sar Bevis. Please tell me who you are going to 
 send to be with me in my camp, and let him come 
 to the stile in Barn Copse at half-past five, and I 
 will send Tim to be with you till the white handker-
 
 256 Bevis. 
 
 chiefs are up. And tell me if the lieutenants are to 
 carry the eagles, or some one else." 
 
 Bevis wrote back : — " Csesar to Pompey greet- 
 ing/^ — this style he copied from his books, — 
 " Csesar will send Charlie to be with you, as he can 
 run quick, though he is little. The lieutenants are 
 not to carry the eagles, but a soldier for them. 
 And Csesar wishes you health." 
 
 Then in the afternoon Mark had to go and tell 
 Cecil and others, who were to send on the message 
 to the rest of their party, to meet Bevis at the gate 
 by the New Sea at half-past five, and to mind and 
 not be one moment later. While Mark was gone, 
 Bevis roamed about the garden and orchard, and 
 back again to the stable and sheds, and then into 
 the rick-yard, which was strewn with twigs and 
 branches torn off from the elms that creaked as the 
 gale struck them ; then indoors, and from room to 
 room. He could not rest anywhere, he was so 
 impatient. 
 
 At last he picked up the little book of the Odyssey, 
 with its broken binding and frayed margin, from 
 the chair where he had last left it ; and taking it up 
 into the bench-room, opened it at the twenty-second 
 book, where his favourite hero wreaked his ven- 
 geance on the suitors. With his own bow in his
 
 The War Begins, 257 
 
 right hand, and the book in his left, Bevis read, 
 marching up and down the room, stamping and shout- 
 ing aloud as he came to the passages he liked best: — 
 
 " Swift as the word, the parting arrow sings, 
 
 And bears thy fate, Antinous, on its wings ! 
 
 # # # « 
 
 " For fate who fear'd amidst a feastful band ? 
 
 And fate to numbers by a single hand ? 
 
 # # # * 
 
 "Two hundred oxen every prince shall pay ; 
 The waste of years refunded in a day. 
 Till then thy wrath is just, — Ulysses burn'd 
 With high disdain, and sternly thus returned. 
 
 tP * tP w 
 
 " Soon as his store of flying fates was spent, 
 Against the wall he set the bow unbent ; 
 And now his shoulders bear the massy shield, 
 And now his hands two beamy javelins wield." 
 
 Bevis had dropped his bow and seized one of 
 MarVs spears, not hearing, as he stamped and 
 shouted, Mark coming up the stairs. Mark snatched 
 up one of the swords, and as Bevis turned they 
 rattled their weapons together, and shouted in their 
 fierce joy. When satisfied they stopped, and Mark 
 said he had come by the New Sea, and the waves 
 were the biggest he had ever seen there, the wind 
 was so furious. 
 
 They had their tea, or rather they sat at table, 
 VOL. I. s
 
 258 Bevis, 
 
 and rushed off as soon as possible ; who cared for 
 eating when war was about to begin ! Seizing an 
 opportunity, as the coast was clear, Mark ran up the 
 field with the eagles, which, having long handles, 
 were difficult to hide. Cecil and Bill took the great- 
 coat, and a railway-rug, which Bevis meant to 
 represent his generaFs cloak. He followed with 
 the basket of provisions on his shoulder, and was 
 just thinking how lucky they were to get off without 
 any inquiries, when he found they had forgotten the 
 matches to light the camp-fire. He came back, took 
 a box, and was going out again when he met Polly 
 tte dairymaid. 
 
 " What are you doing now ? '^ said she. '' Don't 
 spoil that basket with your tricks — we use it. 
 What's in it ? " putting her hand on the lid. 
 
 ^'Only bread-and-butter and ham, and summer 
 apples. It's a picnic." 
 
 " A picnic. What's that ribbon for ? " Bevis 
 wore the blue ribbon round his arm. 
 
 " ! that's nothing." 
 
 " I've half a mind to tell — I don't believe you're 
 up to anything good." 
 
 •'Pooh! don't be a donk," said Bevis. ** I'U 
 give you a long piece of this ribbon when I come 
 back."
 
 The War Beghis, 259 
 
 Off lie went, having bribed Scylla, but he met 
 Charybdis in the gateway, where he came plump on 
 the Bailiff. 
 
 *' What^s up now ? ^' he gruffly inquired. 
 
 '' Picnic.^' 
 
 "Mind you don't go bathing; the waves be a3 
 big as cows." 
 
 "Bathing," said Bevis, with intense contempt. 
 " We don't bathe in the evening. Here, you — " 
 donk, he was going to say, but forebore ; he gave 
 the Bailiff a summer apple, and went on. The Bailiff 
 bit the apple, muttered to himself about '* mischief," 
 and walked towards the rick-yard. In a minute 
 Mark came to meet Bevis. 
 
 " You did him ? " he said. 
 
 ''Yes," said Bevis, "and Polly too." 
 
 " Hurrah ! " shouted Mark. " They're all there 
 but one, and he's coming in five minutes." 
 
