The Dragon And The Raven: Or The Days Of King Alfred(Fiscle Part-3), G. A. Henty [top business books of all time .txt] 📗
- Author: G. A. Henty
Book online «The Dragon And The Raven: Or The Days Of King Alfred(Fiscle Part-3), G. A. Henty [top business books of all time .txt] 📗». Author G. A. Henty
And Collecting Such Goods As He Required And A Good Store Of
Provisions He Marched To The Place Where The Ship Had Been
Hidden. No Wandering Band Of Danes Had Passed That Way,
And The Bushes With Which She Had Been Covered Were Undisturbed.
These Were Soon Removed And A Passage Three Feet
Deep, And Wide Enough For The Ship To Pass Through, Was Dug
From The Deep Hole In Which She Was Lying To The River.
When The Last Barrier Was Cut The Water Poured In, And
The Saxons Had The Satisfaction Of Seeing The Vessel Rise
Gradually Until The Water In The Dock Was Level With That In The
River. Then She Was Taken Out Into The Stream, The Stores And
Fittings Placed Aboard, And She Was Poled Down To The Mouth
Of The River. Egbert Had Gone Before And Had Already Engaged
Fifteen Sturdy Sailors To Go With Them. The Danes Had
Not Yet Reached The Sea-Coast From The Interior, And There Was
Therefore No Difficulty In Obtaining The Various Equipments
Necessary. In A Week Her Masts Were Up And Her Sails In Position.
The Dragon, As She Was Called, Excited Great Admiration
At The Port, All Saying That She Was The Finest And Largest Ship
That Had Ever Been Seen There. While Her Fitting Out Had
Been Going On She Was Hove Up On Shore And Received Several
Coats Of Paint. Edmund Was Loath To Start On His Voyage Without
Again Seeing The King, But No One Knew Where Alfred
Now Was, He, On Finding The Struggle Hopeless, Having Retired
To The Fastnesses Of Somerset To Await The Time When The Saxons
Should Be Driven By Oppression Again To Take Up Arms.
At Last All Was Ready, And The Dragon Put Out To Sea. She
Was Provided With Oars As Well As Sails, But These Were Only To
Be Used When In Pursuit, Or When Flying From A Superior Enemy.
As Soon As She Had Been Long Enough At Sea To Enable
Part 3 Chapter 7 (The Dragon) Pg 67The Band Again To Recover From The Effects Of Sickness The
Oars Were Got Out And The Men Practised In Their Use.
As In The Models From Which She Had Been Built, She
Rowed Two Banks Of Oars, The One Worked By Men Upon Deck,
The Others Through Small Port-Holes. The Latter Could Only
Be Used When The Weather Was Fine; When The Sea Was High
They Were Closed Up And Fastened. The Lower-Deck Oars Were
Each Rowed By One Man, While The Upper Bank, Which Were
Longer And Heavier, Had Each Two Men To Work It.
Before Starting Edmund Had Increased The Strength Of
His Band To Ninety Men, That Number Being Required For The
Oars, Of Which The Dragon Had Fifteen On Each Bank On Each
Side. At First There Was Terrible Splashing And Confusion, But
In Time The Men Learned To Row In Order, And In Three Weeks
After Putting To Sea The Oars Worked Well In Time Together,
And The Dragon, With Her Ninety Rowers, Moved Through The
Water At A Great Rate Of Speed.
During This Time She Had Never Been Far From Land Keeping
But A Short Distance From The Port From Which She Had
Sailed, As Edmund Did Not Wish To Fall In With The Danes Until
His Crew Were Able To Maneuver Her With The Best Effect.
When, At Last, Satisfied That All Knew Their Duty He Returned
To Port, Took In A Fresh Supply Of Provisions, And Then Sailed
Away Again In Search Of The Enemy. He Coasted Along The
Shore Of Hampshire And Sussex Without Seeing A Foe, And
Then Sailing Round Kent Entered The Mouth Of The Thames.
The Dragon Kept On Her Way Until She Reached The Point Where
The River Begins To Narrow, And There The Sails Were Furled
And The Anchor Thrown Overboard To Wait For Danish Galleys
Coming Down The River.
On The Third Day After They Had Anchored They Perceived
Four Black Specks In The Distance, And These The Sailors Soon
Declared To Be Danish Craft. They Were Rowing Rapidly, Having
Ten Oars On Either Side, And At Their Mast-Heads Floated
The Danish Raven. The Anchor Was Got Up, And As The Danes
Approached, The Golden Dragon, The Standard Of Wessex,
Was Run Up To The Mast-Head, The Sails Were Hoisted, The Oars
Got Out, And The Vessel Advanced To Meet The Approaching
Danes.
These For A Moment Stopped Rowing In Astonishment At
Seeing So Large A Ship Bearing The Saxon Flag. Then They At
Once Began To Scatter In Different Directions; But The Dragon,
Impelled Both By The Wind And Her Sixty Oars, Rapidly Overtook
Them. When Close Alongside The Galley Nearest To Them
The Men On The Upper Deck, At An Order From Edmund, Ran
In Their Oars, And Seizing Their Bows Poured A Volley Of Arrows
Into The Galley, Killing Most Of The Rowers. Then The
Dragon Was Steered Alongside, And The Saxons, Sword In Hand,
Leaped Down Into The Galley. Most Of The Danes Were Cut
Part 3 Chapter 7 (The Dragon) Pg 68Down At Once; The Rest Plunged Into The Water And Swam For
Their Lives. Leaving The Deserted Galley Behind, The Dragon
Continued The Pursuit Of The Others, And Overtook And Captured
Another As Easily As She Had Done The First.
