CHAPTER XXI--THEY BICKER ABOUT THE FORD
In the grey of the morning was Otter afoot with the watchers, andpresently he got on his horse and peered over the plain, but the mist yethung low on it, so that he might see nought for a while; but at last heseemed to note something coming toward the host from the upper waterabove the ford, so he rode forward to meet it, and lo, it was a lad offifteen winters, naked save his breeches, and wet from the river; andOtter drew rein, and the lad said to him: "Art thou the War-duke?" "Yea,"said Otter.
Said the lad, "I am Ali, the son of Grey, and the Hall-Sun hath sent meto thee with this word: 'Are ye coming? Is Thiodolf at hand? For I haveseen the Roof-ridge red in the sunlight as if it were painted withcinnabar.'"
Said Otter, "Art thou going back to Wolfstead, son?"
"Yea, at once, my father," said Ali.
"Then tell her," said Otter, "that Thiodolf is at hand, and when hecometh we shall both together fall upon the Romans either in crossing theford or in the Wolfing meadow; but tell her also that I am not strongenough to hinder the Romans from crossing."
"Father," said Ali, "the Hall-Sun saith: Thou art wise in war; now tellus, shall we hold the Hall against the Romans that ye may find us there?For we have discomfited their vanguard already, and we have folk who canfight; but belike the main battle of the Romans shall get the upper handof us ere ye come to our helping: belike it were better to leave thehall, and let the wood cover us."
"Now is this well asked," said Otter; "get thee back, my son, and bid theHall-Sun trust not to warding of the Hall, for the Romans are a mightyhost: and this day, even when Thiodolf cometh hither, shall be hard forthe Goth-folk: let her hasten lest these thieves come upon her hastily;let her take the Hall-Sun her namesake, and the old men and children andthe women, and let those fighting folk she hath be a guard to all this inthe wood. And hearken moreover; it will, maybe, be six hours ereThiodolf cometh; tell her I will cast the dice for life or death, andstir up these Romans now at once, that they may have other things tothink of than burning old men and women and children in their dwellings;thus may she reach the wood unhindered. Hast thou all this in thinehead? Then go thy ways."
But the lad lingered, and he reddened and looked on the ground and thenhe said: "My father, I swam the deeps, and when I reached this bank, Icrept along by the mist and the reeds toward where the Romans are, and Icame near to them, and noted what they were doing; and I tell thee thatthey are already stirring to take the water at the ford. Now then dowhat thou wilt."
Therewith he turned about, and went his way at once, running like a coltwhich has never felt halter or bit.
But Otter rode back hastily and roused certain men in whom he trusted,and bid them rouse the captains and all the host and bid men get to horsespeedily and with as little noise as might be. So did they, and therewas little delay, for men were sleeping with one eye open, as folk say,and many were already astir. So in a little while they were all in thesaddle, and the mist yet stretched low over the meadow; for the morningwas cool and without wind. Then Otter bade the word be carried down theranks that they should ride as quietly as may be and fare through themist to do the Romans some hurt, but in nowise to get entangled in theirranks, and all men to heed well the signal of turning and drawing aback;and therewith they rode off down the meadow led by men who could have ledthem through the dark night.
But for the Romans, they were indeed getting ready to cross the ford whenthe mist should have risen; and on the bank it was thinning already andmelting away; for a little air of wind was beginning to breathe from thenorth-east and the sunrise, which was just at hand; and the bank,moreover, was stonier and higher than the meadow's face, which fell awayfrom it as a shallow dish from its rim: thereon yet lay the mist like awhite wall.
So the Romans and their friends the dastards of the Goths had well nighgot all ready, and had driven stakes into the water from bank to bank tomark out the safe ford, and some of their light-armed and most of theirGoths were by now in the water or up on the Wolfing meadow with the morepart of their baggage and wains; and the rest of the host was drawn up ingood order, band by band, waiting the word to take the water, and thecaptain was standing nigh to the river bank beside their God the chiefbanner of the Host.