 Bevis found his army assembled by the gate lead- 
 ing to the New Sea. Each soldier wore a blue 
 ribbon round the left arm for distinction ; Tim, who 
 had been sent by Pompey to be with them till all 
 was ready, wore a red one. 
 
 " Two and two," said Caesar Bevis, taking his sword 
 and instantly assuming a general's authoritative 
 tone. He marshalled them in double file, one eagle 
 
 8 2
 
 26o Devis. 
 
 in front, one halfway down, where his second lieu- 
 tenant, Scipio Cecil, stood ; the basket earned in 
 the rear as baggage. Caesar and Mark Antony 
 stood in front side by side. 
 
 '' March/^ said Bevis, starting, and they followed 
 him. 
 
 The route was beside the shore, and so soon as they 
 left the shelter of the trees the wind seemed to hit 
 them a furious blow, which pushed them out of 
 order for a moment. The farther they went the 
 harder the wind blew, and flecks of brown foam, 
 like yeast, came up and caught against them. Eoll- 
 ing in the same direction as they were marching, 
 the waves at each undulation increased in size, and 
 when they came to the bluff Bevis walked slowly a 
 minute, to look at the dark hollows and the ridges 
 from whose crests the foam was driven. 
 
 But here leaving the shore he led the army, 
 with their brazen eagles gleaming iu the sun, up the 
 slope of the meadow where the solitary oak stood, and 
 so beside the hedge-row till they reached the higher 
 ground. The Plain, the chosen battle-field, was on 
 the other side of the hedge, and it had been ar- 
 ranged that the camps should be pitched just with- 
 out the actual campaigniug-ground. On this 
 elevated place the gale came along with even greater
 
 The War Begins, 261 
 
 fury ; and Mark Antony said that they would 
 never be able to light a camp-fire that side, they 
 must get through and into shelter. 
 
 ^' I shall do as I said," shouted Bevis^ scarcely 
 audible, for the wind blew the words down his 
 throat. But he kept on till he found a hawthorn bush, 
 with brambles about the base, a detached thicket two 
 or three yards from the hedge, and near which there 
 was a gap. He stopped, and ordered the standard- 
 bearer behind him to pitch the eagle there. The 
 army halted, the eagles were pitched by thrusting 
 the other end of the rods into the sward, the cloaks, 
 coats, and rug thrown together in a heap, and the 
 soldiers set to work to gather sticks for the fire. 
 Of these they found plenty in the hedge, and piled 
 them up in the shelter of the detached thicket. 
 
 Bevis, Mark Antony, and Scipio Cecil went 
 through the gap to reconnoitre the enemy. They 
 immediately saw the smoke of his camp-fire rising 
 on the other side of the Plain, close to a gateway. 
 The smoke only rose a little above the hedge there — 
 the fire was on the other side — and was then blown 
 away by the wind. None of Pompey's forces were 
 visible. 
 
 " Ted, I mean Pompey, was here first," said Mark 
 Antony. *' He'll be ready before us."
 
 262 Bevis, 
 
 '^ Be quick with the fire/' shouted Caesar. 
 
 '' Look/' said Scipio Cecil. " There's the punt." 
 
 Behind the stony promontory at the quarry they 
 could see the punt from the high ground where they 
 stood ; it was partly drawn ashore just inside Fir- 
 Tree Gulf, so that the projecting point protected it 
 like a breakwater. The old man (the watcher) had 
 started for the quarry to get a load of sand as usual, 
 never thinking, as how should he think ? that the gale 
 was so furious. But he found himself driven along 
 anyhow, and unable to row back ; all he could do was 
 to steer and struggle into the gulf, and so behind the 
 Point, where he beached his unwieldy vessel. Too 
 much shaken to dig sand that day, and knowing that 
 he could not row back, he hid his spade and the oars, 
 and made for home on foot. But the journey by 
 land was more dangerous than that by sea, for he 
 insensibly wandered into the high road, and came to 
 an anchor in the first inn, where, relating his adven- 
 tures on the deep with the assistance of ardent 
 liquor, he remained. 
 
 Bevis, who had gone to light the fire with the 
 matches in his pocket, now returned through the 
 gap, and asked if anything had been seen of 
 Pompey's men. As he spoke a Pompeian appeared, 
 and mounting the spars of the distant gate displayed
 
 The War Begins. 263 
 
 o 
 
 a standard, to which was attached a white hand- 
 kerchief, which fluttered in the breeze. 
 
 " They^re ready/^ said Mark Antony. *^ Come 
 on. Which way shall we march ? Which way are 
 you going ? " 
 
 The smoke of Caesar^s fire rose over the hedge, 
 and swept down by the gale trailed along the 
 ground towards Pompey's. Bevis hastened back to 
 the camp, and tied his handkerchief to the top of 
 an eagle, Mark followed. " Which way are you 
 going ? " he repeated. ^^ Where shall we meet 
 them ? What are you going to do ? ^' 
 
 '^ I don^t know,^^ said Caesar, angrily pushing 
 him. " Get away.^' 
 
 " There,^^ growled Mark Antony to Scipio, '^ he 
 doesn't know what he's going to do, and Phil is as 
 cunning as — '' 
 
 The standard-bearer sent by Caesar pushed by 
 him, got through the gap, and held up the white 
 flag, waving it to attract more attention. In half a 
 minute, Pompey's flag was hauled down, and 
 directly afterwards some one climbed over the gate 
 and set out running towards them. It was Charlie. 
 
