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diff --git a/23388.txt b/23388.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aec6fc2 --- /dev/null +++ b/23388.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3400 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wrecked but not Ruined, by R.M. Ballantyne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wrecked but not Ruined + +Author: R.M. Ballantyne + +Release Date: November 6, 2007 [EBook #23388] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRECKED BUT NOT RUINED *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Wrecked but not Ruined, by R.M. Ballantyne. + +________________________________________________________________________ +Set in the outback of Canada this book unfolds in the area with which +Ballantyne was so familiar. If you like to read about this area you +will find lots in this book to amuse you. It makes a good audiobook, +too. + +________________________________________________________________________ +WRECKED BUT NOT RUINED, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +THE OUTPOST. + +On the northern shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence there stood, not +very long ago, a group of wooden houses, which were simple in +construction and lowly in aspect. The region around them was a vast +uncultivated, uninhabited solitude. The road that led to them was a +rude one. It wound round a rugged cliff, under the shelter of which the +houses nestled as if for protection from the cold winds and the +snowdrifts that took special delight in revelling there. + +This group of buildings was, at the time we write of, an outpost of the +fur-traders, those hardy pioneers of civilisation, to whom, chiefly, we +are indebted for opening up the way into the northern wilderness of +America. The outpost was named the Cliff after the bold precipice, near +the base of which it stood. A slender stockade surrounded it, a +flag-staff rose in the centre of it, and a rusty old ship's carronade +reared defiantly at its front gate. In virtue of these warlike +appendages the place was sometimes styled "the Fort." + +When first established, the Cliff Fort lay far beyond the outmost bounds +of civilised life, but the progress of emigration had sent forward wave +after wave into the northern wilderness, and the tide rose at last until +its distant murmur began to jar on the ears of the traders in their +lonely dwelling; warning them that competition was at hand, and that, if +they desired to carry on the trade in peace, they must push still +further into the bush, or be hopelessly swallowed up in the advancing +tide. + +When the unwelcome sounds of advancing civilisation first broke the +stillness of this desolate region, the chief of the trading-post was +seated at breakfast with his clerk. He was a tall, good-looking, young +Englishman, named Reginald Redding. The clerk, Bob Smart, was a sturdy +youth, who first saw the light among the mountains of Scotland. +Doubtless he had been named Robert when baptised, but his intimates +would not have understood you had you mentioned him by that name. + +Bob had just helped Reginald to the wing of a salt goose, and was about +to treat himself to a leg of the same when the cook entered. + +This cook was a man. It may also be said with truth that he was more +than most men. At the outpost men were few, and of women there were +none. It may be imagined, then, that the cook's occupations and duties +were numerous. Francois Le Rue, besides being cook to the +establishment, was waiter, chambermaid, firewood-chopper, butcher, +baker, drawer-of-water, trader, fur-packer, and interpreter. These +offices he held professionally. When "_off duty_," and luxuriating in +tobacco and relaxation, he occupied himself as an amateur shoemaker, +tailor, musician, and stick-whittler, to the no small advantage of +himself and his fellow-outcasts, of whom there were five or six, besides +the principals already mentioned. + +Le Rue's face bore an expression of dissatisfaction and perplexity as he +entered the hall. + +"Oh, Monsieur Redding," he exclaimed, "dem squatters, de black +scoundrils what is be called Macklodds has bin come at last." + +"Ho, ho! the McLeods have come, have they?" said Redding, laying down +his knife and fork, and looking earnestly at the man; "I had heard of +their intention." + +"Oui, yis, vraiment," said Le Rue, with vehemence, "dey has come to +Jenkins Creek more dan tree veeks pass. Von sauvage come an' tell me he +have see dem. Got put up von hut, an' have begin de saw-mill." + +"Well, well, Francois," returned Redding, with a somewhat doubtful +smile, as he resumed his knife and fork, "bring some more hot water, and +keep your mind easy. The McLeods can't do us much harm. Their saw-mill +will work for many a day before it makes much impression on the forests +hereabouts. There is room for us all." + +"Forests!" exclaimed the cook, with a frown and a shrug of his +shoulders, "non, dey not hurt moche timber, but dey vill trade vid de +Injins--de sauvages--an' give dem drink, an' git all de furs, an' fat +den vill come of dat?" + +Without waiting for a reply the indignant cook went in quest of hot +water, leaving the traders to discuss the salt goose and the news. + +"That's bad news," said Bob Smart. "What do you propose to do in the +circumstances?" + +"Something definite must be done," replied Redding, "but I don't yet see +my way as to what." + +Having finished the goose between them, and turned its skeleton over +with an inquisitive glance to make sure that nothing eatable had +escaped, the two friends finished their frugal meal with a cup of tea +and a fried cake of the simplest elements--flour and water--after which +they drew their chairs to the fireplace,--a large open chimney well +filled with blazing logs,--lighted their pipes, and entered on a +discussion of the McLeods and their present position. + +When their pipes were emptied, Redding arose, and, turning his back to +the fire, said:-- + +"Well, Bob Smart, this is the outcome of our cogitations. I am almost +certain that these McLeods have taken up their quarters within the +boundary of our Company's reserve lands, and if so, they must be routed +out of their nest at once. Delay in such matters is often fatal. The +law of use and wont, Bob, is soon established; but I have a strong +objection to act in uncertainty. I will therefore drive up to the hut +of Jonas Bellew, with whom I shall leave horse and sleigh, as the track +ends at Boulder Creek, and proceed on snow-shoes to the new settlement +in Partridge Bay, where the surveyor lives, who has the plans of our +reserve lands. I shall examine these plans, and if I find that our +property has been invaded, then--" + +"Death and confusion to the McLeods," interrupted Bob. "Well, perhaps +that is the best thing to do; but the spring is well advanced. The +thermometer stood high this morning. If a thaw should set in, you will +find the walking in snow-shoes bad." + +"`If' is a word to which you attach too much importance, Bob. We have +not at present to do with what may be, but with what is." + +"True, nevertheless a prudent man has regard to probabilities," replied +Bob, with an air of much wisdom, as he relighted his pipe. + +"Just so," returned Redding, "and as there is every probability that I +shall be absent a good many days, I leave you in charge of this +establishment, with strict injunctions to keep aloof from the McLeods, +and at the same time to keep an eye on them. Francois Le Rue will +accompany me. I shall start immediately, therefore be pleased to go and +tell Le Rue to get himself and the sleigh ready while I put on my +travelling gear." + +Obedient to the order, Smart left the room while his superior clothed +himself in a leathern coat and leggings, fur cap, moccasins, and +mittens. + +In half an hour Redding and his man stepped into a sleigh, which was +barely large enough to hold them. They packed themselves up to the +armpits in bearskin rugs, and then Redding gave his rough little nag a +touch of the whip, which caused him to start forward with a jerk that +set all the bells on his harness ringing merrily. Another minute and +they dashed out at the gate, swept round the base of the beetling cliff +that frowned above the outpost, and entered the sombre shadow of the +forest. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE RECLUSE OF BOULDER CREEK. + +The road along which the travellers proceeded was desolate and dreary in +the extreme. + +Already darkened by clouds and snow-drift, it was rendered still more +gloomy by overhanging and snow-laden branches of stunted pines. It was +just broad enough to permit the passage of a single vehicle, being a +mere woodman's track, which had been extended beyond the ordinary limits +of such tracks, for his personal convenience, by Jonas Bellew, a trapper +who dwelt at that part of the coast already mentioned as Boulder Creek. +The track followed the windings of a streamlet which was at that time +covered with snow, and only distinguishable by the absence of bushes +along its course. It turned now to the right, now to the left, as +rocks, or mounds, or cliffs presented obstacles. In some places it +dived precipitately into a hollow that necessitated careful driving; in +others it ran straight up to the brow of a hill at an angle that obliged +the travellers not only to get out and walk, but also to aid their +panting pony by putting their shoulders to the back of the sleigh. Here +and there a level patch occurred over which they trotted briskly, and +then down they went again by a steep incline into the bed of an +ice-buried stream, to find a similarly steep ascent on the other side. +Occasionally, coming to a wall-like cliff surrounded by a tangled and +trackless forest, they were forced to seek the shores of the sea, and +there, among rocks and ice-drift, pick their way slowly along. + +Fortunately this road, just opposite to Jenkins Creek, where the McLeods +had commenced their squatting operations, ran along the shore at some +distance from the entrance to the creek, so that Redding could pass +without encountering the newcomers, whom he was anxious to avoid until +the question of the invasion of the Fur Company's rights was settled. + +Despite their utmost efforts, night began to close upon the travellers +before they reached Bellew's shanty in Boulder Creek. + +"Take care, Monsieur, there is von portion dangereux here," said +Francois Le Rue. + +"Where?" asked Redding, as he checked the pony a little and looked +earnestly ahead. + +"Ah! dere!" exclaimed Le Rue. + +His remark was needless, for at that moment the sleigh turned over a +ledge of rock and pitched its occupants into a snow-drift. + +"Killded?" gasped the Canadian, as he emerged from the snow with eyes, +ears, and nostrils stuffed full; "no--not quite!" + +Satisfying himself that no bones were broken, he turned abruptly to look +for his companion, whose motionless legs sticking out of the drift were +the only visible portions of his body. + +Anxiously and swiftly did Francois drag his master out, and great was +his relief when poor Redding looked at him with a bewildered gaze and +demanded to know what had happened! + +"Oh! I see, capsized," he said, rising and pressing his hand to his +brow, "I believe I must have hit my head against a stump, for I've been +slightly stunned. However, `all's well that ends well.' Not hurt, +Francois?" + +"No, Monsieur,--not fatever." + +"That's right, lend a hand to lift the sleigh--hoop! there--jump in." + +Le Rue obeyed. The bear-rug was replaced around them, and the pony, +which had stood as quiet as a lamb during the accident, started forward +again. + +"Voila! von light," exclaimed the Canadian. + +At that moment they had rounded the corner of a high cliff, and come +into view of Boulder Creek. There was just light enough to make the +chaotic grandeur of the place visible in a ghostly degree. Great +boulders and masses of rock, which had fallen from the neighbouring +mountains and cliffs, lay piled about in the creek or gully in wildest +confusion. Some of these masses were as large as a small hut, but they +were of all sizes as well as shapes. It was a weird scene, and +forbidding; nevertheless some human being had seen fit to take up his +abode there, as was made apparent by the light referred to by Le Rue. + +Picking their way carefully among the boulders, the travellers at last +reached a log-hut which was so small, weather-worn, and grey, that, from +a short distance, it might have easily been mistaken, even in daylight, +for one of the rocks by which it was surrounded. + +The door stood wide open, and through it streamed the light of a roaring +fire of wood. So powerful was the contrast between the ruddy light and +the cold grey scene without, that to the approaching travellers it +appeared as if the whole interior of the hut glowed with fervent heat. + +In the small doorway stood the figure of a man who was so large as +almost to fill up the entrance, and so black, by contrast with the +glowing background, that neither feature nor form was distinguishable +save his sharp outline. The outline, however, was a remarkably telling +one. It told of a broad chest and square shoulders, of massive limbs, +and an easy air, and a sturdy attitude, and suggested difficulty in the +way of entering that hut without leave asked and obtained. + +"Hallo!" exclaimed the outline, in a voice so deep that it must have +been unfathomable. + +"How d'ee do, Bellew?" cried Reginald Redding, as he drove into the +stream of light, pulled up, and sprang from the sleigh. + +"Hearty, sir, hearty, thank 'ee," replied the outline, advancing and +becoming a little more visible on the surface as he did so. "Hallo! Le +Rue, how are 'ee? Glad to see you both. Step in. A good fire on a +coldish night is cheery--ain't it, Mister Redding?" + +"Indeed it is, Bellew, especially when the night happens to be also +darkish." + +"Ha! oui," interposed Le Rue, bustling into the hut with the bear-rug, +"it vas so darkish dat ve capsize under de cliff an' a'most knock de +whole affair to smattoms--sleigh, cheval, an' peepil." + +"I'm glad to see that the `peepil' is all right, however," said Bellew, +glancing at his visitors with what may be called a grave smile; "it +might have bin worse, for that's an ugly corner under the cliff, an' +needs careful drivin' even in daylight." + +"I've not come off quite scatheless, however," said Redding, rubbing the +top of his head tenderly, "for here is a bump that would perplex the +whole college of phrenologists." + +"Skin broke, sir?" asked Bellew, advancing and examining the part. "No, +all right. A good supper will be the best cure for it. If I was a +phrenologist now, I'd name it the bump of top-heaviness. Sit down, sir; +sit down, Le Rue, an' look after my kettle while I see to your nag." + +So saying, their host went out and left his unexpected, but evidently +welcome, guests to make themselves comfortable. + +Although Jonas Bellew was a recluse, he was by no means an ascetic. He +was marked by deep gravity of countenance coupled with a kindly humorous +disposition. No one knew where he came from, or why he had taken up his +abode in such a lonely spot. Many of the rough fellows who hang on the +outskirts of the wilderness had tried as they said, to "pump" him on +these points, but Jonas was either a dry well or a deep one, for pumping +brought forth nothing. He gained a livelihood by shooting, fishing, +trapping wild animals for their skins, and, sometimes, by doing what he +called "odd jobs" in the settlements. + +"Your home appears to me to grow wilder every time I see it," said +Redding, as Bellew re-entered the hut, and busied himself in spreading +on a rough deal table the materials of a plain but substantial meal. + +"That seems to be the idea of most men who come here," replied the +trapper, "but it's not many that favour me with a visit." + +"Ha! vraiment, dat must be true," interposed the Canadian, "for no body +vill com' here 'xcept them as do want hims legs broke." + +"Well, I have seen a few damaged shins and broken heads since I came to +this location," said Jonas, "but such accidents occur chiefly among the +Canadian French, who seem on the whole to be a clumsy set." + +"Not von half so clumsy as de Engleesh, or Irish, or Scosh," retorted Le +Rue. + +"Perhaps you're right, an' mayhap you're wrong, lad, anyway here is +supper. The Frenchmen are always good at their victuals, so sit in an' +go to work. Take the keg, Mister Redding. I've not found time yet to +make chairs, but it's wonderful how well a man gets along without such +luxuries." + +"Especially when a man sits down to a venison-steak like this," said the +fur-trader, taking the offered seat, while his man sat down on a block +of wood set on end, and prepared to prove the truth of the trapper's +assertion in regard to French capacity for food. + +"'Taint venison," said Bellew, assisting his companions to the meat in +question, "it's bear." + +"Indeed? and not bad food for a hungry man," returned Redding, as he +began supper. "Where got you him?" + +"Down near Jenkins Creek, where the McLeods are setting up their +saw-mill." + +"The McLeods!" exclaimed Redding, looking up suddenly, "have you seen +the McLeods?" + +"Ay, I've bin helpin' them a bit wi' the mill. Goin' down again +to-morrow. If this weather holds, the ice must give way soon, and then +we'll be able to push ahead faster." + +The trapper said this quietly, and without looking up from the +bear-steak with which he was busy, so that Redding's look of surprise +appeared to be lost on him. The fur-trader and his man exchanged +glances. + +For a few minutes the process of mastication completely engrossed the +trio, but the thoughts of the fur-trader were busy, for he was +disappointed to find that one whom he respected so much as Jonas Bellew +should thus coolly state that he was aiding the interlopers. + +Presently he laid down his knife and fork, and said:-- + +"Are you aware, Bellew, that these McLeods have settled themselves on +the Company's reserve lands?" + +"No, sir, I wasn't aware of it." + +"Well, then, I now tell you that they have," said Redding, who, +unfortunately for himself and others, possessed an easily-roused spirit +and was apt to become irascible when the rights--real or supposed--of +the Company which he represented appeared in danger of violation. "At +least," he continued, in a less positive tone, "I have reason to believe +that such is the case, and I am now on my way to--" + +He paused abruptly, feeling the impropriety of revealing his plans to +one who, although a quiet and sensible man, and not given to talk too +much, was, nevertheless, by his own admission, an aider and abettor of +the enemy. + +"Whereabouts is the boundary line?" asked Bellew, after a short silence. + +"At Jenkins Creek--_that_ creek is the boundary," answered the +fur-trader. "On which side of the creek have they begun to build the +mill?" + +"They haven't begun yet, sir, but I believe they intend to commence on +the south side." + +"So far well," replied Redding, "but if I find that they have raised a +stone or planted a stake on the _north_ side of the creek, I'll--" + +Here feeling that he was about to give way to a boastful spirit, he got +himself out of the difficulty of having to finish the sentence by making +a sudden and somewhat stern demand for "more bear-steak." + +"Vid pleasieur, Monsieur," said Le Rue, placing a huge slice on his +master's plate. + +"Well, sir, I hope you'll find that they haven't overstepped the +boundary," said Bellew, "because the McLeods look as if they'd be +troublesome customers to deal with." + +The fur-trader made no reply. He felt indignant at the bare idea of his +being checked in doing his duty by any man, or men, who were +"troublesome," by which expression he understood Bellew to mean that +they were resolute and physically powerful in opposition; he therefore +thought it best to avoid any further tendency to boast by holding his +tongue. + +Not so his volatile retainer, who stuck his fork into a lump of meat +vindictively, as if it had been the body of a McLeod, and exclaimed:-- + +"Hah! vat you say? troblesom, eh? who care for dat? If de Macklodds do +touche, by von small hinch, de lands of de Companie--ve vill--hah!" + +Another stab of the fork was all that the savage Le Rue vouchsafed as an +explanation of his intentions. + +In this frame of mind Reginald Redding and his man started off next +morning on foot at an early hour, slept that night at a place called +Sam's hut, and, the following evening, drew near to the end of their +journey. