placed the twenty ships of Callisthenes at that point, to guard against this major weakness in our defenses. That the new ships of the Voskjard were bearing down now upon us, and in such force, suggested that they had not been opposed, that either they had been permitted to cut the chain and advance unmolested, or, more likely, perhaps, that they had been permitted to circumvent the chain by the use of the beach route about the south guard station.
"Ready!" called the oar master.
Callisthenes must have withdrawn his ships from their position. Too, his information on the power of the Voskjard had proved haplessly inadequate. The error in his intelligence on such matters must have been of the nature. of a factor of almost three. His sources had been proved again, - and even more seriously, unreliable. The ships of Callisthenes had been essential to our defense of the river. They had failed to support us in our fight at the chain. Now; it seemed, they had failed, too, even to prevent the third fleet of the Voskjard from making an unimpeded entry into the waters east of the chain, from which position, of course, they could take the defensive fleet in the rear. Callisthenes must have abandoned his post. He must have withdrawn his ships. He must, perhaps feeling battle fruitless, have retired to Port Cos.
Battle horns, then, from off our bows and astern, shattered the air of the Vosk.
"It is the end," said a man behind me.
Notes of answering battle horns, from our stern castle, and from the stern castles of the Olivia and the Tais, almost lost in the din of enemy signals, gave response.
"Stroke!" called the oar master.
The Tina shuddered in the water, and then, once more, with her sisters, the Olivia and the Tads, her oars catching at the water, her ram half lifting, dripping, from the Vosk, defiant and gallant, leapt forward.
VII
I AGAIN SEE THE TAMIRA;
I GO FOR A SWIM
"There is the Tamira," said a man, pointing to starboard, at one Voskjard ship among others.
I discarded my sword, and seized up a knife from the deck. I placed it between my teeth. I dove into the water, from the bow railing of the Tina.
I was then among slashing oars and swimming men. An arrow pierced the water near me, then bobbed to the surface.
Behind me I heard hulls grinding together.
Voskjard ships crowded about the Olivia, the Tais and Tina. Oh bloody decks men held discourse with steel. The twang of bowstrings rang in the air.
I clung to a piece of wreckage. A man clung, too, to the other end of the section of planks. -I did not know if he were a pirate or not.
It was late afternoon.
It was like a lake of bloody wood in the center of the Vosk. The ships of the Voskjard so pressed about our three ships that they could not use their rams or shearing blades. More than one Voskjard ship had been set afire by flaming pitch cast from another. More than one, at the waterline, or on her decks, it falling among crowded men, had been smitten with stones cast from the catapults of their own ships.
Fusillades of javelins, struck from springals, hailed down on pirate ships as frequently as they did on ours. Even arrows, as often as not in the fray, in the mixings and shiftings of men, indiscriminately, to the consternation of pirates, found unintended targets.
There was a movement in the water behind me, and I twisted suddenly to the side, turning, and catching the arm, its knife in hand, striking toward me. "For the Voskjardl" hissed the man. We struggled, in the water. I dragged him tome. I got the knife from my teeth and, under the water, thrust it, edge up, into his abdomen, and then drew it, deeply in him, diagonally, upward and to the right. The smell came up through the water. I kicked him away from me and, half submerged, he floated backwards away from the wreckage.
I turned to the fellow who had been clinging to the wreckage with me. "I am from the Mira, from Victorial" he said.
"No, you are not," I told him.
"I am!" he
"Ready!" called the oar master.
Callisthenes must have withdrawn his ships from their position. Too, his information on the power of the Voskjard had proved haplessly inadequate. The error in his intelligence on such matters must have been of the nature. of a factor of almost three. His sources had been proved again, - and even more seriously, unreliable. The ships of Callisthenes had been essential to our defense of the river. They had failed to support us in our fight at the chain. Now; it seemed, they had failed, too, even to prevent the third fleet of the Voskjard from making an unimpeded entry into the waters east of the chain, from which position, of course, they could take the defensive fleet in the rear. Callisthenes must have abandoned his post. He must have withdrawn his ships. He must, perhaps feeling battle fruitless, have retired to Port Cos.
Battle horns, then, from off our bows and astern, shattered the air of the Vosk.
"It is the end," said a man behind me.
Notes of answering battle horns, from our stern castle, and from the stern castles of the Olivia and the Tais, almost lost in the din of enemy signals, gave response.
"Stroke!" called the oar master.
The Tina shuddered in the water, and then, once more, with her sisters, the Olivia and the Tads, her oars catching at the water, her ram half lifting, dripping, from the Vosk, defiant and gallant, leapt forward.
VII
I AGAIN SEE THE TAMIRA;
I GO FOR A SWIM
"There is the Tamira," said a man, pointing to starboard, at one Voskjard ship among others.
I discarded my sword, and seized up a knife from the deck. I placed it between my teeth. I dove into the water, from the bow railing of the Tina.
I was then among slashing oars and swimming men. An arrow pierced the water near me, then bobbed to the surface.
Behind me I heard hulls grinding together.
Voskjard ships crowded about the Olivia, the Tais and Tina. Oh bloody decks men held discourse with steel. The twang of bowstrings rang in the air.
I clung to a piece of wreckage. A man clung, too, to the other end of the section of planks. -I did not know if he were a pirate or not.
It was late afternoon.
It was like a lake of bloody wood in the center of the Vosk. The ships of the Voskjard so pressed about our three ships that they could not use their rams or shearing blades. More than one Voskjard ship had been set afire by flaming pitch cast from another. More than one, at the waterline, or on her decks, it falling among crowded men, had been smitten with stones cast from the catapults of their own ships.
Fusillades of javelins, struck from springals, hailed down on pirate ships as frequently as they did on ours. Even arrows, as often as not in the fray, in the mixings and shiftings of men, indiscriminately, to the consternation of pirates, found unintended targets.
There was a movement in the water behind me, and I twisted suddenly to the side, turning, and catching the arm, its knife in hand, striking toward me. "For the Voskjardl" hissed the man. We struggled, in the water. I dragged him tome. I got the knife from my teeth and, under the water, thrust it, edge up, into his abdomen, and then drew it, deeply in him, diagonally, upward and to the right. The smell came up through the water. I kicked him away from me and, half submerged, he floated backwards away from the wreckage.
I turned to the fellow who had been clinging to the wreckage with me. "I am from the Mira, from Victorial" he said.
"No, you are not," I told him.
"I am!" he
Similar Books