 ^'Run, Tim," said Caesar Bevis; *^ we're ready." 
 
 Tim dashed through the gap, and set off" with all 
 his might.
 
 264 Bevis, 
 
 *' Two and two/^ shouted Caesar. '' Stand still, 
 will you ? ^' as they moved towards the opening. 
 '' Take down that flag/' 
 
 The eagle-bearer resumed his place behind him. 
 Caesar signing to the legions to remain where they 
 were, went forward and stood on the mound. He 
 watched the runners and saw them pass each other 
 nearly about the middle of the great field, for 
 though little, Charlie was swift of foot, and 
 full of the energy which is more effective than 
 size. 
 
 "Let's go.'' 
 
 " Now then." 
 
 " Start." 
 
 The legions were impatient and stamped their 
 feet, but Caesar would not move. In a minute or 
 two Charlie reached him, red and panting with 
 running. 
 
 " Now," shouted Bevis, " march ! " and he leaped 
 into the field ; Charlie came next for he would not 
 wait to take his place in the ranks. The legions 
 rushed through anyhow, eager to begin the fray. 
 
 " Two and two," shouted Caesar, who would have 
 no disorder. 
 
 " Two and two," repeated his first lieutenant, 
 Mark Antony.
 
 The War Begins, 265 
 
 " Two and two/^ said Scipio Cecil, punching his 
 men into place. 
 
 On they went, with Caesar leading, straight 
 across the wind-swept plain for Pompey^s camp. 
 The black swifts flew about them, but just clearing 
 the grass, and passing so close as to seem almost 
 under foot. There were hundreds of them, they 
 come down from the upper air, and congregate in a 
 great gale ; they glided over the field in endless turns 
 and windings. Steadily marching, the army had now 
 advanced a third part of the way across the field. 
 
 " Whereas Pompey ? '^ said Scipio Cecil. 
 
 *' Where shall we meet and fight ? ^' said Mark 
 Antony. 
 
 " Silence,'^ shouted Bevis, " or I'll degrade you 
 from your rank, and you shan't be officers.'' 
 
 They were silent, but every one was looking for 
 Pompey and thinking just the same. There was 
 the gate in full view now, and the smoke of Pompey's 
 camp, but none of the enemy were visible. Bevis 
 was thinking and trying to make out whether 
 Pompey was waiting by his camp, or whether he 
 had gone round behind the hedge, and if so, which 
 way, to the right towards the quarry, or to the left 
 towards the copse, but he could not decide, having 
 nothing to guide him.
 
 266 Bczns. 
 
 But though uncertain in his own mind, he was 
 general enough not to let the army suppose him 
 in doubt. He strode on in silence, but keeping 
 the sharpest watch, till they came to the waggon- 
 track, crossing the field from left to right. It 
 had worn a gully or hollow way leading down to 
 the right to the hazel hedge, where there was a 
 gate. They came to the edge of the hollow way, 
 where there were three thick hawthorn bushes and 
 two small ash- trees. 
 
 *^ Halt ! '^ said Cassar Bevis, as the bushes partly 
 concealed them from view. '' Stay here. Let no 
 one move." 
 
 Bevis himself went round the trees and looked 
 again, but he could see nothing : Pompe}'' and his 
 army were nowhere in sight. He could not tell 
 what to do, and returned slowly, thinking, when 
 looking down the hollow way an idea struck him. 
 
 *' Scipio, take your men^' — ("Cohort," said An- 
 tony) — "take your cohort, jump into the road, and go 
 down to the gate there. Keep out of sight — stoop : 
 slip through the gate, and go up inside the hedge, 
 dart round the corner and seize Ted's camp. Quick ! 
 And mind, if they^re all there, of course youVe not 
 to fight, but come back. Now — quick.'' 
 
 Scipio Cecil jumped into the hollow way followed
 
 The War Begins, 267 
 
 by his five soldiers, and stooping so as to be hidden 
 by the bank, ran towards the gate in the hazel 
 hedge. They watched him till the cohort had got 
 through the gate. 
 
 *' Now what shall we do ? " said Mark Antony. 
 
 '^ How can I tell what to do when Pompey isn't 
 anywhere ? ''' said Bevis, in a rage. 
 
 "Put me up a tree," said Charlie, "perhaps I 
 could see." 
 
 "YouVe no business to speak,^' said Bevis; 
 but he used the idea, and told two of them to 
 " bunt " (shove) Charlie up one of the ash-trees 
 till he could grasp a branch. Then Charlie, agile 
 as a squirrel, was up in a minute. 
 
