The Hot Swamp

by R. M. Ballantyne

athletes who competedmore or less in all games of the various districts around, and whosesuperlative powers prevented other ambitious men from becoming toonumerous. These were, we may say, the "professionals" of the time.

  No special costumes were worn. Each man, as he stepped to the front,divested himself of wolf-skin, deer-skin, boar-skin, or cat-skin mantle,and, perchance, also of his upper coat, and stood forth in attiresufficiently light and simple to leave his limbs unhampered.

  A long race--ten times round the course--was about to come off, and themen were being placed by the judges, when Bladud pushed through thecrowd and made his way to the starting-point. There was a murmur ofadmiration as his tall and graceful figure was seen to join the group ofcompetitors in front of the royal stand. He gave the Greek letterOmicron as his name, and no further questions were asked him. Divestinghimself of the rug or mantle, which he wore thrown over one shoulderafter the manner of a plaid, he stood forth in the thin loose tunicwhich formed his only garment, and tightened his belt as he toed theline.

  It was with a feeling of satisfaction that he observed several of theking's warriors among the runners, and one of these was Gunrig. Beingan agile as well as a stout man, he did not consider it beneath hisdignity to join in the sports.

  The king himself gave the signal to start. He descended from his standfor the purpose, and Bladud was greatly pleased to find that though helooked at him he evidently failed to recognise him.

  At the signal, about twenty powerful fellows--mostly young, though somewere in the prime of life--started out at full speed for a shortdistance, as if to test each other; then they began to slow, so as notto break their wind by over-exertion at the beginning. Bladud felt atonce that he was more than a match for the best of them, unless any oneshould turn out to have been concealing his powers. He therefore placedhimself alongside of Gunrig, and kept at his elbow about half a footbehind him the first two rounds of the course.

  At first Gunrig took no notice of this, but when he perceived that thetall stranger continued to keep the same position, he held back alittle, intending to reverse the position for a time. But Bladud alsoheld back and frustrated his intention. Exasperated by this, Gunrig puton what we in these times call a "spurt," and went ahead at a pacewhich, in a few seconds, left most of the runners a good way behind.This was received by the spectators with a cheer, in which surprise wasfully as prominent as satisfaction, for although they knew that thechief was celebrated for his speed of foot, few of them had actuallyseen him run before that day, and it at once became evident that if hisendurance was equal to his speed, it would go hard with his competitors.

  Bladud was left behind a few yards, but, without making a spurt, helengthened his stride a little, and in a moment or two had resumed hisformer position at his rival's elbow.

  A wild cheer of delight ensued, for now it was recognised that in allprobability the race would lie between these two. As, however, all thisoccurred in the third round of the course, and all the other runnersseemed to be doing their work with steady resolution, there was stillthe possibility of one or more of them proving themselves, by enduranceperhaps, more than a match for the swift-footed. The excitement,therefore, became intense, and, as round after round of the course wascompleted the relative position of the various men changed considerably.

  At the seventh round some, who had been husbanding their strength, letout, and, passing others with great ease, came close upon the heels ofGunrig and Bladud. This was, of course, a signal for enthusiasticcheering. Others of the runners, feeling that their chance of taking arespectable place was hopeless, dropped out of the race altogether andwere cheered vociferously as they retired.

  At last, in the eighth round, it became practically, as had beenanticipated, a race between the leading two, for they were far ahead ofall the others by that time, but occupied exactly the same relativeposition as before. Gunrig became so exasperated at this, that oncommencing the ninth round, he made a sudden effort which carried himfive or six yards ahead of his rival.

  The spectators could not avoid cheering him at this, but the cheer wasfeeble.

  "The tall man is losing wind," cried one in a disappointed tone.

  "I feared his legs were too long," observed another. Most of thepeople, however, looked on in anxious silence.

  "I did not think he would give in so easily," murmured little Maikarregretfully.

  "He has not given in yet," returned the captain, with a satisfied nod."See--he pulls up!"