The Other Two Boats Reached The Shore Before They Were
Overtaken, And Those On Board Leaping Out Fled. The Saxons
Took Possession Of The Deserted Galleys. They Found Them,
As They Expected, Stored Full Of Plunder Of All Kinds--Rich
Wearing Apparel, Drinking Goblets, Massive Vessels Of Gold And
Silver Which Had Been Torn From Some Desecrated Altar, Rich
Ornaments And Jewels And Other Articles. These Were At Once
Removed To The Dragon. Fire Was Applied To The Boats, And
They Were Soon A Mass Of Flames. Then The Dragon Directed
Her Course To The Two Galleys She Had First Captured. These
Were Also Rifled Of Their Contents And Burned. The Saxons
Were Delighted At The Success Which Had Attended Their First
Adventure.
"We Shall Have Rougher Work Next Time," Egbert Said.
"The Danes Who Escaped Will Carry News To London, And We
Shall Be Having A Whole Fleet Down To Attack Us In A Few Days."
"If They Are In Anything Like Reasonable Numbers We Will
Fight Them; If Not, We Can Run. We Have Seen To-Day How
Much Faster We Are Than The Danish Boats; And Though I Shall
Be In Favour Of Fighting If We Have A Fair Chance Of Success,
It Would Be Folly To Risk The Success Of Our Enterprise By
Contending Against Overwhelming Numbers At The Outset, Seeing
That We Shall Be Able To Pick Up So Many Prizes Round The
Coast."
"We Can Beat A Score Of Them," Egbert Grumbled. "I Am
In Favour Of Fighting The Danes Whenever We See Them."
"When There Is A Hope Of Success, Egbert, Yes; But You
Know Even The Finest Bull Can Be Pulled Down By A Pack Of
Dogs. The Dragon Is A Splendid Ship, And Does Credit Alike To
King Alfred's First Advice, To The Plans Of The Italian
Shipbuilders, And To The Workmanship And Design Of The
Shipwright Of Exeter, And I Hope She Will Long Remain To Be A
Scourge To The Danes At Sea As They Have Been A Scourge To
The Saxons On Shore; And It Is Because I Hope She Is Going To
Do Such Good Service To England That I Would Be Careful Of
Her. You Must Remember, Too, That Many Of The Danish Galleys
Are Far Larger Than Those We Had To Do With To-Day. We
Are Not Going To Gobble Them All Up As A Pike Swallows
Minnows."
The Dragon Had Now Anchored Again, And Four Days
Elapsed Before Any Danish Galleys Were Seen. At The End Of
That Time Six Large Danish War-Ships Were Perceived In The
Distance. Edmund And Egbert From The Top Of The Lofty Poop
Watched Them Coming.
Part 3 Chapter 7 (The Dragon) Pg 69
"They Row Thirty Oars Each Side," Egbert Said, "And Are
Crowded With Men. What Say You, Edmund, Shall We Stop
And Fight Them, Or Shall The Dragon Spread Her Wings?"
"We Have The Advantage Of Height," Edmund Said, "And
From Our Bow And Stern Castles Can Shoot Down Into Them;
But If They Lie Alongside And Board Us Their Numbers Will Give
Them An Immense Advantage. I Should Think That We Might
Run Down One Or Two Of Them. The Dragon Is Much More
Strongly Built Than These Galleys Of The Danes, And If When
They Close Round Us We Have The Oars Lashed On Both Sides As
When We Are Rowing, It Will Be Next To Impossible For Them To
Get Alongside Except At The Stern And Bow, Which Are Far Too
High For Them To Climb."
"Very Well," Egbert Said, "If You Are Ready To Fight, You
May Be Sure I Am."
The Anchor Was Got Up And The Oars Manned, And The
Dragon Quietly Advanced Towards The Danish Boats. The Men
Were Instructed To Row Slowly, And It Was Not Until Within A
Hundred Yards Of The Leading Galley That The Order Was Given
To Row Hard.
The Men Strained At The Tough Oars, And The Dragon Leapt
Ahead To Meet The Foe. Her Bow Was Pointed As If She Would
Have Passed Close By The Side Of The Danish Galley, Which Was
Crowded With Men. When Close To Her, However, The Helmsman
Pushed The Tiller Across And The Dragon Swept Straight
Down Upon Her. A Shout Of Dismay Rose From The Danes, A
Hasty Volley Of Arrows And Darts Was Hurled At The Dragon,
And The Helmsman Strove To Avoid The Collision, But In Vain.
The Dragon Struck Her On The Beam, The Frail Craft Broke Up
Like An Egg-Shell Under The Blow, And Sank Almost Instantly
Under The Bows Of The Dragon.
Without Heeding The Men Struggling Thickly In The Water,
The Dragon Continued Her Course. Warned By The Fate Of
The First Boat, The Next Endeavoured To Avoid Her Path. Her
Commander Shouted Orders. The Rowers On One Side Backed
While Those On The Other Pulled, But She Was Not Quite Quick
Enough. The Dragon Struck Her A Few Feet From The Stern,
Cutting Her In Two.
The Other Galleys Now Closed In Alongside. The Saxons
Hastily Fastened Their Oars As They Had Been Rowing And Then
Betook Themselves To Their Posts, Those With Spears And Swords
To The Sides To Prevent The Enemy From Climbing Up, The Archers
To The Lofty Castles At Either End. The Danes Had The
Greatest Difficulty In
Comments (0)