 "There^s no one in their camp," he shouted 
 down. " Cecil's rushing on it. Pompey, ! I can 
 see him." 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 " There by the copse," pointing to the left and 
 partly behind them. 
 
 " Which way is he going ? " asked Bevis. 
 
 " That way,"— to the left. 
 Our camp," said Mark. 
 
 That's it," said Bevis. " Come down, quick. 
 Turn to the left " (to the army). " No, stop. 
 Charlie, how many are there with Pompey ? " 

 
 268 Bevis. 
 
 '^ Six, ten — oh, I can't count : I believe it's all. 
 I can't see any anywhere else." 
 
 ^' Quick ! " shouted Bevis, turning his legions to 
 the left. '^ Quick march ! Run ! "
 
 269 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE BATTLE OP PHARSALIA. 
 
 They left Charlie to get down how he could, and 
 started at a sharp pace to meet and intercept 
 Pompey. Now, if Pompey had continued his course 
 behind the hedge all the way, he must have got to 
 Caesar's camp first ; as Caesar could not crush 
 through the hedge. But when Pompey came to the 
 gate, from which the waggon track issued into the 
 field, he saw that he could make a short cut thence 
 to the gap by Caesar's camp, instead of marching 
 round the irregular curve of the hedge. Caesar, 
 though running fast to meet him, was at that 
 moment passing a depression in the ground, and 
 was out of sight. Pompey seized so favourable an 
 opportunity, came through the gate, and ordering 
 '' Quick march ! '^ ran towards the gap. When 
 Caesar came up out of the depression he saw 
 Pompey's whole army running with their backs
 
 2 JO Bcvis. 
 
 almost turned away from him towards the gap by 
 the camp. They seemed to flee, and Caesar's legions 
 beholding their enemies' backs, raised a shout. 
 Pompey heard, and looking round, saw Caesar 
 charging towards his rear. He halted and faced 
 about, and at the same time saw that his own camp 
 was in Caesar's possession ; for there was an eagle 
 at the gate there, and his baggage was being 
 pitched over. Nothing daunted, Pompey ordered 
 his soldiers to advance, and pushed tliem with his 
 own hands into line, placing Crassus and Varro, 
 one at either end. 
 
 As he came running, Caesar saw that the whole 
 of Pompey's army was before them, while he had 
 but two-thirds of his, and regretted now that he 
 had so hastily detached Scipio's cohort. But waving 
 his sword, he ran at the head of his men, keeping 
 them in column. They were but a hundred yards 
 apart, when Pompey faced about, and so short a 
 distance was rapidly traversed. 
 
 Caesar's sword was the first to descend with a 
 crash upon an enemy's weapon, but Antony was 
 hardly a second later, and before they could lift to 
 strike again, the legion behind, with a shout, 
 pushed them by its impetus right through Pompey's 
 line.
 
 The Battle of Pilar salia. ' 271 
 
 Wlien Caesar Bevis stopped running, and looked 
 round, there was a break in the enemy^s army, 
 which was divided into two parts. Bevis instantly 
 made at the part on his left (where Phil Varro 
 commanded), thinking, instinctively, to crush this 
 half with all his soldiers. But as they did not know 
 what his object was, for he had no time even to give 
 an order, only four or jS.ve followed him. The rest 
 paused and faced Val Crassus j and these Ted 
 Pompey and six or seven of his men at once 
 attacked. 
 
 Bevis met Phil Yarro, and crossed swords with 
 him. Clatter ! crash ! snap ! thump ! bang ! They 
 slashed and warded : Bevis's shoulder was stung 
 with a sharp blow. He struck back, and his sword 
 sliding down Varro^s, broke the cross-piece, and 
 rapped his fingers smartly. Before Yarro could hit 
 again, two others, fighting, stumbled across and 
 interrupted the combat. 
 
 " Keep together ! Keep together ! ^' shouted Phil 
 Yarro. "Ted — Pompey, Pompey! Keep to- 
 gether ! " 
 
 Slash ! swish ! crash ! thump ! " Hit him ! Now 
 then ! He's down ! Hurrah ! '^ Crash I Crack — a 
 sword split and flew in splinters. 
 
 "Follow Bevis!'' shouted Mark "Stick to
 
 272 Bevis. 
 
 Bevis ! Fred ! Bill ! Quick ! '' He had privately 
 arranged with these two, Fred and Bill, who were 
 the biggest on their side, that all three should keep 
 close to Bevis and form a guard, Mark was very 
 shrewd, and he guessed that Ted Pompey, being 
 so much stronger and well-supported with stout 
 soldiers, would make every effort to seize Caesar, 
 who was slightly built, and bind him prisoner. He 
 did not tell Bevis that he had arranged this, for 
 Bevis was a stickler for his imperial authority, and 
 if Mark had told him, would be quite likely to 
 countermand it. 
 
 Whirling his sword with terrible fury, CaBsar 
 Bevis had cut his way through all between. Slight 
 as he was, the intense energy within him carried 
 him through the ranks. He struck a sword from 
 one ; overthrew another rushing against him ; sent 
 a third on his knees, and reaching Phil, hit him on 
 the arm so heavy a blow that, for a moment, he 
 could not use his weapon, but gave way and got 
 behind his men. 
 