  This was true. To the unbounded surprise of the spectators, Bladud hadactually stopped a moment to tighten his belt at the beginning of thetenth round. Then, to their still greater amazement, he put on what wemay call an Olympic spurt, so that he overtook his rival in less than aquarter of a minute; passed him easily, ran over the rest of the courseat a rate which had not been equalled since Old Albion was created, andpassed the winning-post full five hundred yards in advance of Gunrig,amid yells of delight and roars of laughter, which continued for sometime--bursting forth again and again as the novelty and surprise of thething became more and more forced home to the spectators' minds.

  "You have met more than your match to-day, Gunrig," remarked the king,with a laugh, as the defeated man strode angrily up to the platform.

  "I have met foul play," replied the chief angrily. "He pretended thathe could not run, else would I have put on more force. But it mattersnot. I will have another opportunity of trying him. Meanwhile, thereis yet the heavy stone to throw. How now, wench?" he added, turningfiercely on Branwen, who had nearly hidden her face in her shawl, "doyou try to hide that you are laughing at me?"

  Poor Branwen was in anything but a laughing mood. She was too muchafraid of the fiery chief for that, and had merely covered her face, asa modern beauty might drop her veil, to avoid his gaze.

  The fair-haired Hafrydda, however, was not so timid, her smile wasevidently one of amusement at his defeat, which angered him all themore.

  "Gunrig," said the king, drawing himself up, and speaking impressively,"remember that you are my guest, and that it ill becomes you to insultmy women before my face."

  "Pardon me," replied the chief, with an effort to recover himself. "Youmust remember that I am not accustomed to defeat."

  "True," returned the king blandly, "so now you had better take to theheavy stone and come off the victor."

  Gunrig at once went down into the arena and sent a challenge to Bladud.

  The latter had returned to his place among the spectators, but hisheight rendered him easy to find. He accepted the challenge at once,and, as no other competitor for the heavy stone offered, the two had itall to themselves. This was no matter of wonder, for the heaviest stoneamong those laid out for trial was of a weight that many of the youngmen or warriors could barely lift, while the stoutest of them could nothave thrown it more than a few feet.

  Boiling over as he was with indignation, Gunrig felt as if he was enduedwith more than usual strength. He lifted the stone with ease, faced theplatform, heeled the line, and hurled the stone violently over his head,so that it fell with a heavy thud far behind him. Then Bladud took itup.

  "Oh! what a stout man he is!" whispered Branwen to Hafrydda, "and what ahandsome face!"

  "That is true; and I hope he will win," replied the princess.

  "Hush! child, the king will be displeased if he hears you," said hermother earnestly. "What ever you think, keep silence."

  The queen spoke with such unwonted energy that Hafrydda was surprised,but her thoughts were instantly diverted to Bladud, who made amagnificent cast and sent the stone a yard further than his opponent.But Gunrig seized it again and hurled it a foot beyond that.

  "Well done," said the king. "Go on. It is the best in three heavesthat wins."

  Bladud grasped the stone and hurled it back over his head with all hisforce. Up and up it went as if it had resolved to become an aeroliteand visit the moon! Then down it came with a mighty thud ten yardsbeyond Gunrig's mark.

/>   Once more the air rang with the enthusiastic plaudits of the multitude,while the king ordered the victor to approach the stand.

  Bladud did so with some trepidation, for now he knew that he would haveto speak, and feared that though his appearance had not betrayed him,his voice would probably do so.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN.

  A NOTABLE DUEL FOLLOWED BY CHANGES AND PLOTS.

  Every eye was riveted with admiration and curiosity on the youngstranger as he approached.

  "You have acquitted yourself well, young man," said the king, "and itbecomes us to invite you to our palace and to ask if we can serve you inany way."

  Bladud had a deep voice, and, by way of increasing his chances ofconcealing his identity, he pitched it a note or two lower than usual ashe replied.

  "I thank you, sir, for your hospitality and gladly accept