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +A BRIEF BUT AGREEABLE MEETING. + +The little outskirt settlement of Partridge Bay was one of those infant +colonies which was destined to become in future years a flourishing and +thickly-peopled district of Canada. At the period of our story it was a +mere cluster of dwellings that were little better than shanties in point +of architecture and appearance. They were, however, somewhat larger +than these, and the cleared fields around them, with here and there a +little garden railed in, gave them a more homelike aspect than the +dwellings of the wood-men. + +The valley in which the settlement stood was one of those magnificent +stretches of primeval forest which used to be the hunting-grounds of the +red man, and from which he had not at that time been thrust by the +"paleface," for, here and there, his wigwam might still be seen sending +its wreath of blue smoke above the tree-tops. + +It was evening--a calm, sunny, glorious, spring evening--when Redding +and his man overtopped the heights that enclosed the vale, and paused as +well to gaze upon the scene as to recover breath. Far below them lay +the hamlet, a cluster of black dots on a field of pure snow. Roseate +lights on undulations, and cold blue shadows in hollows, were tamed down +in effect by the windows of the hamlet which shot forth beams of blazing +fire at the setting sun. Illimitable space seemed to stretch away to +the place where the horizon would have been if it had not lost itself in +a golden glory, and this vast reach was a varied irregular network of +dark pines and fields of snow--the pines tipped everywhere with +sparkling snow-wreaths, the fields streaked everywhere with long +shadows. Little winding lines of a grey colour which radiated from the +hamlet indicated the tracks where the settlers drove their sleighs and +wood-sledges. Many of these were seen moving along the far-off tracks +like insects, while the tinkle of the sleigh-bells floated upwards like +fairy music. + +"Yes, I shall take up my abode there," murmured Redding, as he gazed in +rapt admiration on the beautiful scene. + +"Monsieur?" said his companion. + +"I say that I should like to dwell there," answered Redding. "It is a +splendid country, and will be better known in days to come." + +"Vraiment, truly, a magnifircent kontry," returned Le Rue, "gorgeows, +magnifique! I vould giv moche, ver moche, to have leetil cottage, an +vife, an cow, an pigs dere." + +As Redding had been thinking of something similar, he laughed, and +commenced the descent of the zigzag track that led to the hamlet. + +They had proceeded only a few yards when, turning round a cluster of +pines, they suddenly discovered some travellers in difficulty--a man +whose horse had shied or stumbled off the narrow track and was embedded +up to the girths in the soft snow, and two females, whose furry +garments, all besprinkled with snow, showed that they had just emerged +from the sledge, which lay on its side behind the horse. The driver's +chief anxiety seemed to be to quiet and restrain his horse, which being +high-spirited, was plunging in vain and frantic efforts to extricate +himself, to the great danger of shafts and harness. + +To run up and aid the man was of course the instant impulse of our +travellers. + +"Ah! good luck to 'ee," exclaimed the driver, in tones that were +unmistakably Irish, "here, howld 'is head till I get the sled clear." + +"All right," cried the Englishman, seizing the reins near the mouth of +the terrified animal and holding its head forcibly down, while Le Rue +assisted the owner to unharness. + +In a few minutes the vehicle was righted, and the horse released. + +While the driver was busy readjusting the harness, he accompanied the +operation with a running fire of grateful expressions, such as--"there +now, ain't ye in luck, Rooney? Arrah! gentleman, it's my blissin' I +bestow on yez. Och! but I'd have bin lost intirely widout ye. Well +well, it's always the way. I'm no sooner in a scrape than I'm sure to +get out of it. It's meself is a favoured man. Now thin, ladies, git +in, for we're late enough on the road." + +On the two "ladies" thus addressed Redding and his man had been gazing +in silent surprise, for they were so good-looking and so blooming, that +it seemed to the two men, who had been accustomed of late to the sight +of none but the brown dames of the red skins, as if a couple of beings +from another and a purer world had dropped suddenly upon their path. +One of the two was evidently a lady, and was possessed of no common +share of beauty. Her dark hair contrasted powerfully with the fairness +of her skin and the whiteness of her teeth. Her dazzling black eyes +almost, and her red lips altogether, laughed as she observed Redding's +gaze of astonishment. Her companion, a very pretty Canadian girl, was +evidently her maid. + +"We owe you many thanks, kind sirs," said the lady, "for your opportune +assistance." + +"Pardon me, madam," said Redding, hastening forward in some confusion as +he recovered from his rather rude stare of surprise, "I dwell in the +wilderness and have been so unaccustomed of late to the sight of ladies +that--that--allow me to assist you into the sleigh!" + +"Mademoiselle, permettez moi," said Le Rue, advancing to the +waiting-maid and politely offering his hand. + +Another moment and the "ladies" were seated in the vehicle and carefully +repacked by our travellers, while their Irish driver mounted to his seat +in front and gathered up the reins. + +"Thanks, gentlemen, many thanks," repeated the ladies, with bewitching +smiles. + +"Good luck to 'ee both," cried the driver, as he flourished his whip and +drove away. + +Redding and his man stood silently gazing for several minutes at the +turn in the road where the vision had vanished. + +"Heaven for two minits, an' now--gone for evair!" said Le Rue, with a +deep sigh. + +Redding echoed the sigh, and then laughed at the lugubrious expression +of his man's face. + +"Oh _such_ eyes!" exclaimed Le Rue. + +"Yes, she's rather good-looking," replied Redding, thinking of the lady. + +"Good-looking! non--bootifool--exiquitely bootifool," cried Le Rue, +thinking of the maid. + +Again Redding laughed. "Well well, Francois," said he, "whether +good-looking or beautiful matters little, for it's not likely that we +shall ever see them again, so the less you think about them the +better.--Allons! we are late enough and must not loiter." + +They pushed ahead at once at a rapid pace, but although neither spoke, +each thought with somewhat similar feelings of the little incident just +described. + +Lest the reader should be surprised at so small a matter affecting them +so deeply, we must remark that these fur-traders had lived for some +years in a region where they saw no females except the brown and rather +dirty squaws of the Indians who visited the Cliff Fort with furs. Their +fort was indeed only three days' journey from the little settlement of +Partridge Bay, but as the space which lay between was a particularly +rugged part of the wilderness, with only a portion of road--unworthy of +the name--here and there, and the greater part of the way only passable +on foot or by means of dog-sledges, none but an occasional red man or a +trapper went to and fro; and as the nature of the fur-trader's business +called for very little intercourse with the settlements--their furs +being sent by water to Quebec in summer--it followed that the +inhabitants of the Cliff Fort rarely visited Partridge Bay. The sudden +vision, therefore, of two pretty females of a higher type had not only +the effect on Redding and his man of novelty, but also stirred up old +memories and associations. + +Such good use did they now make of their time that the settlement of +Partridge Bay was reached before dark, and our hero went off immediately +in quest of the surveyor. + +Mr Gambart was a cheerful, healthy, plump little man, with a plump +little wife, and three plump little daughters. Plumpness was not only a +characteristic of the Gambarts, but also of their surroundings, for the +cottage in which they dwelt had a certain air of plumpness about it, and +the spot on which it stood was a round little knob of a hill. + +Here Reginald Redding was hospitably received--we might almost say +joyfully, because visitors to the settlement were so rare that whoever +made his appearance was sure to be received as a "welcome guest" if he +only carried the credentials of honesty and ordinary good nature on his +countenance. + +Redding's impatience, however, to get at the truth of the matter that +had brought him there, induced him very soon to forsake the society of +the three plump little daughters and retire to the plump little father's +work-room. + +"It is my opinion," said Mr Gambart, as he carefully unfolded the plan, +"that you may find the McLeods have trespassed somewhat on your +reserves, for, if my memory serves me rightly, there is a small islet-- +as you see here--just in the centre of the creek, _half_ of which +belongs to you." + +"I see it," said the fur-trader, earnestly gazing on the dot which +represented the said island. + +"Well," continued the surveyor, "that islet is a mere rock just above +the waterfall, and I am of opinion that it would be almost impossible +for any one to erect a mill there without encroaching to some extent on +your half of it." + +"Good," replied the fur-trader, "can you let me have a copy of the plan +to-morrow?" + +"To-night if you please. I have one by me." + +"Then I'll be off by daybreak the day after to-morrow," said Redding, +with much decision. + +"Why such haste?" asked the surveyor, "the McLeods are not likely to run +away from you. I know them well, for they dwelt long in this +settlement, and were ever regarded as men of firm purpose--quite +immovable indeed when once they had made up their minds on any point, so +you'll be sure to find them at Jenkins Creek carrying out their plans, +even though you should delay your return for a month. Come, make up +your mind to stay with us at least a few days. It will do you as well +as me good, and will send you back to banishment in a better frame of +mind." + +Redding, although strongly tempted by the comforts of civilised life and +the hospitality of his host--not to mention the attractions of the plump +little daughters--sternly resolved not to swerve an inch, from the path +of what he believed to be his duty. He entertained a strong suspicion +that these McLeods had penetrated into the wilderness to the +neighbourhood of the Cliff Fort, not so much for the purpose of cutting +timber, as for secret opposition in the fur-trade, of which the company +he represented had for many years enjoyed almost a monopoly. His pride +was touched, his spirit was fired. Perhaps the peaceful and secluded +life he had led rendered this little opportunity of warfare more a +pleasure than a pain to him. At all events the thing was not to be +tolerated. The saw-mill, which the McLeods had an undoubted right to +erect on the unoccupied lands, was being planted on the very border of +the Company's reserve lands, which they had purchased, and which were +clearly laid down in plans. He would see to it that these interlopers +did not trespass by an inch--no, not by an eighth of an inch--if _he_ +had power to prevent it! The fact that the McLeods were said to be +resolute men made him more determined to assert his rights. He +therefore declined Mr Gambart's invitation firmly. + +"I will stay," said he, "only one day, to look out for a house, and then +return." + +"Look out for a house!" exclaimed the surveyor, in surprise, "what mean +you? Do you think of settling down here?" + +"Indeed I do," replied Redding, with a smile. "I have long been +brooding over that subject. The fact is, Mr Gambart, that I am tired +of solitude. I am a sociable being, and find it hard to endure the +society of only five or six men in a place where there are no women, no +children, and no end of bears! I intend to leave the Fur Company's +service,--indeed my resignation is already sent in,--purchase a small +farm here, and get--" + +"Get a wife, a horse, a dog, and a gun, and settle down to enjoy +yourself, eh?" interrupted the surveyor. + +"Well, I had not gone quite so much into details," answered Redding, +with a laugh, "but you are right in so far as settling down goes. My +only fear is that it won't be easy to find a place that will at once +suit my fancy and my purse. The small sum of money left me by my father +at his death two years ago will not purchase a very extensive place, +but--" + +"I know the very thing to suit you," interrupted the surveyor with +emphasis, "a splendid little cottage--quite a mansion in miniature--with +garden, fences, fields, outhouses, etcetera, all complete and going +literally for an old song. Come, we'll `go visit it by the pale +moonlight' just now, return to have tea with the ladies, and to-morrow +we'll go see it by daylight. It is close at hand, the name is Loch Dhu, +and it has only one objection." + +"What may that be?" asked Redding, much amused at the abrupt little +man's energy. + +"Won't tell you till you've seen it; come." + +Without more ado they sallied forth and walked along the snowy track +that led to the cottage in question. A few minutes sufficed to bring +them to it, and the first glance showed the fur-trader that his friend +had not exaggerated the beauty of the place. The cottage, although +small, was so elegant in form and so tastefully planned in every respect +that it well deserved the title of a mansion in miniature. It stood on +a rising ground which was crowned with trees; and the garden in front, +the summer-house, the porch, the trellis-work fence, the creepers, the +flower-beds--everything in fact, told that it had been laid out and +planned by a refined mind. + +Of course Redding had to call in the aid of his imagination a little, +for at the moment when he first beheld it, the whole scene was robed in +a mantle of snow. Close to the house, and in sight of the front +windows, was a small lake or pond, by the side of which rose an abrupt +precipice of about fifty feet in height. Beyond this, a little to the +right, lay the undulating fields of the settlement, dotted with clumps +of trees and clusters of cottages. + +"Most beautiful!" exclaimed the fur-trader, "but why named Loch Dhu, +which, if I mistake not, is the Gaelic for Black Lake?" + +"Because that little pond," answered the surveyor, "when freed from its +wintry coat, looks dark and deep even at mid-day, under the shadow of +that beetling cliff." + +"Truly, I like it well," said Redding, as he turned again to look at the +cottage, "are you its architect?" + +"I am," answered Mr Gambart, "but a greater mind than mine guided my +pencil in the process of its creation." + +"Indeed! and what is the objection to it that you spoke of?" + +"That," replied the surveyor, with a mysterious look, "I must, on second +thoughts, decline to tell you." + +"How, then, can you expect me to buy the place?" demanded Redding, in +surprise. + +"Why, because I, a disinterested friend, strongly recommend you to do +so. You believe in me. Well, I tell you that there is no objection to +the place but one, and that one won't prove to be an objection in the +long run, though it is one just now. The price is, as you know, +ridiculously small, first, because the family who owned it have been +compelled by reverses of fortune to part with it, and are in urgent need +of ready cash; and, secondly, because few people have yet found out the +beauties of this paradise, which will one day become a very important +district of Canada." + +"Humph, well, I believe in your friendship, and to some extent in your +wisdom, though I doubt your capacity to prophesy," said Redding. +"However, if you won't tell me the objection, I must rest content. +To-morrow we will look at it in daylight, and if I then see no +objections to it myself, I'll buy it." + +The morrow came. In the blaze of the orb of day Loch Dhu looked more +beautiful than it did by moonlight. After a thorough examination of +house and grounds, the fur-trader resolved to purchase it, and +commissioned his plump little friend to carry out the transaction. +Thereafter he and his man retraced their steps to the wilderness, still +breathing unutterable things against the entire clan of McLeod. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +PIONEERING. + +We turn now to "the enemy"--the McLeods. The father and his two sons +sat in a rude shanty, on a bench and an empty keg, drinking tea out of +tin cans. They were all stalwart, dark-haired, grave-visaged +mountaineers of Scotland. Unitedly they would have measured at least +eighteen feet of humanity. The only difference between the father and +the sons was that a few silver hairs mingled with the black on the head +of the former, and a rougher skin covered his countenance. In other +respects he seemed but an elder brother. + +"Ian," he said to his first-born, as he refilled his tin can with tea, +"how many more timbers have you to prepare for the dam?" + +"Six," replied the son laconically. + +"It seems to me," observed Kenneth, the second son, "that if the frost +holds much longer we shall be thrown idle, for everything is ready now +to begin the works." + +"Idle we need not be," returned the father, "as long as there is timber +to fell in the forest. We must prepare logs to be sawn as well as the +mill to saw them." + +"I can't help thinking, father," said Ian, "that we did not act wisely +in spending all the remainder of our cash in an order for goods from +England. We should have waited to see how the mill paid before setting +up a store. Besides, I have my doubts as to the wood-cutters or other +people passing this out-o'-the-way spot in sufficient numbers to make a +store pay for many a day to come, and even if they do, people coming up +the coast will have the Fur Company's store at the Cliff Fort to go to +for supplies." + +"It's too late to think of these things now," retorted the elder McLeod; +"we have made the venture, and must go through with it. Our case shows +the folly of taking the advice of a friend, of whose wisdom one is not +well assured. No doubt Gambart meant to do us a service, and fancied +that he knew this coast well, but it is quite plain that he was +mistaken, for I have no doubt now, from the situation of the place, that +there will be little or no traffic here for a long time to come." + +"So, then, we might as well have thrown the remnant of our wrecked +fortunes into the sea," said Kenneth gravely. + +"Not quite," returned the father, with a smile. "If we can only manage +to hold on for a year or two, we shall be sure to succeed, for there can +be no question that the tide of immigration is beginning to set in this +direction, but it does not flow fast, and our great difficulty in the +meantime will be the want of ready cash." + +"Act in haste and repent at leisure," said Ian. + +"One can scarcely be said to act in haste," retorted his father, "who is +almost forced into a course of action. My chief mistake was in putting +too much trust in Gambart." + +"Well," said Kenneth, rising and stretching his huge frame as he placed +a hatchet on his shoulder, "there's nothing like a good breakfast for +giving a man heart to face difficulties. I'll away to work. What a +pity that we may not raise some of our timbers on the other side of the +creek, for it is admirably adapted to our purpose. Don't you think we +might, father?" + +"No," replied the elder McLeod, "the other side belongs to the +fur-traders, whose rights must be respected." + +Ian and his father soon followed Kenneth to the scene of their labours. + +The spot was a wild one, but in many respects it was well-suited to the +purpose, for which these adventurers had chosen it. The coast line at +Jenkins Creek was precipitous. Cliffs, crowned with pines, rose in some +places perpendicularly from the shingly beach of the gulf, and elsewhere +the ground was very rugged. The creek itself was a mere streamlet which +ran a short course from the mountains of the interior, brawling down a +wild gully of inconsiderable extent. Near its mouth was a cascade, +divided by a small rock or islet. It was between this rock and the +south shore that the McLeods purposed to erect their dam when the ice +should have cleared away, and here, in the meantime, the three men +busied themselves in cutting and shaping the necessary timbers, and +forming the rougher parts of the machinery of the mill. + +They toiled steadily till noon, and then returned to their log-hut for +dinner, which consisted of cold pork, hot tea, biscuit, and salt butter. +They were still in the midst of this meal when the door opened and a +man entered, carrying under his arm a pair of long snow-shoes, which he +had just taken off. + +"Glad to see you, Bellew, we had expected you earlier," said the elder +McLeod, rising and shaking hands with the trapper. + +"I would have been earlier," replied Bellew, handing a letter to McLeod, +"but for a redskin whom I met on the way, who delayed me somewhat. He +tells me something about a wreck having been seen by some of his tribe, +a good bit down the gulf, but what between the difficulty of makin' out +his lingo, and his stupidity, or unwillingness to communicate all he +knew, I have found out very little about it. This only I feel pretty +sure of, that a wreck must have occurred, and that, from something he +said, there may perhaps be some poor fellows lying on the shore there." + +"If so, they will surely perish in such weather," said McLeod, "and the +least we can do is to go and try to rescue them." + +"No need for you to go," said the trapper, "I will go alone with a small +supply of provisions, and see whether it be true. If I find any of 'em +alive I can make them comfortable enough for a short time, and then +return here for such help as may be required." + +"You'll start at once, then?" asked McLeod. + +"Yes, at once." + +"Here, have something to eat first," said Kenneth, pointing to the +viands. + +Jonas Bellew accepted the invitation. At once he sat down, and ate in +silence heartily, while the elder McLeod read the letter. + +"Have you bad news?" asked Ian, as he watched his father's face. + +"Not exactly bad, but it's disappointing. This is from Gambart.-- +Listen. + + "My dear McLeod,--I have just heard that the flour-mill in this place + which you were so anxious to purchase has come unexpectedly into the + market, owing to the sudden death of its owner. It is to be had cheap + too--at a very much lower figure than you offered before leaving + Partridge Bay. I strongly advise you to secure it without delay. + This letter goes by Sam Smalls to Bellew the trapper, who will + doubtless deliver it to you. You'd better send him straight back with + your reply." + +"Humph! good advice this time," said Ian when his father ceased to read, +"if we could only take it. 'Tis hard to have every penny we possess +locked up, with such a chance before us. Couldn't we borrow, in the +meantime, from Gambart himself?" + +"I will never purchase property with borrowed capital," replied the +elder McLeod. + +"Well, it can't be helped," said Ian, consoling himself with another +slice of cold pork. + +"Now I'm ready to start," said Bellew, rising and wiping his mouth with +the cuff of his capote. + +In a few minutes the trapper, on snow-shoes, and with a pack of +provisions on his back, was striding down the coast at a pace that soon +left the Creek far behind him. + +Three days after this incident the trio at Jenkins Creek were aroused, +while sitting at their mid-day meal, by the tinkle of sleigh-bells. +Their sitting-room window was filled chiefly with parchment, but there +was one square of it filled with glass. Through this, as from a +loop-hole, the inmates could reconnoitre any one who approached their +hut. + +"Two dog-sleighs!" exclaimed Ian, turning from the loop-hole with a look +of surprise. + +"Flora and Elise!" cried Kenneth and his father, in the same breath, as +they started up eagerly and hastened to the door. + +They were right. Flora, jumping out of the furs of a vehicle which +resembled a slipper-bath, and was drawn by four panting dogs, ran into +the hut, exclaiming, "Dear father," and threw her arms round the neck of +the elder McLeod, who was not slow to return the embrace. Elise entered +with smiling face, and curtsied to the young men, who advanced and shook +her heartily by the hand. + +"Hould their hids, Mister Kenneth," exclaimed the driver of the foremost +sleigh, as he sought to undo the traces of the dogs. "Sure they're all +alike--horses or dogs, they never _will_ lay still when they're wanted +to; bad luck to 'em intirely. Me heart is all but broke. There--git +along wid ye." + +"Don't be hard on them, Rooney," said Kenneth, laughing, "they seem to +have done good service." + +"True for ye," replied Rooney, "it wouldn't have bin aisy to git the +ladies down here widout 'em, the snow was so soft wi' the thaw that it +nigh tore the snow-shoes off me feet, an' my poor legs is at laist three +inches longer than whin I set out, if not four." + +"Well, Flo," said Ian, "although I know you to be a resolute girl, I +didn't believe you would undertake a journey over a country without a +road at such a season of the year." + +"I _knew_ she would come," said her father, patting the girl's head +tenderly, "but didn't expect her quite so soon." + +"That's just the reason why I came," said Flora, bustling about the room +in search of a reasonably clean spot, on which to deposit her fur cap +and muff; "I wanted to take you by surprise, you dear old duck. Here, +Elise, take these things and put them on a bed, or something of that +sort, if there is one in the house. I declare there is not a spot in +this room that is not covered with smoke and grease. How can you be so +dirty? It is high time that Elise and I came to put your house in +order. You needn't laugh, Kenneth, you ought to be ashamed of +yourselves. This is dinner-time, I fancy. Have you any to spare for +us? Let me see--but stay; first tell me how you have been and what you +have done, and--" + +"Please, Miss," said the maid, returning from a little side-room, "there +isn't a spot clean enough to put your things on. The beds are no better +than the chairs and tables." + +"Oh you dirty thing!" said Flora, seating herself on her father's knee, +and gazing remonstratively into his face. + +A quiet smile played on the dark visage of the elder McLeod as he kissed +her, and said:-- + +"How could you expect us, Flo, to keep things very tidy in a place like +this, where we've had to work hard with our axes every day and all day, +and no woman to help us in domestic affairs? Why, sometimes we've been +so tired at the end of a day, that instead of cleaning up, we have +tumbled into bed, boots and all! But there _is_ one little corner of +our otherwise dirty hut which we have reserved for lady-visitors. See +here!" + +He rose, unlocked a little door in a corner of the dining-hall, and +throwing it open, disclosed to the astonished gaze of his visitors a +small apartment which was a perfect marvel of cleanliness and propriety. +True, it was a very simple and, what may be styled, a home-made +apartment. The walls, floor, and ceiling were of unpainted wood, but +the wood was perfectly fresh, and smelt pleasantly of resin. The window +was preposterously small, with only four squares of glass in it, and it +was curtained with mere calico, but the calico was rose-coloured, which +imparted a delightfully warm glow to the room, and the view from the +window of pine-woods and cliffs, and snow-fields, backed by the distant +sea, was magnificent. Two little beds in the corner furthest from the +window looked so snug that the tendency of beholders to lie down and go +to sleep forthwith was only overcome by a sensation of fear lest the +fairies, to whom they unquestionably belonged, might object. There was +a rather clumsily-made chest of drawers in one corner, the workmanship +of Kenneth; a book-shelf fashioned by Ian; and a table, with three +chairs, made by McLeod senior. + +"Oh, how kind of you," said Flora to her father, when she afterwards sat +with him alone in this boudoir, and looked round on everything with the +deepest interest. + +"Well, it was natural that I should get ready a comfortable place for my +only flower." + +"Your _only_ flower," exclaimed Flora, "why, what do you call Ian, and +Kenneth, and Roderick?" + +"Not flowers, certainly," replied her father, pulling her down on his +knee; "they may be regarded as useful vegetables, if you will, but they +are scarcely flowers that one likes to fondle." + +"There, now, sir, you have fondled me enough at present, so tell me all +about yourself and your doings." + +"Tell me first, Flo, how it fared with you by the way." + +"Oh, that is soon told. After you left me I remained with old Mrs +Crowder in peaceful serenity until Rooney came back from Quebec, and +then I consulted with him as to the possibility of getting down here +before the close of winter. Being an old nor'-wester, and an Irishman, +he had his answer ready. `Sure,' said he, `there's nothin' aisier. The +masther bade me go down to Jenkins Creek wi' the things as soon as +possible, which or'narily mains faster than yer able, so I meant to be +off to-morrow be daybreak on fut, wid a sled behind me. But if your +ladyship intinds to honour me wid yer company, this is how we cud do it. +I'll hire a sleigh an' drive ye down to Sam Small's hut. I know that +Sam has got one or two sleds and teams of dogs, for, like myself, he's +an owld nor'-wester, an' likes to revive owld memories by takin' a trip +now an' then in the owld fashion. There's no road av coorse, but dogs +ain't like horses; they don't have no need of roads, so that don't +matter. I'll git owld Bogus, the Injin, to help. He an' I can bate the +tracks wid our snowshoes, and the dogs 'ill follow kindly, an' so we'll +all go down to the creek together.'" + +"Well," continued Flora, "this plan was carried out at once. We started +next day and got on famously in the sledge. We had only one upset. It +might have been an awkward one, for the horse was very restive when he +got off the track into the deep snow, but fortunately, just at the time, +up came two travellers, one of them _such_ a handsome man! and they got +us out of our difficulty." + +"Were you in danger, my pet?" asked McLeod. + +"Not exactly in danger, except the danger of having to walk at night +through the forest, and without snow-shoes." + +"Hm! not such a small danger that as you seem to think, Flo," said +McLeod gravely. "However, these gentlemen got you out of the scrape-- +well, go on." + +"Well, on we went, came to Sam Small's hut, slept there, got two +dog-sledges, slept at the hut of Jonas Bellew in Boulder Creek, whose +door we were obliged to break open, for he wasn't at home--and, here we +are." + +"Well, my pet, here you are likely to remain for some time to come. +It's not exactly as fine a residence as you've been accustomed to, but +there are many worse." + +"Worse," exclaimed Flora, "there couldn't be many better--in the +circumstances. I regard it as a small palace. Dear father," she added, +"don't let our reverses weigh so heavily on you. Think of your +favourite saying, `It's an ill wind that blows no good.' Perhaps good +may be in the wind somewhere for us." + +"Ay, and I'll think of one of _your_ favourite sayings too, Flo, `Every +cloud has a silver lining.'" + +"But I've got a better saying than that _now_, father," said Flora, with +sudden earnestness, "the saying that dear mother was so fond of quoting +from the Bible before she died: `Come unto me, all ye that labour and +are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Oh, father, that word +comforts me now, for I have gone to Jesus and have pleaded with Him His +own promise that whatever we shall ask in His name God will give it to +us." + +"Bless you, Flo," said her father tenderly, "and what did you ask for,-- +success in our new enterprise?" + +"No, I asked for guidance in every step of it, for that is certain to +lead to success." + +"Do you feel sure of getting an answer to that prayer, Flo?" asked +McLeod, gazing at his daughter with a perplexed expression. + +"Quite sure," replied Flo confidently, "because God, who cannot lie, has +promised." + +"Now, what will you say if we fail in this enterprise?" asked her +father. + +"That my prayer has been answered," replied Flo. + +"What? if he guides us to failure will you count that an answer?" + +"Yes, indeed I will. More than that, I will count our failure to be +success, for whatever God leads us to _must_ be success if we commit our +ways to Him." + +"That's a convenient doctrine," replied McLeod, with a slight smile, as +he called to remembrance several conversations he had had with infidels +during his travels, "and no one will ever be able to refute you, for, +whatever betide, you will still be able to maintain, logically, that you +have received an answer." + +"Just so, father, and why not? Is not that convenient doctrine, as you +call it, in accordance with the word of God Himself, who says that +`_all_ things work together for good to them that love Him?'" + +"You have learned to talk like your dear mother, Flo," said McLeod, +rising; "we will continue this subject another time. At present I must +away to work with the boys." + +He left the room hastily, and his daughter, calling in the assistance of +Elise, proceeded to arrange her little boudoir in a somewhat more +sedate, though by no means less joyful, frame of mind than that in which +she had made her entry into her new and unquestionably humble residence. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +THE "ENEMY." + +Meanwhile, Reginald Redding--still breathing defiance to the clan of +McLeod, with his heart steeled against all softer influences, and with +all his bristles erect--arrived at Jenkins Creek. + +Seeing no one about the door of the hut, he passed it with an indignant +frown, and proceeded direct to the cascade, where, from a considerable +distance, he had observed the three settlers as they busily plied their +axes. + +A thaw had set in. The little cascade was beginning to roar ominously, +almost savagely, behind the curtain of ice which had concealed almost +the whole of it during winter. The ice on the edge of the Saint +Lawrence had already given way, and was being swept out to sea in +variously-sized fields and masses. Everything gave indication that the +reign of winter had come to an end, that the short-lived spring had laid +its warm hand on the whole region, and that summer was not far distant. +Summer acts its part with promptitude in those regions. + +Men out there are usually vigorous in taking advantage of the change; +the McLeods were making the most of their time when the fur-trader +approached. + +"It should be getting near supper-time," said the elder McLeod, looking +at the sun. + +"Not far from it," said Kenneth, flinging down his axe and wiping the +perspiration from his brow, as he glanced in the same direction, "what a +comfort it is to have Flo to look after meals; it makes one feel--hallo! +who come here?--see, two men, rounding the cliff just above the house." + +The elder McLeod made no reply, but waited until the strangers were +sufficiently near to be addressed; then, touching his cap, he said, +"Good evening," heartily. + +To this Reginald Redding replied, "Good evening," stiffly, while his man +bestowed a gaze of unmistakable scorn all round. + +A little surprised, but not much alarmed, by their manner, McLeod said +that it was an unusual pleasure to meet with strangers in such an +out-of-the-way place; that he and his sons, having finished their day's +work, were about to return to their hut for supper, and that he would be +more than delighted if they would take "pot-luck" with them. + +Redding, who was by nature of a kindly sociable disposition, felt rather +put out by this reception, especially when the invitation was pressed on +him with much cordiality by Kenneth, as well as by Ian. Even the scorn +on Le Rue's lip began to melt away like the snow! But the fur-trader +felt that the interests of his employers were at stake; besides, had he +not said to others, had he not vowed to himself, that he would not give +way an inch--no, not so much as a hair's-breadth--to these long-legged +interlopers, who, now that he beheld them, were evidently fur-traders in +disguise,--men who made use of a so-called saw-mill as a mere blind to +divert attention from the real object they had in view. + +"Sir," said Redding, with quiet dignity, "I am the Fur Company's agent +in this district, in charge of the Cliff Fort." + +Had Redding been in charge of the Rock of Gibraltar, with its mighty +armament of heavy guns, he could not have assumed an air of greater +importance. + +"I am glad to hear it," replied McLeod, more and more perplexed by the +youth's manner, "because I have been anxious for some days to consult +you as to the exact boundary line of your Company's reserve." + +"If you will accompany me to the creek," replied Redding, pointing to +the islet on which the McLeods had already marked off a portion of rock +and planted a couple of stakes, "I will enlighten you on that point." + +"Willingly," answered McLeod, preparing to follow with his two sons. + +"Hah!" thought Redding, as he drew near the spot and observed the +stakes, "not a doubt of it; inches indeed; they have encroached feet-- +feet--if not _yards_ on our property." + +He gave no audible sound, however, to his thoughts, until the party had +reached the islet, which was connected with the mainland by a plank, +then he turned to McLeod with the air of a man who has resolved to wage +war to the knife for his rights. Le Rue, seeing his master in this +mood, drew himself up, compressed his lips, and darkened his frown. + +"The line of demarcation," said Redding slowly, but with much decision +of tone and manner, "runs _exactly_ down the centre of this stream and +cuts _precisely_ across the centre of this rock. Now, sir," he turned +abruptly here to look his adversary full in the face. In doing so his +vision, passing over the shoulders of his enemy, encountered the bright +face and astonished gaze of Flora McLeod, who had just come to let her +father and brothers know that their evening meal awaited them. + +Reginald Redding was struck dumb. Glancing round to see what had +fascinated the gaze of the fur-trader, McLeod turned with a smile, and +said:-- + +"My daughter Flora, Mister--ah!--I beg pardon--your name is, I think--" + +"Redding," murmured the fur-trader, with hesitation, for he had begun to +doubt his own identity. + +"Just so. Flo has come to tell us, Mr Redding, that supper is ready, +so, if you will condescend to accept of our rough and ready hospitality, +we shall be delighted. But, before going, pray let us finish this +matter. You were about to say--" + +"Oh, nothing,--nothing worth mentioning," said Redding hurriedly, +endeavouring to recover himself; "I merely--the fact is--that--a rock +like this is so--so utterly insignificant that the idea of trespassing +on it is quite absurd, quite out of--why, surely I _cannot_ be +mistaken," he added, lifting his cap, "this must be the young lady whom +I had the pleasure of meeting on the road hither, at a time when--" + +"When your presence and aid were most opportune," interrupted Flora, as +she held out her hand with a gracious smile and a blush. + +Why Flora blushed is best known to herself. The same may be said in +regard to the fact that Reginald Redding felt rather awkward--though not +naturally an awkward man--and looked rather sheepish as he took the hand +timidly. It is also worthy of record that the touch of Flora's hand +sent a galvanic stream up Redding's arm, which curled round his head, +ran down his spine, and passed out into the rock at the extremities of +his ten toes! + +"Indeed!" exclaimed McLeod senior, while a peculiar expression crossed +his swarthy countenance as if a new idea had hit him; "then, Mr +Redding, I am your debtor; but come, let us to supper before it cools. +I suppose that no more need be said about the boundary line. I have not +been guilty of trespassing, it seems, on your Company's reserves?" + +"Not in the least," answered the fur-trader promptly, with a glance at +his man. + +"Vraiment, non, cer'nly not!" exclaimed Le Rue emphatically, not a trace +of scorn being now visible on his benign countenance. + +Matters being thus amicably disposed of, the party adjourned to the hut, +where they sat down to a substantial repast, the foundation of which was +boiled bacon and tea; the superstructure, biscuits and butter. + +Here Francois Le Rue met with a profound disappointment. He had rightly +judged that, where the mistress dwelt, the maid must necessarily abide; +accordingly, on entering the hut, he had the extreme satisfaction of +obtaining a glance of grateful recognition from Elise's bright eyes. +But the sanguine trader had also counted on the pleasure of her company +at supper in the kitchen of the establishment, while his master should +sup with the McLeods in the parlour. In this he was mistaken. In such +an out-of-the-way region the young Canadian girl was counted as much a +companion as a servant, and while she performed the duties of attendant +at the table in the hall, she also sat modestly down at the same table +to partake of the evening meal. Francois, on the other hand, was told +to go to the kitchen and make himself comfortable. + +The kitchen was a little out-house, not unlike a gigantic dog-kennel, +separated by a space of six feet or so from the principal dwelling. + +Opening its door, Le Rue entered with a heavy heart, supposing that he +should have to eat his supper in dreary solitude, "not dat I cares moch +for dat," thought he, as he raised the latch, "for I's accostomed to +solitairness; but ah! ven I tinks of--" + +"Hooroo!" shouted a gruff voice, scattering at once his thoughts and his +"solitairness." + +Le Rue started as he encountered the surprised gaze of a man, but, being +in a crusty humour, he only exclaimed--"Hah!" and returned the gaze. + +"Sure it's you or yer ghost," exclaimed the identical driver whom the +two fur-traders had so lately assisted out of difficulties. "Give us +yer fist, young man. Ah, then, it's good luck is yer portion, Rooney. +Didn't I think to sit down to me supper in solitood, whin in comes like +a vision the frind as was a frind indade to me and the ladies the other +day. Come in, come in, sit ye down there; an' ait till yer fit to bust. +Och! but it's mesilf is glad this night. There, putt off yer capote; +if yer at all like me ye'll not be fit to taste a morsel till yer in yer +shirt sleeves. Howld--I'll hang it on the peg for 'ee. Now thin, go to +work. Don't spare it. Faix, there's plinty more where that came from, +though there ain't much variety here. It's pig for breakfast, pig for +dinner, an' pig for supper--wid a slice o' cowld pig at odd times whin +yer extra hungry. An' then ye'll have to pig-in wid myself at night, +for there's only wan bed in this coolinairy mansion, not bein' room to +howld more! That's yer sort--the tae's hot, anyhow." + +There was no withstanding such a welcome as this. Francois Le Rue +thawed instantly, and thereafter warmed up to intense cordiality while +he plied his knife and fork on the "pig," and quaffed the steaming +"tae," talking between mouthfuls as his voluble friend gave him +opportunity. + +An abrupt check, however, was put to the pleasant flow of his spirits +when Rooney, having occasion to refer to "the ladies," remarked in an +enthusiastic tone that Elise was "a angel--nothin' more nor less--only +widout wings." + +The demon jealousy instantly fired the soul of the Canadian. + +"Vat you knows about she?" he demanded, with suppressed emotion. + +"Knows about her!" exclaimed Rooney, with increased enthusiasm, while Le +Rue's spirit dilated with increasing jealousy, "what do I _not_ know +about her, is the question. Sure I've knowed her iver since she was a +purty little curly-hided child; I've knowed her goodness to her parients +till the day of their death, an' her gentleness in the time of sorrow, +an' her jollity in the time of joy, an' her faithfulness to her mistress +in adversity, an' her gin'ral goodness at all times, blissin's on her!" + +Francois ceased devouring "pig," and played with his knife, while he +mentally, almost unconsciously, measured the number of inches that lay +between the outside of Rooney's chest and the core of his heart. + +"You'se verai fond of her, it seems," he said, with deep sarcasm. + +"That's just what I am," replied Rooney, stuffing an enormous piece of +bacon into his no less enormous mouth. "It's raison I have too," he +added thickly, but quite audibly, "for she nursed my poor wife through a +long illness, an' it's my belaif she wouldn't ha' bin alive this day but +for the care and attintion she got from Elise." + +The demon fled horrified out at the key-hole--the window being shut--and +Le Rue, feeling the deepest regard for Rooney, relieved his feelings +with a sigh and more "pig." + +While the Irishman and Canadian were entertaining each other thus in the +kitchen, the Highlanders and Englishman were no less cordial and busy in +the hall. Rough and ready the hospitality indeed was, for the board was +not only uncovered but unplaned, and the dishes were cracked and +dinted--according to their nature; but the heartiness of the welcome, +the solidity of the simple viands, the strength of appetite, and, above +all, the presence of bright eyes and gentle spirits threw a luxurious +halo round the humble apartment, in the light of which Reginald Redding +revelled. + +Tea,--the cup which cheers but does not inebriate,--was used at that +board as if it had been brandy and water. The men not only drank it +during the progress of the meal, but afterwards sat long over it, and +dallied with it, and urged each other to "have some more" of it, and +quaffed it to the health of absent friends, and told stories, and cut +jokes, and sang songs over it, and replenished it with hot water to such +an extent that it gradually changed its nature and became that harmless +beverage loved by Frenchmen, _eau sucre_. + +That it cheered was evident, for laughter was often loud and sometimes +long. That it did not inebriate was equally clear, for the talk of the +party was frequently grave as well as gay. + +It was especially grave when, towards the end of the evening, McLeod +senior, in answer to some allusion of his guest as to the beauties of +Partridge Bay, became confidential, and told how he had once dwelt in +that settlement for many years, in a happy home which he had specially +built for himself, or rather, as he said, with a kindly glance at his +pretty daughter, which he had built specially for his wife and child. +How it had pleased God to take from him his dear partner before they had +been long in the new house; how the failure of a friend had involved him +in ruin, and compelled him to sell off all he had possessed and begin +life anew with the scanty remnants of his fortune; how he had taken the +advice of another friend, and come to Jenkins Creek to set up a +saw-mill, having previously invested nearly all his funds in an order +for goods from England, for the purpose of setting up a general store, +as it was highly probable the country would go on prospering, and the +demand for such a store become great; how he had had letters from his +youngest son, Roderick,--a lad of nineteen who had been educated in the +"old country,"--telling him that the goods had been bought and shipped +in the _Betsy_ of Plymouth, and how that he, Roderick, intended to take +passage in the same ship the week following, and join his father and +brothers in their new sphere of labour; how that, sometimes, he felt +depressed by the sudden reverse of fortune, but was always cheered and +raised up again by his daughter Flo, who had a wonderful way--somewhat +like her mother--of inducing him, when things looked darkest, to turn +his eyes to the source of all light, and comfort, and hope, and +prosperity. + +You may be sure that Reginald Redding listened to all this with the +deepest interest and sympathy, for as he glanced at Flora's speaking +countenance--and he did glance at it pretty frequently--he observed new +beauty in her expression, and bright tear-drops in her eyes. + +"Ah, Flo," said her father, when he had finished, "no one has such good +cause to regret the loss of our old home as yourself, for I don't think +Mr Gambart could have planned it without your aid." + +"What!" exclaimed Redding, with a look of sudden surprise, "what was the +name of your place in Partridge Bay?" + +"I gave it a Highland name," said McLeod, with a sad smile, "after a +place in Scotland that once belonged to my mother's family,--Loch Dhu." + +For a moment or two the young fur-trader remained speechless. He looked +first at Flora and then at her father, and after that at her brothers, +without being able to make up his mind how to act. He now understood +the reason of Gambart's silence as to the former owners of Loch Dhu, and +he would have given worlds at that moment if he had never seen or heard +of the place, for it seemed such a heartless position to be placed in-- +the fortunate owner of the lovely spot, over the loss of which Flora and +her family evidently mourned so deeply. He could not bear the thought +of having to reveal the truth; still less could he bear the thought of +concealing it. He was therefore about to make the disagreeable +confession, when the thoughts of the whole party were suddenly diverted +to another channel, by the opening of the door and the entrance of one +of those gaunt sons of the forest who were wont to hang on the skirts of +civilisation, as it advanced to wrest from them their native wilderness. + +The Indian stalked into the room, handed a dirty piece of folded paper +to McLeod, and sat down beside the fire, after the fashion of his race, +in solemn silence. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +OUT IN THE SNOW. + +When Jonas Bellew set off in search of the rumoured wreck, as related in +a previous chapter, he passed the Cliff Fort without calling there, +partly because he did not wish to waste time, and partly because he had +no desire to hold converse at that time with Mr Smart, who, he rightly +suspected, must have shared in Redding's suspicions as to the intentions +of the McLeods. + +Making a straight cut, therefore, across the bay in front of the +fur-trading establishment, on ice that had not yet been floated away, he +gained the land below the fort and continued his journey down the coast. +That night he slept in the snow. + +Let not the reader entertain the mistaken idea that such a +sleeping-place was either cold, wet, or uncomfortable. It was the +reverse of all that, being warm, dry, and cosy. The making of this bed +we record here, for the benefit of housemaids, and all whom it may +concern. + +First of all, the sturdy trapper walked along the coast, sometimes on +snow-shoes when fields of snow-covered ice projected out to sea; at +other times on foot, with the snow-shoes slung over his back, when long +stretches of sand or shingly beach, from which the ice had been swept +away, presented themselves. This process of progression he continued +till night began to close upon him. Then he bethought him of encamping, +and retired to the neighbouring woods for the purpose. + +The woods referred to consisted chiefly of pines, which fringed the base +of the precipitous hills by which that part of the Gulf of Saint +Lawrence is bordered. Here he selected the largest tree he could find, +and threw down his bundle of food and blankets under the flat spreading +branches thereof. Resting one of his snow-shoes against the stem of the +tree, he proceeded to dig a huge hole in the snow, using his other +snow-shoe as a shovel. The operation cost him much labour, for he had +to dig completely down to the ground, and the snow in the woods was +still between three and four feet deep. When a hole of ten feet long by +five broad was thus cleared to the bottom, the natural walls were raised +by the snow thrown out, to a total height of about six feet. This was +Bellew's bedchamber. The spreading pine-branches overhead were its +admirable roof. Next, the trapper cut down a young pine, with the +tender branches of which he covered the floor of his chamber to a depth +of ten or twelve inches. This was his mattress, and a soft, warm, +elastic one it was, as the writer of this narrative can testify from +personal experience. The head of the mattress rested against the stem +of the pine tree, and a convenient root thereof served Bellew for a +pillow. At the foot of the bed he had left the floor of his chamber +uncovered; this was his fireplace, and in the course of ten minutes or +so he cut down and chopped into billets enough of dry wood to fill it +with materials for a splendid fire. These being arranged, with a core +of dry moss and broken twigs in the centre, the patient man struck a +light by means of flint, steel, and tinder, and applied it. While the +first few tongues of fire were crackling in the core of moss, he spread +a thick blanket on his bed, and then stood up leisurely to fill his pipe +and dreamily to watch the kindling of the fire. + +And this was a sight worth watching, for the change in the aspect of +affairs was little short of miraculous. Before the flames shot forth, +Jonas Bellew, looking over the edge of a black hole that was +disagreeably suggestive of a tomb, could dimly perceive a stretch of +cold, grey, ghostly forest, through the openings of which hummocks of +ice could be seen floating away over the black waters of the sea. The +little starlight that prevailed only served to render darkness visible, +and thus to increase the desolate aspect of the scene. But when the +ruddy flames began to shoot forth and tip with a warm glow the nearest +projections, they brought out in startling prominence the point of +Bellew's nose and the bowl of his little pipe. Continuing to gain +strength they seemed to weaken the force of distant objects in +proportion as they intensified those that were near. The pale woods and +dark waters outside deepened into invisible black, while the snow-walls +of Bellew's chamber glowed as if on fire, and sparkled as if set with +diamonds. The tree stem became a ruddy column, with Bellew's shadow +lying black as ink against it, and the branches above became like a +red-hot roof. + +It may, perhaps, be supposed that the snow-walls melted under this +ordeal; nothing of the sort. Their tendency to do so was checked +effectually, not only by a sharp frost, but by the solid backing of snow +behind them; and the little that did give way in close proximity to the +fire ran unobtrusively down to the earth and crept away under the snow +towards the sea, for Bellew had made his camp with the fire at its lower +end, so that not a drop of water could by any means reach the spot +whereon he lay. + +Having stuffed his little tin can or kettle with snow, he put this on +the fire to melt, and then spread out his bacon and biscuit, and sugar +and tea, all of which being in course of time prepared, he sat down to +enjoy himself, and felt, as well as looked, supremely happy. + +Then Jonas Bellew went on his knees and prayed--for he was one of those +men who do not think it unmanly to remember the Giver of all that they +enjoy--and thereafter he rolled himself in his blanket, pillowed his +head on the tree-root, and sank into profound repose--such repose as is +known only to healthy infants and hard-working men and women. Little by +little the fire burnt low, the ruddy lights grew dim, the pale lights +reappeared, and the encampment resumed its tomb-like appearance until +the break of another day gave it a new aspect and caused Jonas Bellew to +rise, yawn, shake the hoar-frost from his blanket, pack up his traps, +and resume his journey. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +A SAD DISCOVERY. + +A wreck on a rocky shore is at all times a dreary sight, but especially +so when the shore is that of an uninhabited land, and when the rocks as +well as the wreck are fringed with snow-wreaths and cumbered with ice. + +Some such thoughts probably filled the mind of the trapper when, on the +afternoon of the day whose dawn we have mentioned, he stood beside the +wreck of what had once been a full-rigged ship and gazed intently on the +scene of desolation. + +Life and death were powerfully suggested to him. Many a time had he +seen such a craft breasting the waves of the broad Saint Lawrence, when +every dip of the bow, every bend of the taper masts, every rattle of the +ropes, and every mellow shout of the seamen, told of vigorous life and +energy; and now, the broken masts and yards tipped and fringed with +snow-wreaths, the shattered stern, out of which the cargo had been +evidently washed long ago, the decks crushed down with snow, the bulged +sides, the bottom pierced by rocks, the bowsprit burst to shivers by the +opposing cliff, the pendant and motionless cordage, even the slight +ripple of the sleeping sea, which deepened rather than broke the +prevailing silence, all told eloquently of death,--death, perchance to +passengers and crew, at all events to sanguine hopes and prospects. +Nevertheless there was much life connected with that death-like scene, +as the sequel of our tale will show. + +The trapper, although fond of moralising, was not prone to indulge in +sentiment when circumstances called him to action. He had come suddenly +in sight of the wreck on turning the point of the frowning cliff where +the gallant ship had met her doom, and stood only for a few seconds to +gaze sadly on the scene. + +Hastening forward he proceeded at once to make a thorough survey of the +vessel. + +First he went to the stern to ascertain, if possible, her name. The +greater part of the stern had, as we have said, been torn away; but, +after careful search, he discovered a piece of wood on which he could +plainly trace portions of the letters _B_ and _E_ and _T_. The +remainder of the word, whatever it was, had been completely erased. + +Bellew did not at first climb on board the ship, because from her +general aspect he knew full well that there could be no survivor in her, +besides, through the yawning stern he could see nearly the whole of the +interior. + +His next step was to search the neighbourhood for tracks, in order to +see whether or not the wreck had been lately visited by human beings. +This search resulted in discoveries which perplexed him greatly, for not +only did he find numerous footprints which crossed each other in various +directions, but he knew from their appearance that these had been +recently made, and that they were those of white men as well as red; +some of them showing the prints of shoes, while others displayed the +marks of moccasins. + +Had Bellew discovered one or two tracks made by men of the forest like +himself, his knowledge of wood-craft would have enabled him at once to +decide which way they had come and whither they had gone; but, with at +least a dozen meandering tracks radiating from the ship in all +directions, as well towards the sea as the land, he felt himself +puzzled. He knew well enough that they were too fresh to be those of +the wrecked crew, unless indeed the crew had remained by the ship; but +in that case there would have been evidences of an encampment of some +sort, such as fittings-up on board, or huts on shore. He followed the +tracks that led to the sea and found that they terminated abruptly, as +if those who had made them had plunged into the water and drowned +themselves. Before following up those that went landward he returned to +the ship and clambered on board, but found nothing to reward him for his +pains. The sea had swept the hold fore and aft so completely that +nothing whatever was left. + +These investigations did not take up much time. The trapper, after one +or two circuits, found the spot where the footsteps became disentangled +from the maze of individual tracks, and led, not along the shore as he +had supposed they would, but up into a narrow gorge; and now he learned +that the tracks of what appeared a multitude of people had been made by +the running to and fro of not more than a dozen men, six of whom were +natives. Thinking it probable that the party could not be far distant, +for the gorge up which they had proceeded seemed of very limited extent, +the trapper pushed forward with increasing expectation, not unmingled +with anxiety. + +Turning the point of a projecting cliff he came suddenly on a sight that +filled him with sadness. It was the mouldering remains of a human +being--one who had been a seaman, to judge from the garments which +covered him. One glance sufficed to show the trapper that his services +there were not required. He also observed that the fresh tracks which +he had been following circled round the body of the seaman and then led +straight on. + +Following these, Bellew soon came to an open circular space at the head +of the gorge, where the appearance of smoke, rising from among the +trees, arrested his attention. In a few minutes he had reached the spot +whence it issued, and there to his surprise found Mr Bob Smart with +five of his men and several Indians standing in solemn silence round +something on the ground that appeared to rivet their attention. Some of +the men looked up as Bellew approached and nodded to him, for the +trapper was well-known in the district; they also moved aside and let +him pass. + +"What's wrong, Mr Smart?" he asked, on coming up. + +The fur-trader pointed to the ground, on which lay a group of men, who, +at a first glance, appeared to be dying. One in particular, a youth, +seemed to be in the very last stage of exhaustion. Smart had just risen +from his side after administering a cup of hot tea, when the trapper +appeared. + +"I fear he won't last long," said Smart, turning to Bellew, with a shake +of his head. + +"What have you been givin' him?" asked Bellew, stooping and feeling his +pulse. + +"Just a cup of tea," replied Smart; "I have unfortunately nothing +better. We only heard of the wreck yesterday, and came down in our boat +in such haste that we forgot spirits. Besides, I counted on bringing +whoever I should find up to the fort without delay, but although we may +move most of these poor fellows, I doubt much that we daren't move +_him_." + +This was said in a whisper, for the poor fellows referred to, although +unable to rise, lay listening eagerly to every word that was spoken. +There were six of them--one a negro--all terribly emaciated, and more or +less badly frost-bitten. They formed the remnant of a crew of +twenty-five, many of whom, after suffering dreadfully from hunger and +frost-bites, had wandered away into the woods, and in a half delirious +state, had perished. + +"You have hot water, I see," said the trapper, hastily unfastening his +pack, "fetch some." + +Bob Smart promptly and gladly obeyed, for he saw that Bellew was a man +of action, and appeared to know what to do. + +"You're right, Mr Smart," said Bellew, as he poured a little of the +contents of a bottle into the tin pannikin that had served him for a +tea-cup the night before, "this poor lad couldn't stand moving just now. +Fortunately I've brought some spirits with me. It will start fresh +life in him if he's not too far gone already. Here, sir," he continued, +in a louder tone, "let me put this to your lips." + +The youth opened a pair of brilliant black eyes and gazed earnestly at +the speaker, then smiled faintly and sipped the offered beverage. + +As might have been expected, he at once revived a little under its +influence. + +"There, that's enough just now; it don't do to take much at a time. +I'll give 'ee somethin' else in a minute," said Bellew, as he went from +one to another and administered a teaspoonful or two to each. + +They were very grateful, and said so in words more or less emphatic. +One of them, indeed, who appeared to have once been a jovial seaman, +intimated that he would be glad to take as many more teaspoonfuls of +"that same" as Bellew chose to administer! but the trapper, paying no +attention to the suggestion, proceeded to open his store of provisions +and to concoct, in his tin tea-kettle, a species of thin soup. While +this was simmering, he began to remove the blankets with which Bob Smart +had covered the unfortunate men. + +"Don't you think," said Bob, "that it would be well to leave their wraps +alone till we get them up to the fort? They're badly bitten, and I know +little about dressing sores. By the time we get there Mr Redding will +probably have returned from Partridge Bay, and he's more than half a a +doctor, I believe." + +"Nevertheless I'll have a look," said Bellew, with a smile, "for I'm a +bit of a doctor myself in such matters,--about a quarter of one, if I +may say so." + +Without further parley the trapper laid bare their sores, and truly the +sad sight fully justified Smart's remark that the poor fellows were +badly bitten. One of them, the seaman above referred to, whom his +comrades styled Ned, had only lost the ends of one or two toes and the +forefinger of his left hand, but some of the others had been so severely +frost-bitten in their feet that all the toes were rotting off; the negro +in particular had lost his left foot, while the heel-bone of the other +was exposed to the extent of nearly an inch, and all the toes were gone. +(We describe here, from memory, what we have actually seen.) + +In perfect silence, but with a despatch that would have done credit to +hospital training, the trapper removed the dead flesh, dressed the +sores, applied poultices of certain herbs gathered in the woods, and +bandaged them up. This done, he served out the thin soup, with another +small allowance of spirits and hot water, after which, with the able +assistance of Bob Smart and his men, he wrapped them up in their +blankets and made arrangements for having them conveyed to the boat, +which had been pulled into a convenient creek further down the shore +than the wreck. + +Strange to say, the youth who appeared to be dying was the least injured +by frost-bites of the party, his fingers and face being untouched, and +only a portion of the skin of his feet damaged; but this was explained +by the seaman, Ned, who, on hearing Bellew's expression of surprise, +said, with a touch of feeling:-- + +"It's not the frost as damaged him, sir, it's the water an' the rocks. +W'en we was wrecked, sir,--now three weeks ago, or thereby,--we'd +ableeged to send a hawser ashore, an' not one of us could swim, from the +cap'n to the cabin-boy, so Mister McLeod he wolunteered to--" + +"Mister who?" demanded Bellew hastily. + +"Mister McLeod." + +"What was your ship's name?" + +"The _Betsy_, sir." + +"From what port?" + +"Plymouth." + +"Ho ho! well, go on." + +"Well, as I was a-sayin', sir, Mister McLeod, who's as bold as a lion, +he wolunteered to swim ashore wi' a line, an' swim he did, though the +sea was rollin' in on the cliffs like the Falls o' Niagery,--which I'm +told lie somewhere in these latitudes,--leastwise they're putt down in +all the charts so. We tried for to dissuade him at first, but when the +starn o' the ship was tore away, and the cargo began to wash out, we all +saw that it was neck or nothin', so we let him go. For a time he swam +like a good 'un, but when he'd bin dashed agin' the cliffs two or three +times an' washed back again among the wreck of spars, cargo, and +riggin', we thought it was all over with all of us. Hows'ever we wasn't +forsooken at the eleventh hour, for a wave all of a sudden washed him +high and dry on a ledge of rock, an' he stood up and waved his hand and +then fell down in a swound. Then we thought again it was all up with +us, for every wave went roarin' up to young Mister McLeod, as if it wor +mad to lose him, and one or two of 'em even sent the foam washin' in +about his legs. Well, sir, the last one that did that, seemed to bring +him to, for as it washed over his face he jumped up and held on to the +rocks like a limpet. Then he got a little higher on the cliff, and when +we saw he was looking out to us we made signs to him that a hawser was +made fast to the line, an' all ready. He understood us an' began to +haul away on the line, but we could see that he had bin badly hurt from +the way he stopped from time to time to git breath, and rested his head +on a big rock that rose at his side like a great capstan. Hows'ever, he +got the hawser ashore at last, an' made it fast round the big rock, an' +so by means of that, an' the blessin' o' Providence, we all got ashore. +P'r'aps," added Ned thoughtfully, "it might have bin as well if some of +us hadn't--hows'ever, we wasn't to know that at the time, you +understand, sir." + +It must not be supposed that Ned said all this in the hearty tones that +were peculiar to his former self. The poor fellow could only utter it +sentence by sentence in a weak voice, which was strengthened +occasionally by a sip from "that same" beverage which had first awakened +his admiration. Meanwhile the object of his remarks had fallen asleep. + +"Now, Mister Smart," said Bellew, taking the fur-trader aside, "from all +that I have heard and seen, it is clear to me that this wreck is the +vessel, in which the McLeods of Jenkins Creek had shipped their property +from England, and that this youth is Roderick, the youngest son of the +family. I've bin helping the McLeods of late with their noo saw-mill, +and I've heard the father talking sometimes with his sons about the +_Betsy_ of Plymouth and their brother Roderick." + +At another time Bob Smart would not have been at all sorry to hear that +the interloping McLeods had lost all their property, but now he was +filled with pity, and asked Jonas Bellew with much anxiety what he +thought was best to be done. + +"The best thing to do," said Bellew, "is to carry these men to the boat +and have them up to the Cliff Fort without delay." + +"We'll set about it at once. You'll go with us, I suppose." + +"No, I'll remain behind and take care of young McLeod. In his present +state it would likely cost him his life to move him." + +"Then I'll leave some of my men with you." + +"Not needful," replied the trapper, "you know I'm used to bein' alone +an' managin' things for myself. After you get them up you may send down +a couple of men with some provisions and their hatchets. For to-night I +can make the poor fellow all snug with the tarpaulin of your boat." + +In accordance with these plans the shipwrecked men were sent up to the +Cliff Fort. Roderick McLeod was sheltered under a tarpaulin tent and +carefully tended by Bellew, and one of Smart's most active Indians was +despatched with a pencil-note to Jenkins Creek. + +It was this note which interrupted the conversation between Reginald +Redding and the elder McLeod at a somewhat critical moment, and this +note, as the reader may easily believe, threw the whole establishment +into sudden consternation. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +SHIFTING WINDS. + +Immediately on receipt of the note referred to, vigorous preparations +were made to convey relief to Roderick McLeod. Such provisions as the +party at Jenkins Creek could muster were packed into the smallest +possible space, because the boat, or cobble, which was to convey them +down the gulf was very small--scarcely large enough to hold the party +which meant to embark in it. This party consisted of McLeod senior, +Kenneth, and Flora, it being arranged that Ian and Rooney should remain +to prosecute, as well as to guard, the works at the Creek. + +Seeing that there was so little room to spare in the boat, Reginald +Redding decided to hasten down on foot to the Cliff Fort, in order to +see to the comfort of the wrecked men who had been sent there. He, +however, offered the rescue party the services of his man, Le Rue, an +offer which was accepted all the more readily that the Canadian +possessed some knowledge of the coast. + +It was very dark when they started, but, fortunately, calm. McLeod had +resolved to travel night and day, if the weather permitted, until he +should reach the scene of the wreck, and to take snatches of rest if +possible in the boat. + +There were only two oars in the boat, so that one of its crew was always +idle. This, however, proved to be rather an advantage, for, by +affording frequent relief to each rower, it saved the strength of all, +and at the same time enabled them to relieve the tedium of the journey +to poor Flora. + +At first they proceeded along under the deep shade of the ghost-like +cliffs in unbroken silence, the mind of each no doubt being busy with +the wreck of their last remnant of fortune, as well as with the +dangerous condition in which the youthful Roderick lay; but, as the dawn +of day approached, they began to talk a little, and when the sun arose +its gladdening beams appeared to carry hope to each breast, inducing an +almost cheerful state of mind. In the case of Francois Le Rue, the +influence of sunshine was so powerful that a feeling of sympathy and +respect for the McLeods in the calamity which had overtaken them alone +restrained him from breaking out into song! + +"Father," said Flora, as her sire, wearied by a long spell at the bow +oar, resigned his seat to Kenneth, and sat down beside her, "that +glorious light brings to my remembrance a very sweet verse, `Weeping may +endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.'" + +"True, true, Flo," returned her father, "I wish I had the simple faith +that you seem to possess, but I haven't, so there's no use in pretending +to it. This," he added bitterly, "seems only a pure and unmitigated +disaster. The last remnant of my fortune is wrecked, I am utterly +ruined, and my poor boy is perhaps dying." + +Flora did not reply. She felt that in his present state of mind nothing +she could say would comfort him. + +At that moment Le Rue suddenly roused himself, and suggested that it was +about time to think of breakfast. + +As all the party were of the same mind, the boat was allowed to drift +down the gulf with the tide, while the pork and biscuit-bags were +opened. Little time was allowed for the meal, nevertheless the +mercurial Canadian managed, between mouthfuls, to keep up a running +commentary on things in general. Among other things he referred to the +property which his master had just purchased in Partridge Bay. + +"Whereabouts is this property that you talk of?" asked McLeod, becoming +interested at the mention of Partridge Bay. + +"About la tete of de village near de house of Monsieur Gambart." + +"What like a place is it?" asked McLeod, becoming suddenly much more +interested. + +"Oh! one place mos bootiful," replied Le Rue, with enthusiasm; "de house +is superb, de grounds splendeed, et le prospect magnifique, wid plenty +of duck--perhaps sometimes goose, vild vons--in von lac near cliff +immense." + +At the mention of the lake and the cliff McLeod's brow darkened, and he +glanced at Flora, who met his glance with a look of surprise. + +"Did you happen to hear the name of the place?" asked McLeod. + +"Oui, it vas, I tink, Lac Do, or Doo--someting like so." + +"The scoundrel!" muttered McLeod between his teeth, while a gleam of +wrath shot from his eyes. + +Le Rue looked at him with some surprise, being uncertain as to the +person referred to by this pithy remark, and Flora glanced at him with a +look of anxiety. + +After a brief silence he said to Flora in a low tone, as though he were +expressing the continuation of his thoughts, "To think that the fellow +should thus abuse my hospitality by inducing me to speak of our fallen +fortunes, and of our being obliged to part with the old home we had +loved so well, and never to utter a word about his having bought the +place." + +"Perhaps," suggested Flora, "you had not mentioned the name of the +place, and so it might not have occurred to him that--" + +"Oh yes, I did," interrupted her father, with increasing anger, as his +memory recalled the converse with Redding on the preceding night, "I +remember it well, for he asked the name, and I told it him. It's not +that I care a straw whether the old place was bought by Tom, Dick, or +Harry, but I can't stand his having concealed the fact from me after so +much, I may say, confidential conversation about it and our affairs +generally. When I meet him again the young coxcomb shall have a piece +of my mind." + +McLeod was, as we have said, an angry man, and, as the intelligent +reader well knows, angry men are apt to blind themselves and to become +outrageously unreasonable. He was wrong in supposing that he did not +care a straw who should have bought the old place. Without, perhaps, +admitting it to himself, he had entertained a hope that the home which +was intimately associated with his wife, and in which some of the +happiest years of his life had been spent, would remain unsold until he +should manage to scrape together money enough to repurchase it. If it +had been sold to the proverbial Tom, or Dick, or Harry, he would have +been bitterly disappointed; the fact that it was sold to one who had, as +he thought, deceived him while enjoying his hospitality, only served as +a reason for his finding relief to disappointment in indignation. +Flora, who had entertained similar hopes in regard to Loch Dhu, shared +the disappointment, but not the indignation, for, although it did seem +unaccountable that one so evidently candid and truthful as Redding +should conceal the actual state of matters, she felt certain that there +was some satisfactory explanation of the mystery, and in that state of +mind she determined to remain until time should throw further light on +the affair. + +Neither she nor her father happened to remember that the truth had +broken on Redding at the moment when the Indian entered the hut at +Jenkins Creek with the news of the wreck, which created such a sudden +excitement there that it banished thoughts of all other things from the +minds of every one. + +The elder McLeod was a man of very strong and sensitive feelings, so +that, although possessed of an amiable and kindly disposition, he found +it exceedingly difficult to forget injuries, especially when these were +unprovoked. His native generosity might have prompted him perhaps to +find some excuse for the fur-trader's apparent want of candour, or to +believe that there might be some explanation of it, but, as it was, he +flung into the other scale not only the supposed injury inflicted by +Redding, but all his weighty disappointments at the loss of his old +home, and of course generosity kicked the beam! + +Acting on these feelings, he turned the bow of the boat inshore without +uttering a word, and when her keel grated on the gravelly beach, he +looked somewhat sternly at Le Rue, and said:-- + +"You may jump ashore, and go back to your fort." + +"Monsieur?" exclaimed Le Rue, aghast with surprise. + +"Jump ashore," repeated McLeod, with a steady, quiet look of +impassibility. "Go, tell your master that I do not require further +assistance from him." + +The Canadian felt that McLeod's look and tone admitted of neither +question nor delay. His surprise therefore gave way to a burst of +indignation. He leaped ashore with a degree of energy that sent the +little boat violently off the beach, and the shingles spurted from his +heels as he strode into the forest, renewing his vows of vengeance +against his late friends and old enemies, "de Macklodds!" + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +SURMISINGS, DISAGREEMENTS, VEXATIONS, AND BOTHERATIONS. + +Great was the amazement and perplexity of Reginald Redding when his +faithful cook returned to the Cliff Fort bearing the elder McLeod's +message. At first he jumped to the conclusion that McLeod had observed +his affection for Flora, and meant thus to give him a broad hint that +his addresses were not agreeable. Being, like McLeod, an angry man, he +too became somewhat blind. All his pride and indignation were aroused. +The more he brooded over the subject, however, the more he came to see +that this could not be the cause of McLeod's behaviour. He was terribly +perplexed, and, finally, after several days, he determined to go down to +the scene of the wreck and demand an explanation. + +"It is the proper course to follow," he muttered to himself, one day +after breakfast, while brooding alone over the remnants of the meal, +"for it would be unjust to allow myself to lie under a false imputation, +and it would be equally unjust to allow the McLeods to remain under a +false impression. Perhaps some enemy may have put them against me. +Anyhow, I shall go down and try to clear the matter up. If I succeed-- +well. If not--" + +His thoughts were diverted at this point by the entrance of Bob Smart. +That energetic individual had been to visit the frost-bitten seamen, for +whose comfort an old out-house had been made weather-tight, and fitted +up as a rough-and-ready hospital. + +"They're all getting on famously," said Bob, rubbing his hands, as he +sat down and pulled out the little black pipe, to which he was so much +addicted. "Green's left little toe looks beautiful this morning, quite +red and healthy, and, I think, won't require amputation, which is well, +for it is doubly a _left_ little toe since you cut off the right one +yesterday. His big toe seems to my amateur eye in a thoroughly +convalescent state, but his left middle finger obviously requires +removal. You'll do it to-day, I suppose?" + +"Yes, I meant to do it yesterday," answered Redding, with much gravity, +"but gave it another chance. How's Brixton?" + +"Oh, he's all right. He groans enough to make one believe he's the +worst of 'em all, but his hurts are mostly skin deep, and will heal no +doubt in course of time. His nose, certainly, looks blobby enough, like +an over-ripe plum, and I rather think it's that which makes him growl so +horribly; but after all, it won't be shortened more than quarter of an +inch, which will be rather an advantage, for it was originally too long. +Then as to Harper and Jennings, they are quite cheery and their +appetites increasing, which is the best of signs, though, I fear, poor +fellows, that the first will lose a hand and the other a foot. The +dressings you put on yesterday seem to have relieved them much. I wish +I could say the same for the poor nigger. His foot is sure to go. It's +in such a state that I believe the cleverest surgeon alive couldn't save +it, and, even if he could, what's left of it would be of no use. You +know I have a mechanical turn, and could make him a splendid wooden leg +if you will pluck up courage to cut it off." + +"No," said Redding decidedly; "it's all very well to lop off a finger or +a toe with a razor, but I don't think it's allowable for an amateur to +attempt a foot except under circumstances of extreme urgency." + +"Well, it don't much matter," continued Bob Smart, drawing vigorously at +the black pipe, "for we'll have an opportunity of sending them up to +Quebec in a week or so, and in the meantime the poor fellows are very +jolly considering their circumstances. That man Ned Wright keeps them +all in good humour. Although, as you know, he has suffered severely in +hands and feet, he feels himself well enough to limp about the room and +act the part, as he says, of `stooard and cook to the ship's company.' +He insisted on beginning last night just after you left, and I found him +hard at it this morning when I went to see them. He must have been the +life of the ship before she went ashore, for he goes about continually +trolling out some verses of his own composing, though he has got no more +idea of tune in him than the main-top-mast back-stay, to which, or +something of the same kind, he makes very frequent reference. Here is a +verse of his latest composition:--" + + O-o-o-o-h! it's once I froze the end of my nose, + On the coast of Labrador, sir, + An' I lost my smell, an' my taste as well, + An' my pipe, which made me roar, sir; + But the traders come, an' think wot they done! + They poked an' pinched an' skewered me; + They cut an' snipped, an' they carved an' ripped, + An' they clothed an' fed an' cured me. + + Chorus.--Hooroo! it's true + An' a sailor's life for me. + +"Not bad, eh?" said Bob. + +"Might be worse," answered Redding, with the air of one whose mind is +preoccupied. + +"I've often wondered," continued Bob Smart, in a moralising tone, and +looking intently at the wreaths of smoke that curled from his lips as if +for inspiration, "I've often wondered how it is that sailors--especially +British sailors--appear to possess such an enormous fund of +superabundant rollicking humour, insomuch that they will jest and sing +sometimes in the midst of troubles and dangers that would take the +spirit out of ordinary men such as you and me." + +"Bob Smart," said Redding earnestly. + +"Yes," said Bob. + +"D'you know it strikes me that I ought to go down to the wreck to see +how the McLeods are getting on." + +"O ah! well, to change the subject, d'you know Mr Redding, that same +idea struck me some days ago, for Jonas Bellew has left them to look +after his own affairs, and the Indians were to go north on the 13th, so +the McLeods must have been living for some time on salt provisions, +unless they have used their guns with better success than has been +reported of them. If you remember, I have mentioned it to you more than +once, but you seemed to avoid the subject." + +"Well, perhaps I did, and perhaps I had my reasons for it. However, I +am going down now, immediately after dressing the poor fellows' sores. +Will you therefore be good enough to get the small boat ready, with some +fresh meat, and tell Le Rue and Michel to be prepared to start in an +hour or so." + +The day after the above conversation McLeod senior walked down to the +wreck accompanied by Flora. Kenneth had been left in charge of the +invalid, whose system had received such a shock that his recovery was +extremely slow, and it had been deemed advisable not only to avoid, but +to forbid all reference to the wreck. Indeed Roderick himself seemed to +have no desire to speak about it, and although he had roused himself on +the arrival of his relations, he had hitherto lain in such a weak +semi-lethargic state that it was feared his head must have received +severer injury than was at first supposed. On the morning of the day in +question an Indian had arrived with a letter from Mr Gambart of +Partridge Bay, which had not tended to soothe the luckless father. + +"It seems very unfortunate," said Flora, in a sympathetic tone. + +"_Seems_ unfortunate?" exclaimed McLeod, with some asperity, "it _is_ +unfortunate. Why, what could be more so? Just think of it, Flo! Here +am I without a penny of ready cash in the world, and although Gambart +knows this as well as I do myself, he writes me, first, that he has sold +Loch Dhu to that fellow Redding, and now that he has bought Barker's +Mill for me without my sanction!" + +"But you gave him leave to sell Loch Dhu," suggested Flora. + +"Oh, yes, yes, of course, and I told him to let it go at a low sum, for +I needed cash very much at the beginning of this venture at Jenkins +Creek. But I find that our expenses are so small that I could afford to +hold on for some time on the funds I have. To be sure Gambart could not +know that, but--but--why did the fellow go and buy that mill for me? +It's being a great bargain and a splendid property, just now are no +excuse, for he knew my poverty, and also knew that I shall feel bound in +honour to take it off his hands when I manage to scrape the sum +together, because of course it was done in a friendly way to oblige me. +No doubt he will say that there's no hurry about repayment, and that he +won't take interest, and so forth, but he had no business to buy it at +all!" + +Flora made no reply to this, for she saw that her father was waxing +wroth under his misfortunes. + +Her silence tended rather to increase his wrath, for he was dissatisfied +with himself more than with others, and would have been glad even of +contradiction, in order that he might relieve his feelings by +disputation. + +While this state of mind was strong upon him they reached a turn in the +path that brought the wreck into view, and revealed the fact that a boat +lay on the beach, from which three men had just landed. Two of these +remained by the boat, while the third advanced towards the woods. + +Flora's hand tightened on her father's arm. + +"Surely that is Mr Redding," she said. + +The frown which had clouded McLeod's brow