Of a sudden one of the dastards of the Goths who was close to the Captaincried out that he heard horse coming; but because he spake in the Gothictongue, few heeded; but even therewith an old leader of a hundred criedout the same tidings in the Roman tongue, and all men fell to handlingtheir weapons; but before they could face duly toward the meadow, camerushing from out of the mist a storm of shafts that smote many men, andtherewithal burst forth the sound of the Markmen's war-horn, like theroaring of a hundred bulls mingled with the thunder of horses at thegallop; and then dark over the wall of mist showed the crests of theriders of the Mark, though scarce were their horses seen till their wholewar-rank came dark and glittering into the space of the rising-groundwhere the mist was but a haze now, and now at last smitten athwart by thelow sun just arisen.
Therewith came another storm of shafts, wherein javelins and spears castby the hand were mingled with the arrows: but the Roman ranks had facedthe meadow and the storm which it yielded, swiftly and steadily, and theystood fast and threw their spears, albeit not with such good aim as mighthave been, because of their haste, so that few were slain by them. Andthe Roman Captain still loth to fight with the Goths in earnest for noreward, and still more and more believing that this was the only band ofthem that he had to look to, bade those who were nighest the ford not totarry for the onset of a few wild riders, but to go their ways into thewater; else by a sudden onrush might the Romans have entangled Otter'sband in their ranks, and so destroyed all. As it was the horsemen fellnot on the Roman ranks full in face, but passing like a storm athwart theranks to the right, fell on there where they were in thinnest array (forthey were gathered to the ford as aforesaid), and slew some and dravesome into the deeps and troubled the whole Roman host.
So now the Roman Captain was forced to take new order, and gather all hismen together, and array his men for a hard fight; and by now the mist wasrolling off from the face of the whole meadow and the sun was bright andhot. His men serried their ranks, and the front rank cast their spears,and slew both men and horses of the Goths as those rode along their frontcasting their javelins, and shooting here and there from behind theirhorses if occasion served, or making a shift to send an arrow even asthey sat a-horseback; then the second rank of the Romans would take theplace of the first, and cast in their turn, and they who had taken thewater turned back and took their place behind the others, and many of thelight-armed came with them, and all the mass of them flowed forwardtogether, looking as if it might never be broken. But Otter would notabide the shock, since he had lost men and horses, and had no mind to becaught in the sweep of their net; so he made the sign, and his Companydrew off to right and left, yet keeping within bowshot, so that thebowmen still loosed at the Romans.
But they for their part might not follow afoot men on untired horses, andtheir own horse was on the west side with the baggage, and had it beenthere would have been but of little avail, as the Roman Captain knew. Sothey stood awhile making grim countenance, and then slowly drew back tothe ford under cover of their light-armed who shot at the Goths as theyrode forward, but abode not their shock.
But Otter and his folk followed after the Romans again, and again didthem some hurt, and at last drew so nigh, that once more the Romansstormed forth, and once more smote a stroke in the air; nor even so wouldthe Markmen cease to meddle with them, though never would Otter sufferhis men to be mingled with them. At the last the Romans, seeing thatOtter would not walk into the open trap, and growing weary of thisbickering, began to take the water little by little, while a strongCompany kept face to the Markmen; and now Otter saw that they would notbe hindered any longer, and he had lost many men, and even now fearedlest he should be caught in the trap, and so lose all. And on the otherhand it
was high noon by now, so that he had given respite to the stay-at-homes of the Wolfings, so that they might get them into the wood. So hedrew out of bowshot and bade his men breathe their horses and restthemselves and eat something; and they did so gladly, since they saw thatthey might not fall upon the Romans to live and die for it until Thiodolfwas come, or until they knew that he was not coming. But the Romanscrossed the ford in good earnest and were soon all gathered together onthe western bank making them ready for the march to Wolfstead. And itmust be told that the Roman Captain was the more deliberate about thisbecause after the overthrow of his light-armed there the morning before,he thought that the Roof was held by warriors of the kindreds, and not bya few old men, and women, and lads. Therefore he had no fear of theirescaping him. Moreover it was this imagination of his, to wit that astrong band of warriors was holding Wolf-stead, that made him deem therewere no more worth thinking about of the warriors of the Mark saveOtter's Company and the men in the Hall of the Wolfings.