He found that old Ralph regarded the Dismal Swamp, as they called
the morass, as utterly uninhabitable and impassable; he had never
heard any sounds of life from within; he thought the place haunted;
it abounded in quagmires, and corpse lights and baleful fires were
seen on its waters at night.
The man was dismissed, and it was decided, that the borders of the
morass should be explored, although with little hope of finding any
trace of the foe; but should such be found, it was not to be
neglected, the more especially if the search were conducted
elsewhere in vain.
The northern part of the forest fell to Hugo's share, and was
subdivided by him between his chief retainers. Every nook was to be
investigated, and signals were arranged whereby all the hunters
could be assembled together in case of need.
The work was a very arduous one, for the portion assigned to the
retainers of Aescendune alone, occupied a circuit of some fifteen
miles, bounded on the east by a stream which ran into the Avon, on
the north by a well-defined range of wooded hills.
This was the most important section of all, for what faint
indications had been gained of the whereabouts of the foe, all
pointed in this direction.
The men-at-arms were divided into five distinct bands, lightly
armed, because of the distance they had to travel, and Etienne
claimed and obtained the command of one party.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113