"By daylight to-morrow. We shall sail on until the flood is spent, and then
anchor and go on again as soon as the ebb has done."
"How far will you be from York when you anchor?"
"We shall most likely get to Selby, some fourteen miles away by the road,
though farther by the turns of the river."
"Could you put us ashore there, for we are anxious to reach the city as
soon as possible?"
"Oh, yes. I will put you ashore in the boat either there or wherever else
we may bring up."
They were three miles short of Selby when the ebb began to come down and
the anchor was dropped. The armourer and Ulf were at once landed, and
shouldering their bundles they set out at a brisk pace and passed through
Selby at four o'clock. No questions were asked them. There was but small
difference of dress between the people of the various parts of England, and
it was no unusual sight to see traders and others passing along the road on
their way to the Northern capital.
"I am right glad to be on firm land again," Ulred said; "for although,
after the first night, matters have been better than I expected, there was
always a movement that seemed to make my head swim."
"I liked it, master," Ulf said, "and if it were not that I am going to be
an armourer I would gladly be a sailor."
"You might not have said so if you had seen bad weather; and moreover, it
is one thing to be a passenger with nought to do but to amuse yourself, and
another to be always hauling at ropes and washing down decks as a sailor.
Pages:
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348