Excerpts from
Silas and the Black Mare
By Cecil Bødker
He came sailing down the river in
an odd little broadnosed boat, not sitting up like other people and not
using the oars, just letting the current carry him where it wished. He lay in
the bottom with, apparently, all the time in the world, for the boat travelled
at the river's speed and from a distance looked as if it were empty.
Up in the loft of the long stable by the riverbank, Bartolin the horse
dealer was pitching hay through a hole in the floor. It was very dusty; now and
then he stuck his head out of the loft hatch to clear his lungs. Outside the
day was beautiful, with a slightly hazy sun. Close by the stable the river
swept past in a broad curve; he could follow it with his eyes for a good
distance in both directions.
Suddenly he stiffened and squinted into the glare. What was drifting
towards him? A boat? It looked as if no one was in it. Could it be
drifting without an owner?
Bartolin tugged at his bushy beard thoughtfully. Perhaps he ought to
take a closer look at it; he had been meaning to replace his old barge for a
long time.
He looked again, and the boat struck him as curiously foreign. So much
the better if it came from far away, for then at least he would not be accused
of having stolen it. He did wonder how it could have slipped past the town
untouched. That could only have been due to the very early hour, for later,
boys from town would have grabbed it. He was sure of that.
Slowly the boat glided closer. It still looked empty, and Bartolin was
convinced that it was meant for him. The boat was definitely without an owner,
for the very way it came, drifting sideways, veering around, proved that no one
was steering it.
Bartolin had a good long scratch
with a thick, rough finger under his collar. Things he could use didn’t often
come his way, and he was about to turn from the hatch to clamber down to the
feed alley when he suddenly stopped short and squinted once again. Did he see?
– Yes, he distinctly saw two feet sticking up over the gunwale.
Translated by Sheila La Farge
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