258 THE LIFE OF RICHARD JEFFERIES 



Baron Constans, head of the House of Aquila, is a 

 thoughtful, secluded, impoverished man, cultivating his 

 garden like James Jefferies and the old men in ' World's 

 End ' and ' The Dewy Morn.' He has no power at Court, 

 and has to give way to younger, more pushful men. He 

 has been a great wielder of the battle-axe, and has 

 invented a wheel for drawing water and a machine for 

 casting stones. The common people love him. The 

 place is flowing with milk and honey, but there is no 

 money. 



His eldest son, Felix, has a few books and parchments 

 annotated by himself. By pondering over these he has 

 reconstructed much of the old knowledge. He prefers this 

 study to war, and is despised for it. His ' unbending 

 independence ' isolates him still more. Only in one thing 

 is he admitted to excel, in the use of the bow, and that is 

 an ignoble weapon. Yet it is he who notices the lack of 

 discipline and order which leaves the family stockade 

 imperfectly guarded. He lives the life of a student, but 

 also of a hunter, and, like Jefferies, he sells furs. He can- 

 not even hope to succeed to his father's estate, so heavily 

 is it encumbered. To his brother Oliver had fallen ' all 

 the blood and bone and thew and sinew of the house . . . 

 all the fiery, restless spirit and defiant temper ; all the 

 utter recklessness and warrior's instinct.' 



Felix is making a canoe ; ' the individuality and interest 

 of the work ' would be lost were he to have it made for 

 him. Oliver helps, and the contrast between Felix's 

 originality and awkwardness and Oliver's bluff readiness 

 is carried further. In the intervals of work he walks 

 about the shore, and notices an important strategic 

 position, points it out to the prince anonymously, and is 

 ignored. 



The brothers go together to Thyma Castle, where lives 

 Aurora, Felix's beloved. Oliver, handsome, ready, and 

 joyous, is at ease and happy with all the f casters ; Felix, 

 fancying himself despised, is morose, and even accuses 

 Aurora of flirtation. He is bent on a great voyage alone 