 '' Hurrah ! " shouted Mark. " Follow Bevis I 
 Stick to Bevis ! '' 
 
 " Here I am/^ said Bill, the young giant hitting 
 at Varro. 
 
 " So am I," said Fred, the other giant, and
 
 The Battle of Pharsalia. 273 
 
 slashing Varro on the side. Yarro turned aside 
 to defend himself, when Mark Antony rushed at and 
 overturned him thump on the sward. 
 
 " Hurrah ! Down they go ! ^^ Such a tremendous 
 shout arose in another direction, that Caesar Bevis, 
 Mark^ and the rest, turned fresh from their own 
 victory to see their companions thrashed. 
 
 " Over with them ! " 
 
 Ted Pompey, Yal Crassus, and the other half of 
 the divided line had attacked the remainder of the 
 legion, which paused, and did not follow Caesar. 
 Separated from Bevis, they fought well, and strug- 
 gled hard to regain him ; and, while they could 
 keep their assailants at sword's-length, maintained 
 the battle. But Yarro's shout, '^ Keep together ! 
 Keep together ! Pompey ! Keep together ! ^' re- 
 minded Ted of what Phil Yarro had taught him, 
 and, signing to Crassus and his men to do the same, 
 he crossed his arms, held his head low, and, with 
 Crassus and the rest, charged, like bulls with eyes 
 closed, disregarding the savage chops and blows he 
 received. The manoeuvre was perfectly successful ; 
 their weight sent them right over Caesar's men, who 
 rolled on the ground in all directions. 
 
 " There ! '' said Mark, '' what did I tell you ? '' 
 
 " Come on ! '^ shouted Caesar Bevis, and he ran 
 VOL. I. T
 
 2 74 Bevis. 
 
 to assist the fallen. He fell on Crassus, who chanced 
 to be nearest^ with such violence that Val gave 
 way, when Bevis left him to attack Ted. Ted 
 Pompey, nothing loth, lifted his sword and stepped 
 to meet him. 
 
 " Bill ! Fred ! " shouted Mark ; and these three, 
 hustling before Caesar Bevis, charged under Pompey's 
 sword, for he could not hit three ways at once; and, 
 thump, he measured his length on the grass. 
 
 " Cords !— Eopes ! " shouted Mark. " Bill— the 
 rope. Hold him down, Fred ! ! You awful 
 stupe! 0!^^ 
 
 He stood stock-still, mouth agape ; for Bevis, 
 pushing Fred aside as he was going to kneel on Ted 
 as men kneel on a fallen horse^s head, seized Ted by 
 the arm and helped him up. 
 
 " Three to one^s not fair,'' he said. " Ted, get 
 your sword and fight Me.'' 
 
 Ted looked round for his sword, which had rolled 
 a yard or two. At the same moment Varro, having 
 got on his feet again, rushed up and struck Ciesar 
 a sharp blow on his left arm. He turned, Varro 
 struck again, but Fred guarded it off on his sword. 
 Three soldiers, with Varro, surrounded Fred and 
 Bevis, and, for the moment, they could do nothing 
 but fence off the blows. Ted Pompey having found
 
 The Battle of Pharsalia. 275 
 
 his sword^ ran to aid Varro^ when Mark hit him : 
 he turned to strike ac Mark, but a body of soldiers, 
 with George and Tim at their head, rushed by, 
 fighting with others, and bore Mark and Ted before 
 them bodily. In a second all was confusion. On 
 both sides the leaders were separated from their 
 troops, the battle spread out, covering forty yards 
 or more, and twenty individual combats raged at 
 once. All the green declivity was covered with 
 scattered parties, and no one knew which had the 
 better. 
 
 ^^ Keep together ! Keep together ! '^ shouted Yarro, 
 as he struck and rushed to and fro. " I tell you, 
 keep together ! Ted ! Ted ! Pompey ! Keep to- 
 gether ! '' 
 
 Swish ! slash ! clatter ! thump ! Hurrah ! ^' He^s 
 down ! '' " Quick ! " '' YouVe got it ! '' '' Take 
 that ! " Slash ! But the slain arose again and 
 renewed the fight. 
 
 Shrewd Mark Antony having knocked his man 
 over, paused on the higher part of the slope 
 where he chanced to be, and looked down on the 
 battle. He noted Phil Varro go up to Pompey 
 and urge something. Pompey seemed to yield, and 
 shouted, " A tail ! a tail ! Crassus ! George ! Tim ! 
 A tail ! '' 
 
 T 2
 
 276 Bevis. 
 
 Mark dashed down the slope to Bevis, who was 
 fighting on the level ground. He hastened to save 
 the battle, for a ^' tail " is a terrible thing. The 
 leader, who must be the biggest, gets in front, the 
 next biggest behind him, a third behind him, and 
 80 on to the last, forming a tail, which is in fact a 
 column, and so long as it keeps formation will bore 
 a hole through a crowd. Before he could get to 
 Caesar, for so many struck at him in passing that it 
 took him some time to pass fifty yards, the tail was 
 made — Pompey in front, next Val Crassus, then 
 Varro, then Ike (a big fellow, but who had as yet 
 done nothing, and was no good except for the 
 weight of his body), then George, then Tim, and 
 two more. Eight of them in a mighty line, which 
 began to descend the slope. 
 
