登陆注册
5268700000055

第55章 CHAPTER XIII: THE SIEGE OF PARIS(2)

So saying the count ordered the gates to be opened, and the Dragon having been moored alongside, Edmund and Egbert with their crew entered the town, where the leaders were received with great honour by the count. He begged them to become guests at the castle, where quarters were also assigned to the crew. A banquet was at once prepared, at which many of the principal citizens were present.

As soon as the demands of hunger were satisfied the count made further inquiries as to the size of the fleet which had entered the Seine, and as to the army reported to be marching against Rouen.

"I doubt not," he said, when the Saxons had given him all the particulars in their power, "that it is the armament of Siegfroi who has already wrought such destruction. More than once he has appeared before our walls, and has pillaged and ravaged the whole of the north of France. The last time he was here he threatened to return with a force which would suffice to raze Paris to the ground, and doubtless he is coming to endeavour to carry out his threat; but he will not find the task an easy one, we shall resist him to the last; and right glad am I that I shall have the assistance of two of the Saxon thanes who have so often inflicted heavy defeats upon these wolves of the sea. Your vessel is a strange one, and differs from those that I have hitherto seen, either Dane or Saxon.

She is a sailing ship, and yet appears to row very fast."

"She is built," Edmund said, "partly upon the design of King Alfred himself, which were made from paintings he possessed of the war galleys of Italy, which country he visited in his youth. They were carried out by a clever shipwright of Exeter; and, indeed, the ship sails as well as she rows, and, as the Danes have discovered to their cost, is able to fight as well as she can sail and row. Had we been fairly out to sea before the Danish fleet made its appearance we could have given a good account of ourselves, but we were caught in a trap."

"I fear that if the Northmen surround the city your ship will be destroyed."

"I was thinking of that," Edmund said, "and I pray you to let me have some men who know the river higher up. There must assuredly be low shores often overflowed where there are wide swamps covered with wood and thickets, which the enemy would not enter, seeing that no booty could be obtained there. The ship was built in such a spot, and we could cut a narrow gap from the river and float her well in among the trees so as to be hidden from the sight of any passing up the river in galleys, closing up the cut again so that none might suspect its existence."

"That could be done easily enough," the count said;

"there are plenty of spots which would be suitable, for the banks are for the most part low and the ground around swampy and wooded. To-morrow I will tell off a strong body of men to accompany you in your ship, and aid your crew in their work."

Twenty miles up the Seine a suitable spot was found, and the crew of the Dragon, with the hundred men whom the Count Eudes had lent for the purpose, at once set about their work. They had but little trouble, for a spot was chosen where a sluggish stream, some fifteen feet wide, drained the water from a wide-spreading swamp into the river. The channel needed widening but a little to allow of the Dragon entering, and the water was quite deep enough to permit her being taken some three hundred yards back from the river.

The trees and underwood were thick, and Edmund was assured that even when winter, which was now approaching, stripped the last leaf from the trees, the Dragon could not be seen from the river. Her masts were lowered, and bundles of brushwood were hung along her side so as to prevent the gleam of black paint being discerned through the trees.

The entrance to the stream was filled up to a width of three or four feet, and the new work turfed with coarse grass similar to that which grew beside it. Bushes were planted close to the water's edge, and stakes were driven down in the narrow channel to within a few inches of the surface of the water.

Certain now that no Danish boats would be likely to turn aside from the river to enter this channel into the swamp, the party embarked in some boats which had been towed up by the Dragon and returned down the river to Paris.

The afternoon before starting all the valuable booty which had been captured from the Danes was landed and placed in security in the castle, and upon his return to Paris Edmund disposed of this at good prices to the traders of the city.

A fortnight after they had returned to Paris the news was brought in that a vast fleet of Northmen was ascending the river. The next morning it was close at hand, and the citizens mounting the walls beheld with consternation the approaching armament. So numerous were the ships that they completely covered the river. The fleet consisted of seven hundred sailing ships, and a vastly greater number of rowing galleys and boats. These vessels were crowded with men, and their fierce aspect, their glittering arms, and their lofty stature, spread terror in the hearts of the citizens.

"This is truly a tremendous host!" the Count Eudes said to Edmund, who stood beside him on the walls.

"It is indeed," Edmund replied. "Numerous as are the fleets which have poured down upon the shores of England, methinks that none approached this in strength. It is clear that the Northmen have united their forces for a great effort against this city; but having at home successfully defended fortifications, which were not to be named in comparison with those of Paris, against them, I see no reason to doubt that we shall be able to beat them off here."

The Danes landed on the opposite bank and formed a vast camp there, and the following morning three of their number in a small boat rowed across the river and said that their king Siegfroi desired to speak with Goslin, archbishop of Paris, who stood in the position of civil governor. They were told that the archbishop would receive the king in his palace.

