About noon we halted for a rest. There was a little brook running over irregular stones down the hill-side where we washed ourselves and drank of the fresh water. I was sitting on a boulder with my back to a tree as limp and wearied as an old cloth. My stomach was rumbling and growling from hunger. I was wishing with all my heart that there would soon be an end to my difficulties. To amuse myself I picked up a stone and threw it aimlessly at a tree. It struck the bark with a resounding crack. I threw another. It missed and went on far beyond. But where it lighted on the ground, I noticed that it stirred up a cloud of dust like fine ashes and with it a few scattered sparks—the smouldering remnants of a fire.
I jumped from my rock. I went over to the place to examine it. Sure enough there was a dying fire on a bare spot among the trees and all about it were the marks where men had trodden the grass with their heavy boots. Besides I saw two pieces of the rind of cheese that had been cut off and thrown away.
“They must have traveled in the night,” I said to Charles. “They’ve passed us and gone on ahead.”
“There’ll be more of them behind us,” he answered. “We must——”
The words stuck in his throat. He looked far off over my shoulder at something in the distance. Like a flash he dropped to his hands and knees. I was about to turn when an arrow whizzed through the air and sped over his shoulder and fastened itself in the trunk of the nearest tree. I thought that caution was the best plan to follow so I ducked likewise. It was a lucky pass, for I had no sooner bent my head when another arrow whistled past me and shot out into the distance beyond me.
We exchanged no words. There was little need for them. With our heads as close to the ground as was possible, we made for it into a deeper section of the woods. In a few seconds a third arrow hummed towards us, but struck the smooth surface of a rock well to one side.
We were out of shot at last, but the terror we were in gave speed to our heels. After about a quarter of an hour we drew up, puffing and panting like tired horses.
“To the south,” said Charles between breaths. “We must hold to the south.”
I knew what he meant. We had betrayed ourselves by keeping in a straight line towards the west, for it was the direction where lay the Black Prince.
We went on again, but now more slowly than before. At almost each step, one or the other of us turned to see if we were followed. At the same time our eyes penetrated every bush and behind every tree in search of a lurking foe. After an hour we could go no further. The pace had been too hot for us, so we settled ourselves on a stone to rest and collect our frightened senses.