 " Look ! " said Mark Antony at last, touching 
 Caesar Bevis, " look there ! It^s a tail ! " 
 
 " It doesn't matter," said Bevis, looking up. 
 
 " Doesn't matter ! Why, they'll hunt us ! " 
 
 And Pompey did hunt them, downright hunt 
 them along. Before Fred and Bill could come at 
 Mark's call, before they could shake themselves 
 free of their immediate opponents, Pompey came 
 thundering down, and swept everything before 
 him.
 
 The Battle of Pharsalia, 277 
 
 ^^ Out of the way ! '^ cried Mark. '^ Bevis, out of 
 tlie way ! ! Now ! ^' He wrung his hands and 
 stamped. 
 
 Bevis stood and received the charge which Pompey 
 led straight at him. Pompey, with his head down 
 and arms crossed to defend it, ran with all his 
 might. Bevis, never stirring, lifted his sword. 
 There was a part of Pompey's bare head which his 
 arms did not cover. It was a temptation, but he 
 remembered the agreement, and he struck with all 
 his strength on Pompey's left arm. So hard was the 
 blow that the tough sword snapped, and Pompey 
 groaned with pain, but in the same instant Csesar 
 felt as if an oak or a mountain had fallen on him. 
 He was hurled to the ground with stunning force, 
 and the column passed over him, one stepping on 
 his foot. 
 
 There he lay for half a minute, dazed, and they 
 might easily have taken him prisoner, but they 
 could not stop their rush till they had gone twenty 
 or thirty yards. By that time, Mark, Fred, and 
 Bill had dragged Bevis up, and put a sword which 
 they snatched from a soldier into his hand. He 
 limped, and looked pale and wild for a minute, 
 but his blood was up, and he wanted to renew the 
 fight. They would not lefc him, they pulled him along.
 
 278 Bevis. 
 
 " It's no use/^ said Mark ; " you can't. We 
 must get to the trees. Here, lean on me. Run. 
 Sycamores ! Sycamores ! " he shouted. 
 
 " Sycamores ! trees ! ^' shouted Fred and Bill to 
 their scattered followers. They urged Caesar to 
 run, he limped, but kept pace with them some- 
 how. Pompey had turned by now, and went 
 through a small body of Caesar's men, who had 
 rushed towards him when they saw he was down, 
 just as if they had been straws. Still they checked 
 the column a little, as floating beams check heavy 
 waves, and so gave Caesar time to get more ahead. 
 
 " Sycamores ! "*' Mark continued to shout as he 
 ran, and the broken legions easily understood they 
 were to rally there. At that moment the battle was 
 indeed lost. Pompey ranged triumphant. Leading 
 his irresistible and victorious column with shouting, 
 he chased the flying Caesar. 
 
 Little Charlie, left in the ash-tree, could not get 
 down, but saw the whole of the encounter. The 
 lowest bough was too high to drop from, the trunk 
 too large to clasp and slide down. He wbiS im- 
 prisoned and helpless, with the war in sight. He 
 chafed and raged aud shouted, till the tears of vexa- 
 tion rolled down his cheeks. Full of fiery spirit it 
 was torture to him to see the battle in which he
 
 The Battle of Pharsalia. 279 
 
 could not take part. For awhile^ watcbmg the 
 first shock, he forgot everything else in the interest 
 of the fight; bub presently, when the combatants 
 separated, and were strewn as it were over the 
 slope, he saw how easily at that juncture any united 
 body could have swept the field, and remembered 
 Scipio Cecil. Why did not Cecil come ? 
 
 He looked that way, and from his elevation could 
 see Cecil standing on the gate by Pompey's camp. 
 Having sacked the camp, put the fire out, and 
 thrown all the coats over the gate into a heap in 
 the field, Scipio did not know what next he ought 
 to do, and wondered that no orders reached him 
 from Caesar. He got up on the highest bar except 
 one of the gate, but could see no one, the undula- 
 tions of the ground completely concealing the sito 
 of the conflict. He did not know what to do ; 
 he waited a while and looked again. Once he 
 fancied he heard shouting, but the gale was so 
 strong he could not be certain. 
 
 Charlie in the ash- tree now seeing Pompey form 
 the tail, or column, worked himself into a state of 
 frenzy. He yelled, he screamed to Scipio to come, 
 till he was hoarse, and gasped with the straining of 
 his throat ; but the howling of the tremendous wind 
 through the trees by the gate, prevented Scipio
 
 28o Bevis, 
 
 from hearing a word. Had lie known Charlie was 
 in the tree he might have guessed there was some- 
 thing wrong from his frantic gestures, but he did 
 not, and as there were so many scattered trees in 
 the field, there was nothing to make him look at 
 that one in particular. Charlie waved his hat, and 
 at last flung it up into the air, waved his handker- 
 chief — all in vain. 
 