同类推荐
  • Bluebeard

    Bluebeard

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Cleopatra

    Cleopatra

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 唐护法沙门法琳别传

    唐护法沙门法琳别传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛顶尊胜心破地狱转业障出三界秘密陀罗尼

    佛顶尊胜心破地狱转业障出三界秘密陀罗尼

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 韩擒虎话本

    韩擒虎话本

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 塔罗女神探之幽冥街秘史

    塔罗女神探之幽冥街秘史

    占卜就是这样,把玄机藏得牢牢的,把一切归功于牌理,其实,一切均源于内心。《塔罗女神探之幽冥街秘史》是“塔罗女神探”系列之一,幽冥街东头的圣玛丽教堂中,被神父收养的孩子相继遇害,与传说中耶稣十二门徒的结局雷同;幽冥街西头的赌坊后院,与赌坊相关的男人纷纷被做成“人刺”示众、女人则牺牲于一场血腥的表演……过去牌:正位的星星。从前是一派祥和,可惜流星易逝,安宁只是表象。现状牌:逆位的愚者与正位的战车。装傻的日子已经过不下去了,若再不找出真凶,恶魔的战车恐怕就要踏破这里的宁静!未来牌:逆位的死神。以他人的命运换取自己的重生,是和魔鬼在交易,终将受到神的惩罚。
  • 时光曾经震颤过

    时光曾经震颤过

    杨袭,女,1976年出生于黄河口,08年始在《大家》《作品》《黄河文学》《飞天》《山东文学》等文学杂志发表小说。
  • 海贼王之哥尔D安

    海贼王之哥尔D安

    “叮,叮,检测到宿主智力过高,已产生威胁,启动清除模式”一个机械的声音等在一个漆黑的空间中,“臭系统,别以为你很厉害,大不了同归于尽。”一个气质淡雅的女子吼道。……一声巨响过后,空间破碎。女子伤痕累累的掉落下来。“终于,解,脱,了。”话落便闭上了眼睛,“不,会,让,你,好,过,滋,滋~”系统断断续续的声音传来。只见女子掉落的下方出现了一个空间通道。通道中闪现着各种海兽与帆船还有一个身着宇航服的人一个奇幻的故事序幕也就此拉开…………
  • 戴望舒作品集(七)

    戴望舒作品集(七)

    要数说茹勒·许拜维艾尔(JuleS Supervielle)所受的影响的人,可以举出拉福尔格(Laforgue),格罗代尔(Claudlet),韩波(Rimband),魏特曼(Whitman),罗曼(RomainS),里尔格(Rike)等的名字来。例如他对于里尔格的默考,似乎帮助了他去使那隔离着生和死的墙板,变成尽可能地薄而且透明。然而许拜维艾尔却并不和他的师表中的任何一位相像。他是那么地不能以别人代替的,如果他不存在,如果他并不也对于新诗人起一种甚至比艾吕亚(Eluard),茹扶(Jouve)或法尔格(Fargue)更显著的有效的作用,那么人们便已经可以毫无困难地估量出欧战以后的诗歌的缺陷了。
  • 炊烟蜜曲

    炊烟蜜曲

    今生旧事!!!把历经的过往片断串起来,就会是一道长长的风景。当我可以静静地讲给你听的时候,就已经在心底里把这些过往当成了故事。*********************************************************************蛋宝宝的窝:1097999813
  • 这个地方我来过

    这个地方我来过

    两季升级!高能美艳首席特工×痞里痞气的首席两人的对戏将持续增加,世纪阴谋逐渐呈现。第二季中加入超强新成员——莫邵北。三人携手,逐一击破各种案件,当然各种阴谋也慢慢的展开。没有想到,正义特工叶枳竟然还有别样身份!
  • 太公阴谋

    太公阴谋

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 冲破最后幽禁

    冲破最后幽禁

    辽宁省政协的友人在春节前曾经向我诉说了关于张学良将军的近况。他于不久前前往美国夏威夷,在夏天的大海边上,他再次见到这位靠轮椅代步的老人。张学良从一九三六年十二月失去自由以来,在羁押和幽禁中生活了五十四个冷暖春秋,直到一九九〇年进位东北军少帅九十岁生日的时候,才有了公开祝寿的自由。他的这一自由是如何得来的呢?多年来在海内外一直是个猜不透的谜。也许有人会以为给张学良以真正自由是台湾当局的良心发现。
  • 魔临异世

    魔临异世

    宇宙深处……无极生太极,太极分阴阳。这是万物进化的本质。这是个黑和白的世界,这是个进化的世界!一颗拳头大小由黑白双色组成的晶体傲然的静立在浩瀚的星空中,没有耀眼夺目的光彩,亦没有勾人心弦的震撼。它是那么的平凡,而又那么的不平凡。一颗由一个世界的能量进化成的晶体能够平凡吗?这一天,它忽然又动了。这一次,它的使命又是什么?
  • 净土承恩集

    净土承恩集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。