  That day we went on as fast as our legs could carry us. We gauged our position by the sun. During the morning we kept it in our rear while in the afternoon we made sure of ourselves by the shine of it (when there was an opening in the woods) in our faces. There were no roads that you could speak of—only rutted trails of mud hardly wide enough for two ox-carts to pass without touching the hubs of each other’s wheels. Once in a while we saw the hut of a peasant or a charcoal burner. These we carefully avoided, for we hoped to leave no sign behind us for our enemies to follow, nor did we wish to fall stupidly into a trap. Fortunately it was the season of the year when the nuts were beginning to ripen and we contented ourselves with what we could get of these. We slept curled up beside each other at the root of a tree. The next morning we were on our way again, but I may say with less speed, for our feet were sore from the unevenness of the ground and our bodies were stretched and tired from the uncomfortable position in which we had spent the night. About noon we halted for a rest. There was a little brook running over irregular stones down the hill-side where we washed ourselves and drank of the fresh water. I was sitting on a boulder with my back to a tree as limp and wearied as an old cloth. My stomach was rumbling and growling from hunger. I was wishing with all my heart that there would soon be an end to my difficulties. To amuse myself I picked up a stone and threw it aimlessly at a tree. It struck the bark with a resounding crack. I threw another. It missed and went on far beyond. But where it lighted on the ground, I noticed that it stirred up a cloud of dust like fine ashes and with it a few scattered sparks—the smouldering remnants of a fire. I jumped from my rock. I went over to the place to examine it. Sure enough there was a dying fire on a bare spot among the trees and all about it were the marks where men had trodden the grass with their heavy boots. Besides I saw two pieces of the rind of cheese that had been cut off and thrown away. “They must have traveled in the night,” I said to Charles. “They’ve passed us and gone on ahead.” “There’ll be more of them behind us,” he answered. “We must——” The words stuck in his throat. He looked far off over my shoulder at something in the distance. Like a flash he dropped to his hands and knees. I was about to turn when an arrow whizzed through the air and sped over his shoulder and fastened itself in the trunk of the nearest tree. I thought that caution was the best plan to follow so I ducked likewise. It was a lucky pass, for I had no sooner bent my head when another arrow whistled past me and shot out into the distance beyond me. We exchanged no words. There was little need for them. With our heads as close to the ground as was possible, we made for it into a deeper section of the woods. In a few seconds a third arrow hummed towards us, but struck the smooth surface of a rock well to one side. We were out of shot at last, but the terror we were in gave speed to our heels. After about a quarter of an hour we drew up, puffing and panting like tired horses. “To the south,” said Charles between breaths. “We must hold to the south.” I knew what he meant. We had betrayed ourselves by keeping in a straight line towards the west, for it was the direction where lay the Black Prince. We went on again, but now more slowly than before. At almost each step, one or the other of us turned to see if we were followed. At the same time our eyes penetrated every bush and behind every tree in search of a lurking foe. After an hour we could go no further. The pace had been too hot for us, so we settled ourselves on a stone to rest and collect our frightened senses. Hunger like a gnawing pain bore into the pit of my stomach. Since we had left the island on the morning before, we had eaten no food except the few nuts that we came upon. A kind of sickening weakness overtook me. My legs were trembling as though they were made of straw and the soles of my feet ached as though I were standing over a burning fire. “If they catch us now,” I said, “it’s all over with me. I can go no further.” Charles clapped me on the shoulder and laughed, but it was a laugh that was meant only to encourage me and had no heart to it. “We’ll snap our fingers in their faces yet, Henri,” he said. “Look what we’ve passed through already.” I only shook my head and stared hopelessly towards the ground. “We have no weapons,” I replied. “Even the dagger that I was to carry to the Abbot of Chalonnes is with my clothes at the bottom of the river.” There was no more said. We were both worn out. We went forward through the trees. There was no path. Indeed, the ground seemed to have been trodden now for the first time since the beginning of the world. The moss was everywhere on the earth. The little unexpected stones, as sharp as the tips of arrows, cut into our feet. Above all the darkness and sombreness of the forest was about us like a blanket as gloomy as the night. We came upon an irregular rising in the ground. There was a solid piece of rock as big as an ordinary house, but with no shape to it. All about, it was cut into crevices. The earth itself broke into risings and depressions. Parts of it were like an uneven wall of stone with great blocks of the rock in a rounded line. It seemed as though nature had begun to build a fortress here, but for some reason or other had left off. We climbed in among the boulders and found ourselves on smooth ground covered with coarse grass and weeds, with great trees over and about us. Through the middle flowed a stream that had its starting place in a spring that bubbled up like a fountain from the earth. For a moment we stood gaping in amazement. “If we only had a few bows and arrows here,” said Charles, “we could hold off an army.” “At any rate,” I answered, “we can hide here and rest. They will think we have gone on through the woods.” We turned and faced the great rock which, I said, was as big as a house. The front of it was like an overhanging shed. Underneath was what seemed an opening to the mouth of a cavern—dark and smelling of dampness. Step by step we ventured forward. The ground under our feet grew sticky like wet clay. The light slowly faded. A mustiness like the odor of the cellar of an old inn crept into our nostrils. The opening widened and as we advanced the light was so far gone that we had to feel along the rough wall with our hands. Suddenly the wall turned and shut us off. I groped on further and further in the hope that the opening was only narrowing and not entirely closed. I was running my fingers from one stone to the other when I felt something flat. There was no dampness to it and it had the evenness of smooth wood. I was about to examine it further when my hand touched a latch. Like a flash I realized I had come upon a door. “Charles!” I exclaimed. “We are only at the beginning. There’s another cave beyond!” My curiosity scattered all caution to the winds. I gave the latch a click and shoved on the door. To my surprise it went back on its hinges as though they were swimming in oil. And I beheld a sight that took my breath away and made me gasp in amazement. A light shone in my eyes. It was not bright, but the unexpectedness of it made it seem like a flash. As soon as my eyes grew accustomed to it, I saw that it was only a small fire burning in a grate in the far end of the cave. There was no smoke. By some means or other a draught drew it upwards through the irregular crevices in the ceiling. I put one foot in the room and gazed around. It was as large as the common room in an inn, but scrupulously clean and neat. The floor, which was as smooth as you could wish, was covered with new straw that cracked with dryness as my foot touched it. On the walls were pegs driven in between the stones and from them were hung at least a dozen bows while the quivers filled with arrows stood beneath. Charles grasped me by the arm. “Let’s get away,” he whispered. “We’ve come upon a thieves’ den.” “If we could lay our hands, each of us, on a bow and a quiver of arrows,” I said, “we wouldn’t have to run so fast from our enemies.” “And that’s right,” he agreed. With that he gave me a shove forward. I went quietly across the floor with Charles at my heels. It was one step at a time with our eyes always turning towards the door. The warmth of the place lured me. If I had had my own way, I would have thrown myself down upon the floor before the fire and have given rest to my weary legs. As it was, Charles was reaching out for a bow and I had my hand already on another when a voice shot through my ears like the blast of a trumpet. “Gentlemen,” it said, “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been expecting you!” |
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