 He could see the crisis, but could not convey a 
 knowledge of it to the idle cohort. He looked 
 again at the battle. Caesar was down and trampled 
 under foot. He threw up his arms, and almost lost 
 his balance in his excitement. The next minute 
 Csesar was up, and he and his lieutenant were flying 
 from Pompey. The column chased them, and the 
 whole scene — the flight and the pursuit — passed 
 within a short distance, half a stone's throw of the 
 ash-tree. 
 
 Quite wild, and lost to everything but his anger, 
 Charlie the next second was out on a bough, cling- 
 ing to it like a cat. He crawled out some way, till 
 the bough bent a little with his weight. His design 
 was to get out till it bowed towards the ground, 
 and so lowered him — a perilous feat ! He got half 
 a yard further, and then swung under it, out and 
 out, till the branch gave a good way. He tried
 
 The Battle of Pharsalia, 281 
 
 again, and looked down ; the ground was still far 
 below. He heard a shout, it stimulated him. He 
 worked out farther, till the branch cracked loudly ; 
 it would break, but would not bend much farther. 
 His feet hung down now ; he only held by his 
 hands. Crack ! Another shout ! He looked down 
 wildly, and in that instant saw a little white knob — 
 a button mushroom in the grass. He left hold, 
 and dropped. The little mushroom saved him, for 
 it guided him, steadied his drop ; his feet struck it 
 and smashed it, and his knees giving under him, 
 down he came. 
 
 But he was not hurt, his feet, as he hung from 
 the bowed branch, were much nearer the earth than 
 it had looked to him from his original perch, and he 
 alighted naturally. The shock dazed him at first, 
 just as Bevis had been confused, a few minutes pre- 
 viously. In a minute he was all right, and running 
 with all his speed towards Scipio. 
 
 As Caesar ran, with the shout of victorious Pompey 
 close behind, he said, "If we could charge the 
 column sideways we could break it — " 
 
 " If,'^ snorted Mark, with the contempt of des- 
 peration ; '' if — of course ! " 
 
 Caesar was right, but he had not got the means 
 just then. Next minute they reached the first syca-
 
 282 Bevis. 
 
 more^ not ten yards in front of Pompey. As they 
 turned to face the enemy, with their backs to the 
 great tree, Pompey lowered his head, crossed his 
 arms, and the column charged. Nothing could stop 
 that onslaught, which must have crushed them, but 
 Bevis, quick as thought, pushed Mark and Fred 
 one way and Bill the other, stepping after the latter. 
 Ted Pompey, with his eyes shut, and all the force 
 of his men thrusting behind, crashed against the 
 tree. 
 
 Down he went recoiling, and two or three more 
 behind him. 
 
 Thwack ! thwack ! The four defenders hammered 
 their enemies before they could recover the shock. 
 
 " Quick ! " cried Mark ; '' tie him — prisoner — 
 quick,^^ pulling a cord from his pocket, and putting 
 his foot on Ted, who was lying in a heap. 
 
 Before any one could help Mark the heap heaved 
 itself up, and Val Crassus and Phil Yarro hauled 
 their half-stunned leader back out of reach. 
 
 Crash ! clatter ! bang ! thwack ! 
 
 " Backs to trees ! Stand with backs to trees ! " 
 shouted Bevis, hitting out furiously. ^'We shall 
 win ! Here, Bill ! '' 
 
 They planted themselves, these four, Bevis, Mark, 
 Fred, and Bill, with their backs to the great trunk
 
 TJie Battle of Pharsalia. 283 
 
 of the sycamore, standing a foot or two in front of 
 it for room to swing their swords, and a little way 
 apart for the same reason. The sycamore formed a 
 bulwark so that none could attack them in rear. 
 
 The column, as it recoiled, widened out, and came 
 on again in a semi-circle, surrounding them. 
 
 " Give in ! '' shouted Yal. " We're ten to one ! " 
 (that was not numerically correct.) '^ Give in ! 
 You'll all be prisoners in a minute ! '' 
 
 ''That we shan't," said Bill, fetching him a 
 sideway slash. 
 
 " If we could only get Scipio up," said Mark. 
 " Where is he ? Can't we get him ? " 
 
 " I forgot him," said Bevis. " There, take that," 
 as he warded a cut and returned it. " I forgot him. 
 Look out, Fred, that's it. Hurrah ! Mark," as Mark 
 made a successful cut. " How stupid." In the heat 
 and constant changes of the combat they had totally 
 forgotten Cecil and his cohort. 
 
 " Why, we've been fighting two to three," said 
 Bill, " and they haven't done us yet." 
 
 ''But we mean to," said Tim, and Bill shrank 
 involuntarily under an unexpected knock. 
 
