The Hot Swamp | Page 2

about which betokened readiness for
instant departure. The crew--partly composed of slaves--were seated at
the oars; the fighting men and seamen were all on board arranging their
shields round the vessel's sides, and the great sail was cast loose ready

to hoist as soon as the mouth of the harbour should be cleared.
Just then a band of young men issued from the town, and the captain's
good humour was restored as they hurried towards him. They seemed
to be much excited, and talked in loud tones as they advanced, their
manners and costumes indicating that they belonged to the upper ranks
of society.
One of the band, a fair youth, towered, like Saul, head and shoulders
above his fellows. Another, of dark complexion, handsome features,
and elegant, active frame, hurried forward to salute the captain.
"I fear we have kept you waiting," he said with a pleasant expression
that disarmed reproof.
"I will not deny that, Dromas," answered the captain, "but you have not
detained me long. Nevertheless, I was on the point of sailing without
your friend, for the winds and waves respect no one."
"But you are neither a wind nor a wave," remarked the youth.
"True, but I am the humble friend of both," retorted the captain, "and
am bound to accommodate myself to them. I suppose this is the prince
you spoke of," he added, turning to the towering youth already referred
to, with the air of a man who had as little--or as much--regard for a
prince as a peasant.
"Yes, Captain Arkal, this is Prince Bladud. Let me present him to you."
As the prince and the seaman joined hands the latter looked up from an
altitude of five feet six and squared his broad shoulders with the air of a
man ready to defy all creation, and anxious rather than otherwise to do
so. The prince, on the other hand, looked down from an eminence of
six feet seven, and bent his head with a modest grace and a genial smile
that indicated a desire to be on good terms, if possible, with the world
at large.
Although almost equal as to physical strength, the inequality of the two

men in height rendered their experience in those rude warlike times
very dissimilar, for, whereas the sailor was often compelled to give
proof of his strength to tall unbelievers, the prince very seldom had
occasion to do so. Hence, partly, their difference in manner, the one
being somewhat pugnacious and the other conciliatory, while both were
in reality good-natured, peace-loving men.
No two men, however, could have been more unlike in outward aspect.
The prince was, if we may say so, built on the Gothic model--fair,
blue-eyed, bulky of limb, huge, muscular, massive, with a soft beard
and moustache--for he had not yet seen twenty-four summers--and hair
that fell like rippling gold on his shoulders. Captain Arkal, on the
contrary, was dark, with a thick reddish beard, luxuriant brown hair,
piercing black eyes, and limbs that were hardened as well as darkened
by thirty years of constant exposure to elemental and other warfare.
"I hope that I may be of some use to you," said the prince, "though I
profess not to know more of seamanship than I acquired during my
voyage hither, and as that voyage occurred six years ago, it may be that
I have lost the little I had learned. But if pirates should assail us,
perhaps I may do you some service."
"Little fear I have of that," returned the captain with an approving nod.
"Now, bid your comrades farewell and get on board, for the wind is
failing fast, and it behoves us to get well forward on our voyage before
night."
It was evident that the leave-taking which ensued was not merely
formal, for the youths from whom Bladud was parting had been his
companions in study for six years, as well as his competitors in all the
manly games of the period, and as he excelled them all in most
things--especially in athletics--some looked up to the young prince
from Albion as a sort of demi-god, while others to whom he had been
helpful in many ways regarded him with the warmest affection.
"Come here aside with me; I must have a few last words with you
alone," said Bladud, taking young Dromas by the arm and leading him
aside.

The prince's other friends made no objection to this evidence of
preference, for Dromas had shared the same apartment with him while
in Athens, and engaged in similar studies with Bladud for several years;
had travelled with him in the East, and sailed over the sea in his
company, even as far as Egypt, besides having been second to him in
most of the games practised by the young