 " Some more of you — there," shouted Ted Pompey, 
 as he came to himself, and saw a number of his 
 soldiers in the rear watching the combat. " You," —
 
 284 Bevis, 
 
 in a rage, — " you go round behind and worry them 
 there ; and some of you get up in the tree and hit 
 down/' 
 
 " ! botheration ! '' said Mark^ as he heard the 
 last order. 
 
 *' We must get Cecil somehow/' said Bevis. 
 
 " Now then," yelled Ted Pompey, stamping in 
 terrible fury, " do as I tell you ; go round the tree, 
 and ' bunt ' somebody up into it ! " 
 
 He passed his hand across his bruised forehead, 
 wiping off a fragment of bark which adhered in- 
 dented in the skin, and rushed into the fight. Ted 
 fought that day like a hero ; twice severely punished, 
 he returned to the war with increased determina- 
 tion. He was nervous at lightning, but he feared no 
 mortal being. He was as brave as brave could be. 
 These heavy knocks seemed only to touch him on 
 the quick and arouse a stronger will. When he 
 came in the combat became tremendous. 
 
 Like knights with their backs to the tree, the 
 four received them. The swords crossed and rattled, 
 and for two or three minutes nothing else was 
 heard ; they were too busy to shout. The eight of 
 the column would have succeeded better had not so 
 many of the others pressed in to get a safe knock at 
 Bevis, hitting from behind the bigger ones so as to
 
 The Battle of Pharsalia . 285 
 
 be themselves in safety. These impeded Val and 
 Phil and the first line. 
 
 One and all struck at Bevis. The dust flew from 
 his coat, his shoulders smarted, his arms were sore, 
 his left arm, which he used as a guard like a shield, 
 almost numb with knocks. 
 
 His face grew pale with anger. He frowned and 
 set his lips tight together, his eyes gleamed. The 
 hail of blows descended on him, and though his 
 wrist began to weary, he could not repay one-tenth 
 of that they gave him. 
 
 " Give in ! Give in ! " shouted Yal, who was in 
 front of him, and he put his left hand on Bevis's 
 shoulder. With a twist of his wrist Bevis hit his 
 right hand so sharp a knock that the sword flew out 
 of it, and for a second Yal was daunted. 
 
 " Give in ! give in ! " shouted Phil, pushing to 
 Val^s assistance. "You're done! It's no good. 
 You can't help it. Hurrah ! " 
 
 Two soldiers appeared in the fork of the tree 
 above. Though so huge the trunk was short, and 
 they began to strike down on Mark, who was forced 
 to stand out so far from the tree that he was in 
 great danger of being seized, and would have been, 
 had they not been so bent on Bevis. 
 
 Bevis breathed hard and panted. So thick came
 
 286 Be vis. 
 
 the bail that he could do nothing. If he lifted his 
 sword it was beaten down, if he struck, ten knocks 
 came for one. He received his punishment in 
 silence. Tim had the cord to bind him ready : they 
 made a noose to throw, over his head. 
 
 " Stick to Bevis/^ shouted Mark. " Bevis — Bevis 
 — stick to Bevis — Fred — ah ! " — a smart knock made 
 him grind his teeth, and four or five assailants 
 rushing in separated him from Caesar. 
 
 Bevis was beaten on his knee. He crouched, 
 his left side against the tree with his left hand 
 against it, hitting wild and savage, and still keeping 
 a short clear space with his sword. 
 
 *' Stop ! '' cried Yal, himself desisting. " That's 
 enough. Stop ! stop ! Don't hit him ! He's done. 
 We've got him ! Now, Phil." 
 
 Phil and Tim rushed in with the noose : Bevis 
 sprang up, drove his head into Phil and sent him 
 whirling with Tim under. Bevis made good use of 
 the moment's breathing time he thus obtained, 
 punishing three of his hardest thrashers. 
 
 " Keep together," shouted Phil as he got up on 
 his knees. "If Ted would only do as I said. 
 Hurrah ! " 
 
 They had hammered Bevis by sheer dint of knocks 
 down on his knees again. Fred and Bill in vain
 
 The Battle of Pharsalia. 287 
 
 tried to get to him; they were attacked front and 
 rear : Mark quite beside himself with rage, pushed, 
 wrestled, and struck, but they encompassed him 
 like bees. Bevis could hit no more ; he warded as 
 well as he could, he could not return. 
 
 " Shame ! shame ! '' cried Yal, pulling two back, 
 one with each hand. " Don't hit him ! He's 
 down ! " 
 
 " Why doesn't he give in, then ? " said Phil, black 
 as thunder. 
 
 Ted Pompey, who had watched this scene for a 
 moment without moving, smiled grimly as he saw 
 Bevis could not hit. 
 
 '*' Now," said he, " Phil, Tim, George — YaFs too 
 soft. Come on — keep close — in we go and have 
 him. Hurrah ! Hang it ! I say ! " 
 
 '' Whoop ! '' 
 
 END OP VOL. I.
 
 LONJJON : 
 
 PfilKTED BY GILBEKT AND KIVINGTON, LIMITED, 
 
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