instantly deepened. "Go," he +said, "walk slowly back towards the hut. I will overtake you in a few +minutes." + +Flora hesitated. "Won't you let me stay, father?" + +"No, my dear, I wish to talk privately with Redding--go." + +He patted her kindly on the head, and she left him with evident +reluctance. + +"Good-morning, Mr McLeod," said Redding, as he approached. + +"Good-morning," replied the other stiffly, without extending his hand. + +Redding flushed, but restrained himself, and continued in a calm +matter-of-course tone: + +"Thinking it probable that you might be in want of fresh provisions, I +have run down with a small supply, which is at your service." + +"Thank you," replied McLeod, still stiffly, "I am not quite destitute of +fresh provisions, and happen to have a good supply of ammunition; +besides, if I were starving I would not accept aid from one who has +deceived me." + +"Deceived you!" exclaimed Redding, waxing indignant more at McLeod's +tone and manner than his words, "wherein have I deceived you?" + +As he put the question his mind leaped to the line of demarcation +between the properties at Jenkins Creek, and he racked his brains +hastily to discover what he could have said or done at their first +interview that could have been misunderstood. McLeod was one of those +men in whom anger is easily increased by the exhibition of anger in +others. It was therefore in a still more offensive tone that he said:-- + +"Sir, you deceived me by violating the laws of hospitality--by keeping +silence when candour required you to speak." + +"Sir," exclaimed Redding, still thinking of the line of demarcation, and +losing his temper altogether, "in all that has passed between us I have +invariably spoken with candour, and if at any time I have kept silence I +consider that in so doing I have done you a favour." + +When two fiery men clash, an explosion is the natural result. + +"Very well, sir," said McLeod, with a look of withering contempt, "as I +don't accept your favours, I don't thank you for them, so you may take +yourself off as soon as you please." + +He waited for no reply but turned abruptly on his heel and walked away, +while Redding, with a face of scarlet, strode down the beach and leaped +into his boat. + +Not a word did he utter to his astonished men beyond ordering them to +pull back to the fort. Apparently the rate of rowing was not fast +enough to please him, for in a few minutes he ordered Michel to take the +helm, and himself seized the oar, which he plied with such vigour that, +as Michel afterwards averred, the rudder had to be kept nearly hard +a-port all the time to prevent the boat being pulled round even though +Le Rue was working like a steam engine and blowing like a grampus! + +Towards the afternoon this exercise, coupled with reflection, cooled +Reginald Redding's spirit while it warmed his body, and at last he +deemed it right to pause for the purpose of letting the men have a pipe +and a mouthful of food. While they were busy refreshing themselves he +leant over the stern, gazed down into the water, and brooded over his +supposed wrongs. + +Whether it was the clearness of the still water, through which he could +see the little fish and crabs floating and crawling placidly among the +pebbles at the bottom, or the soothing influence of the quiet afternoon, +or the sedative effect of a reflective condition of mind, we know not, +but it is certain that, before the pipes were smoked out, he fur-trader +observed that his reflected visage wore a very unpleasant-looking frown, +insomuch that a slight smile curled his lips. The contrast between the +frowning brows and the smiling lips appeared so absurd that, to prevent +the impropriety of becoming too suddenly good-humoured, he turned his +eyes towards his men, and encountered the perplexed gaze of Le Rue, as +that worthy sat with his elbows on his knees in the calm enjoyment of +his pipe. + +Redding at once resumed his frown. + +"Francois," said he, "did you have much conversation with McLeod before +he dismissed you on the way down?" + +"Oui, Monsieur, we had ver moche conversatione." + +"Can you remember what it was about?" + +"Oh oui. 'Bout a'most all tings. I tell him de mos' part of my +histoire,--me fadder, me moder, broder, sister, an' all dat, 'bout vich +he seem not to care von buttin. Den ve convarsatione 'bout de +fur-trade, an' de--" + +"Well well," interrupted Redding, "but what was the last thing, just +before he sent you off?" + +"Ah let me zee. Oui--it was 'bout you'self. I tell him 'bout de +property--de Lock Doo vat you was--" + +"Le Rue," exclaimed Redding, suddenly and very angrily, "you're a +consummate ass!" + +"Vraiment," said Le Rue, with a slight shrug of his shoulders, "I am so +for remaining in de service of von goose!" + +There was such good-humoured impudence in the man's face as he said this +that Redding laughed in spite of himself. + +"Well," he said, "your readiness to talk has at all events caused bad +feeling between me and the McLeods. However, it don't matter. Ship +your oars again and give way with a will." + +The men obeyed, and as Redding sat buried in meditation at the helm he +became convinced that McLeod's anger had been aroused by his silence in +regard to the purchase of Loch Dhu, for he himself had almost forgotten +that the sudden entrance of the Indian had checked the words which were +at the moment on his lips. When he thought of this, and of Flora, he +resolved to pull back and explain matters, but when he thought of +McLeod's tone and manner he determined to proceed to the fort. Then, +when he thought of Roderick's precarious state, his mind again wavered, +but, other thoughts and plans suggesting themselves, he finally decided +on returning home. + +That night he encamped in the woods and continued to brood over the +camp-fire long after his men were asleep. Next day he reached the Cliff +Fort, when, after seeing to the welfare of the wrecked men, he informed +Bob Smart that he meant to absent himself for about a week, and to leave +him, Bob, in charge. He also gave orders that no one should quit the +post, or furnish any assistance to the McLeods. + +"But, sir," said Bob Smart, in surprise, "they will be sure to starve." + +"No fear of them," replied Redding, "Kenneth is young and active, and +they have plenty of ammunition." + +"If report be true," returned Bob, "neither Kenneth nor any of his kin +can hit a sheep at twenty yards off. Bellew says they are as blind as +bats with the gun." + +"No matter. They have a boat, and one of them can row back to Jenkins +Creek for fresh meat. Anyway, do as I bid you, and be very careful of +the wrecked men." + +Smart, although fond of discussion, knew how to obey. He therefore said +no more, but bade Redding good-night and retired to his humble couch, +which, he was wont to say, was a fine example of compensation, inasmuch +as the fact of its being three inches too narrow was counterbalanced by +its being six inches too long. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +A FRIEND IN NEED. + +"Look here, my love," said plump little Mr Gambart to his plump little +wife, bustling into the parlour with an open letter in his hand, "isn't +this vexatious! Just listen--it's from McLeod:-- + + "`My dear Gambart,--I take the opportunity of Jonas Bellew leaving me + to write a line in reply to your last, which was brought on to me by + the Indian. You will be sorry to learn that the _Betsy_ of Plymouth, + in which all my goods were embarked, is lying here a total wreck, and + the goods have been washed out of her--not a bale or cask saved! But, + worse than that, poor Roderick has been badly injured in getting + ashore, and now lies here unable to move. Many of the poor fellows + who composed the crew have been lost, and those saved are in a sad + condition. I was sorry to hear of Loch Dhu being sold, but now that + my fortunes have been so utterly and literally wrecked it is perhaps + as well as it is. I'm sorry, however, that you bought Barker's Mill + for me. In the circumstances I will find it difficult to repay you + for a long time to come.' + +"Now," said Gambart, "isn't this vexing? I thought it would please him +so much, for of course he knows that I would never press him for the +money." + +"Did you tell him," asked Mrs Gambart, "that in the event of his not +wanting the mill you would gladly take it yourself?" + +"No, I didn't think that necessary." + +"Didn't I," continued the little lady, pursing her little mouth, "didn't +I advise you to do so at the time?" + +"You certainly did, my dear." + +"And did I not," continued Mrs Gambart, severely, "advise you, further, +_not_ to keep Mr Redding in ignorance as to who was the late owner of +Loch Dhu, for fear of mischief coming of it?" + +"Yes, my love," answered Gambart, with ever-increasing humility, "but no +mischief _has_ come of it apparently, and I thought--" + +"Oh yes," interrupted his lady, "I know you _thought_. You always think +when you shouldn't, and you never think when you should." + +In his heart the little man repelled this accusation, but thought it +best in the circumstances to hold his tongue. After a moment or two the +lady went on:-- + +"Besides, you don't know that no mischief has come of it. Take my +advice now. Write immediately to Mr McLeod, telling him that you only +ventured to buy the mill for him because you were very anxious to secure +it for yourself in the event of his not wanting it, and add that in the +selling of Loch Dhu you concealed from Mr Redding the name of the +former owner because of an absurd fancy in your own mind which it is not +worth while to mention." + +"Won't that be a sort of humiliating confession?" urged the little man +timidly. + +To this the little woman replied that it was better to make a _sort of_ +humiliating confession than to admit the full extent of his unreasoning +stupidity; and the surveyor, half agreeing with her in his own mind, +immediately went to his study, wrote the epistle as directed, and sent +it off express by an Indian. + +Meanwhile the party at the wreck found themselves in the unpleasant +condition of having nothing fresh to eat. As we have said, the trapper +had left them, knowing that the fur-traders and the Indians were quite +capable of looking after their wants. But soon afterwards the Indians +went away down the gulf to hunt seals, and none of the McLeods being +able to speak their language, they could not, or would not, be got to +understand that one of them was wanted to remain and hunt for the sick +man. As McLeod had still some provisions on hand, with a gun and +ammunition besides his boat, he did not much mind the departure of the +red men at the time. As time wore on, however, and their fresh +provisions failed, he became anxious, and wished that he had not so +angrily declined the aid offered by the fur-traders. Neither father nor +son had the slightest taste for field sports, so that when they saw the +track of an animal they found it almost impossible to follow it up with +success, and when, by good fortune, they chanced to discover a +"partridge" or a squirrel they invariably missed it! This incapacity +and a scarcity of game had at last reduced them to extremities. + +"Kenneth," said his father one morning, as they walked up and down +beside the hut in which Flora sat talking to Roderick, "we must give up +our vain attempts at hunting, for it is quite plain that you and I are +incapable of improvement. After that splendid shot of yours, in which +you only blew a bunch of feathers out of a bird that was not more than +four yards from the end of your gun--" + +"That," interrupted Kenneth, "was the very cause of my missing. Had it +been a little further off I should certainly have killed it. But, +father, you seem to forget the squirrel's tail, which is the only trophy +you have to show of your prowess after blazing away right and left for +two weeks!" + +"No, I don't forget it, lad," returned his father, "it is because of +these sad truths that I have now determined to give it up and send you +with the boat for supplies to Jenkins Creek. Of course Ian cannot send +to us, having no boat, and Rooney or the Indian would take too long a +time to scramble through the tangled woods of this rugged part of the +coast, besides which, all they could carry on their backs would not last +more than a few days, and as long as Ian does not hear from us he will +naturally think that all is going on well. It will take you six days to +go and come, but, what with the little that remains of our fresh meat +and a chance partridge or two, we shall be able to keep Roderick going +till you return. He's getting stronger now, and as for Flo and me, we +can get along famously with salt pork and biscuit for so short a time." + +"But why should I not go rather to the Cliff Fort?" asked Kenneth. "The +store there is a public one, and our buying food from the fur-traders +will lay us under no obligation to Mr Redding, whom, excuse me, I think +you have judged too hastily." + +"It matters not how I have judged him," retorted McLeod sternly. "There +is no occasion to go near him at all. As I have said--" + +He stopped abruptly, for at that moment an Indian was seen approaching. + +He was a powerfully-built fellow, with a handsome figure and face, +though the latter was very dark, and he walked with a stoop and an +awkward slouching gait. He wore his long black hair in straight elfin +locks; those in front having been cut across the forehead just above the +eyebrows, as being the simplest method of clearing the way for vision. +He was clad in a very dirty soiled hunting-shirt and leggings of +leather, with moccasins of the same, and carried a long gun on his +shoulder. McLeod also observed, with much satisfaction, that several +partridges hung by their necks from the belt which encircled his waist. + +Of course the meeting that ensued was conducted in pantomime, with a few +useless remarks in English from Kenneth, who appeared to entertain an +idea which is not uncommon among sailors, namely, that a man who knows +nothing whatever of the language is more likely to understand bad than +good English! "Where you come from?" he asked, after shaking hands with +the Indian and giving him the salutation, "watchee?" (what cheer), +which he understood, and returned. + +A shake of the head was the reply. + +"Where you go--_go_?" said Kenneth, in the hope apparently that emphasis +might awaken intelligence. + +Again the Indian shook his head. + +"What's the use of asking him?" said McLeod senior. "See, here is a +language that is understood by all men." + +He pulled a powder flask from his pocket, and, shaking it at the ear of +the savage, offered it to him, at the same time pointing to the +partridges and to his own open mouth. + +This pantomime was evidently comprehensible, for the man at once threw +the birds at McLeod's feet, and, taking the flask, emptied its contents +into his own powder-horn. + +"Good," said McLeod, picking up the birds. "Now, Kenneth, if we can +prevail on this redskin to remain by us it won't be necessary to send +you to Jenkins Creek." + +As he spoke, Flora issued from the opening of the tarpaulin tent, +exclaiming--"Father, I've just--" + +On seeing the red man she stopped and gazed at him with much interest. +The native returned the gaze, and for one moment a gleam of admiration +lighted up his swarthy countenance, but it passed like a flash of light +and left that stoical look of impassibility so common to the men of the +American wilderness. + +"What were you about to say, Flo?" asked her father. + +"That I've just learned a piece of good news from Roderick. He seemed +inclined to talk about the wreck this morning. Seeing him so much +better, I gave him encouragement, and he has just told me that before +leaving England he had taken the advice of a friend and insured the +whole of our goods that were shipped in the _Betsy_." + +"That's good news indeed, Flo; better than I deserve after my +unbelieving remarks about the efficacy of prayer. And here is good news +for you of another kind," he added, holding up one of the partridges, +"fresh meat for Roderick, and a hunter who looks as if he could keep us +well supplied if we can only prevail on him to stay with us. Try what +you can do, Flo; if he has a spark of gallantry in him he will be sure +to understand what you say to him; but it must be in the language of +signs, Flo, for he evidently understands no English." + +Thus appealed to, Flora advanced to the Indian, and, taking him somewhat +timidly by the sleeve, led him to the opening of the tent and pointed to +the sick man; then to the clean-scraped bones of the last rabbit he had +eaten, after which she pointed to the game just purchased, touched the +Indian's gun, and, making a sweep with her hand towards the forest +looked him full in the face. + +The Indian allowed the faintest possible smile to curl his lips for a +moment and then with a slight inclination of his head, but without +uttering a word, turned abruptly and went off at a long swinging pace +into the woods. + +"'Pon my word, Flo," said McLeod, "your pantomime has been most +effective, but I have doubts as to whether he understands you to have +invited him to be our hunter, or commanded him to go about his +business." + +"I think we've seen the last of him," said Kenneth, somewhat gloomily. + +"He will return," said Flora, with decision. + +"Well, time will show," rejoined McLeod, "meanwhile we will delay the +trip to Jenkins Creek for a day, and I'll go have a talk with Roderick +about that lucky insurance business." + +Time did settle the matter of the Indian's intentions almost sooner than +had been expected, for that same evening he returned with a further +supply of fresh meat and laid it down at Flora's feet. Nothing, +however, would prevail on him to remain and sup with the party. Having +received a small supply of powder and shot in payment, he at once turned +away and re-entered his native wilderness. + +Thus day by day for about a week the silent man made his appearance +every evening with fresh supplies, and, we might almost say, disappeared +after delivering them. One day Kenneth determined to offer to accompany +him on his next appearance. Accordingly he prepared his gun, rolled up +his blanket and strapped it on his shoulders, and when the Indian +arrived in the evening as usual, he presented himself equipped for the +chase. + +The Indian expressed some surprise in his looks, and at first seemed to +object to Kenneth's companionship, but at length gave in and they +entered the forest together. + +It seemed at first as if the red man wished to test the physical powers +of his white brother, for he led him over hill and dale, through swamp +and brake, during the greater part of that night. Fortunately there was +bright moonlight. But Kenneth was stout of frame and enduring in +spirit; he proved to be quite a match for the redskin. + +At last they encamped under a tall pine, and, after a hearty supper, sat +staring at each other and smoking in silence until sleep induced them to +lie down. Next morning by daybreak Kenneth was roused by his companion, +who, after a hasty meal, led him another long march through a wild but +beautiful country, where several partridges and rabbits were shot by the +Indian, and a great many more were missed by Kenneth, much to the +amusement of his companion. + +Towards evening the red man turned his steps in the direction of the +tarpaulin tent. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +AN ADVENTURE AND A SURPRISE. + +That evening the elder McLeod and Flora had adventure which nearly cost +them their lives. + +As the sun began to descend, Roderick, who was recovering fast under the +influence of good-cheer and good nursing, begged Flora to go out and +walk with her father, as she had not left his side all day. + +She consented, and sauntered with her father in the direction of the +seashore. + +Now it so happened that a brown bear, of a species which is still to be +found on the uninhabited parts of the Labrador coast, had selected that +hour and that locality for his own evening promenade! At a certain part +of the slight track which had been formed by the McLeods in their visits +to the shore, the bushes were very thick, and here, on rounding a bend +in the track, they met the bear face to face. Had there been some +little space between them, the animal would probably have turned and +fled; but, being taken by surprise, he stood fast. + +McLeod and his daughter stood aghast on seeing the monster. The former +was unarmed, with the exception of a small hunting-knife and a stout +walking-stick. In the first rush of his feelings he suddenly flung his +stick at the bear, and with so true an aim, that the heavy head struck +it exactly on the point of its nose. Nothing could have been more +unfortunate, for the creature's rage was at once excited. With a savage +growl he rose on his hind legs in the attitude of attack. + +"Quick! run back, Flo, I'll check him here," cried McLeod, drawing the +little hunting-knife. + +But poor Flora was incapable of running. White with terror she stood +gazing at the bear as if fascinated. Her father, seeing this, stepped +in front of her with that overwhelming rush of determination which is +sometimes felt by courageous men when under the influence of despair, +for he felt that with such a weapon he might as well have assailed an +elephant. + +At that moment the well-known voice of Kenneth was heard to utter a +tremendous shout close at hand. Almost at the same instant a sharp +crack was heard, and the bear fell at McLeod's feet, shot through the +heart. + +We need scarcely say that it was a ball from the gun of the Indian which +had thus opportunely put an end to the bear's career, and still less +need we remark that profuse and earnest were the thanks bestowed on him +by the whole party. + +"We must christen you Sharpeye after this lucky shot," said Kenneth, +when the excitement had subsided. "Now, Sharpeye," he added, taking his +red friend by the arm, "you _must_ stay and sup with us to-night. Come +along, whether you understand me or not, I'll take no denial." + +If the Indian did not understand the language of his friends he +evidently understood their pantomime, for he made no further objection +to remain, but accompanied them to the camp, and sat silently smoking at +their fire, which was kindled in front of the tent door, so that the +sick man might enjoy the blaze as well as the companionship. + +While thus engaged they were suddenly interrupted by the appearance of +another Indian, who advanced quietly into the circle of light, and sat +down. + +"A messenger, no doubt," said McLeod, after the first salutation. + +A messenger he indeed proved to be, for after casting a furtive look, +not unmingled with surprise and suspicion, at his brother redskin, he +opened a small bag which hung at his girdle, and delivered to McLeod +senior a very dirty-looking letter. + +"Ha! from Gambart," he exclaimed, reading the inscription. "Let us see +what--Hallo! Sharpeye, where are you off to?" + +This question was called forth in consequence of the red man rising +quietly and throwing his gun on his shoulder. Instead of replying, +however, he turned abruptly and walked off into the woods. + +"The most unaccountable man I ever knew," exclaimed Kenneth. "I +shouldn't wonder if this messenger and he are implacable foes, and can't +bear to sit at the same fire together." + +The remark which Kenneth began half in jest, was finished in earnest, +for he had not done speaking when the messenger also arose and glided +into the woods. + +"Get the gun ready," said McLeod, unfolding the letter, "there's no +saying what these fellows may do when their blood's up." + +Kenneth obeyed, while his father read the letter, which, as the reader +has no doubt guessed was that written by Gambart at his imperious little +wife's command. + +"I was _sure_ there must be some satisfactory explanation of the +matter," said Flora, when her father had finished reading. + +"So was I," said Kenneth, examining the priming of his gun. + +The elder McLeod felt and looked uncomfortable. "What is it all about?" +asked Roderick, from the tent. + +"Oh, nothing particular," answered his father, "except that there have +been some mistakes and foolish concealments in connection with a certain +Reginald Redding, whom I fear I have been rather hasty in judging." + +"Well, that needn't trouble you," returned Roderick, "for you've only to +explain the mistakes and confess your haste." + +"Hm! I suppose I must," said McLeod, "and I rather think that Flora +will--" + +A deep blush and an imploring look from Flora stopped him. + +Just then a rustle was heard among the leaves outside the circle of the +camp-fire's light, and Kenneth cocked his gun as Sharpeye stalked +forward and sat solemnly down by the fire. + +"I hope you haven't killed him, Sharpeye," said Kenneth, looking with +some anxiety at the Indian's girdle, as though he expected to see a +fresh and bloody scalp hanging there. + +Of course the Indian gave no answer, but the minds of all were +immediately relieved by seeing the messenger return and sit down as he +had done before, after which he opened his bag, and, drawing out another +letter, handed it to McLeod. + +"What! another letter? Why did you not deliver it with the first? +Forgot, I suppose--eh! What have we here? It's from--I do believe, +it's from Reginald Redding. The Indian must have called at the Cliff +Fort in passing, but however he got it, here it is, so I'll read it:-- + + "`Dear Sir,' (Hm, rather friendly, considering),--`After leaving you + on the occasion of our last unsatisfactory meeting,' (I should think + it was), `it occurred to me that such indignation on your part,' (not + to mention his own!) `must have been the result of some mistake or + misapprehension. After some reflection I recalled to mind that on the + night I first met you, and learned that the name of your property in + Partridge Bay was Loch Dhu, the sudden entrance of the messenger with + the sad and startling news of the wreck prevented my telling you that + I had become the purchaser of that property, and that, strange though + it may seem to you, I did not up to that moment know the name of the + person from whom I had bought it. This ignorance was owing to a fancy + of my friend, Mr Gambart, to conceal the name from me--a fancy which + I am still unable to account for, but which doubtless can be explained + by himself. If this "silence" on my part is, as I think probable, the + cause of your supposing that I intentionally "deceived" you, I trust + that you will find this explanation sufficient to show that you have + been labouring under a mistake.' (No doubt I was.) `If, on the other + hand, I am wrong in this conjecture, I trust that you will do me the + justice to point out the so-called deception, of which I am supposed + to be guilty, in order that I may clear myself from a false + imputation.'" + +"Well, father, that clears up the matter sufficiently, doesn't it?" said +Kenneth. + +"It does, unquestionably," replied McLeod, "especially when coupled with +the letter from Gambart, which has so strangely reached us at the same +time with that of Redding. Well well, after all, things looked bad to +me at first. I'm sorry, however, that I gave way to temper when we met, +for the explanation might have come at that time; but the hot-headed +young fellow gave way to temper too!" + +McLeod said this in the tone of a man who, while admitting his fault, +looks about for palliating circumstances. + +"However," he continued, rising and folding the letter, "I must write at +once to let him know that his explanation is satisfactory, and that-- +that--" + +"That you apologise for your haste," said Flora, with a laugh. + +"Certainly not," replied McLeod stoutly. "I forgive _him_ for getting +angry with _me_, but I am not called on to ask forgiveness for being +indignant with a man whom I supposed I had good reason to believe was a +deceiver." + +"It is not necessary to ask forgiveness when no offence was meant," said +Sharpeye, in good English, as he suddenly rose, and, advancing to the +elder McLeod, held out his hand. + +McLeod gazed at the Indian for a moment in silent amazement. + +"I fear," continued Sharpeye, with a smile, "that I have to ask your +forgiveness for having ventured really to practise deception on you." + +He removed a dark wig as he spoke, and revealed to the astonished gaze +of the McLeods the light curly hair of Reginald Redding! + +"Miraculous apparition!" exclaimed McLeod, grasping the proffered hand, +"can I venture to believe my eyes?" + +He glanced, as if for sympathy, to the spot where Flora had been seated; +but Flora, for reasons best known to herself, had quietly retired to the +interior of the tarpaulin tent and was just then absorbed in her duties +as nurse to the invalid. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE LAST. + +Several months after the events narrated in the last chapter a very +merry party was assembled in Mr William Gambart's drawing-room at +Partridge Bay. + +The party was small, by reason of the drawing-room not being large, but +it was very select and remarkably hearty. Plump little Gambart was +there, beaming with good-will. His plump little partner was also there, +radiant with matronly smiles, his plump little daughters too, bewitching +with youthful beauty, set off by indescribable flounces, combined with +flutterings of white lace. Their aspect was also rendered more +captivating and charmingly confused by ribbons, rings, and ringlets, for +the reader must remember that we write of those good old times before +the introduction of that severely classic style of hair-dressing which +converts now nine-tenths of the fair sex into human cockatoos. + +Among the guests assembled were McLeod and his three sons, clad, not in +the half trapper halt Indian style in which they were introduced to the +reader, but in superfine broadcloth garments, the admirable fit of which +suggested the idea that they must have been sewed on in Regent Street, +London, and sent out to Canada with their owners in them, in separate +boxes, labelled "this side up, with care." There was also present Mr +Bob Smart, smarter in personal appearance than he had ever been before, +in virtue of a blue surtout with brass buttons which had lain for many +years on sale in the store at the Cliff Fort, but never had been bought +because the Indians who coveted were too poor to purchase it, and no +other human being in his senses would have worn it, its form being +antique, collar exceedingly high, sleeves very tight, and the two brass +buttons behind being very close together and unreasonably high up. But +Bob was not particular. Nothing, he said, would prevent him being at +that party. He saw as well as felt that he looked like a maniac in the +blue coat, but not possessing a dress-coat, and being possessed of moral +heroism, he shut his mental eyes, ignored taste and feeling, put on the +coat, and went. + +Jonas Bellew was also there, in a new blue cloth capote, scarlet belt, +and moccasins, in which he looked every inch a man, if not a gentleman. +Sometimes in the kitchen, often in the pantry, occasionally in the +passages, and always in the way, for he was excitedly abrupt in his +motions, might have been seen the face and figure of Francois Le Rue. +Francois was obviously performing the part of a waiter, for he wore a +badly-fitting suit of black, white cotton gloves three sizes too large, +and pumps, with white socks, besides which he flourished a white napkin +as if it were a war-banner, and held on tenaciously to a cork-screw. + +The pretty face of Elise was also there, assisting to spread moral +sunshine on the party and fair cloths on all the tables. A close +observer might have noted that wherever Elise shone there Le Rue took +occasion to sun himself! + +Deep in the mysterious regions of the back-kitchen--which bore as much +resemblance to civilised back-kitchens as an English forest does to the +"back-woods"--Mister Rooney might have been seen, much dirtier than +other people owing to the nature of his culinary occupations and his +disregard of appearances. A huge favour, once white, but now dirty, +decorated the Irishman's broad chest. Similar favours (not dirty) were +pinned to the breasts of all the guests, giving unmistakable evidence +that the occasion was a wedding. + +"Hooroo! ye descendant of an expatriated frog," cried Rooney, staggering +under the weight of an enormous pot, "come here, won't 'ee, an' lind a +hand. Wan would think it was yer own weddin' was goin' on. Here, slew +round the crane, ye excitable cratur." + +"Preehaps mes own veddin' vill foller ver' quick," said Le Rue, with a +sly glance at Elise, as he assisted Rooney to suspend the big pot on its +appropriate hook. + +"Troth then. I can't compliment the taste o' the poor girl as takes +'ee," replied Rooney, with a still slyer glance at Elise. + +The girl referred to remarked that no girl in her senses would accept +either of them as a gift, and went off tossing her head. + +Just then a cheer was heard in the lobby, and Elise, Le Rue, and Rooney +rushed out in time to see Flora McLeod like an April day--all smiles and +tears--handed into a gig; she was much dishevelled by reason of the +various huggings she had undergone from sundry bridesmaids and +sympathetic female friends, chief among whom was a certain Mrs Crowder, +who in virtue of her affection for the McLeod family, her age, and her +deafness, had constituted herself a compound of mother and grandmamma to +Flora. The gig was fitted to hold only two. When Flora was seated, +Reginald Redding--also somewhat dishevelled owing to the hearty, not to +say violent, congratulations of his male friends--jumped in, seized the +reins and cracked his whip. The horse being a young and spirited +animal, performed a series of demivolts which caused all the ladies to +scream, threw the gig into convulsions, and old Mrs Crowder almost into +fits. Thereafter it shot away like an arrow, amid ringing cheers and a +shower of old slippers. + +This was the last of Redding and Flora for that day, but it was by no +means the last of the party. In those regions at that time (whatever +they may do in those regions nowadays) wedding parties were peculiarly +festive scenes, in which dancing was one of the means by which not only +the young but the middle-aged were wont to let off superabundant steam, +and a violin more or less cracked and vigorously played was the +instrument which created inspiration. It would take a volume to tell of +all that was said and done on that great and memorable occasion--how the +plump little Miss Gambarts fluttered about like erratic flowers, or like +captivating comets drawing a long tail of the Partridge Bay young men +after them; how, as the evening wore on, all social distinctions were +swept away and the servants were invited to exchange duty in the kitchen +for dancing in the hall; how Le Rue danced so often with Elise and made +his admiration of her so obvious that she became quite ashamed of him +and cast him off in favour of any one else who asked her; how Jonas +Bellew was prevailed on to ask Mrs Crowder to dance a Scotch reel with +him, which she not only agreed to do but did to the delight of Jonas and +the admiration of all the company; how Mister Rooney volunteered to +dance the sailor's hornpipe, and acquitted himself so well, despite the +inability of the violinist to play the proper tune, that his performance +was greeted with rapturous applause; how the floor at last began to show +symptoms of giving way, and how their only musician did finally give +way, from sheer exhaustion, and thus brought matters to an abrupt close. + +But all this, and a great deal more that we have not told, was as +nothing compared to the "feast of reason and the flow of soul," that +occurred at the supper, a meal which had been expressly reserved as a +last resource when the violinist should break down. Another volume, at +least, would be required to record it all. + +There was food of course in profusion, and there was also, which is not +always so common, splendid sauce in the form of appetite. There were +also songs and toasts; and speeches which would have done credit to the +halls of more civilised lands, in all of which the performers exhibited +every phase of human nature, from the sublime to the ridiculous. + +At this stage of the proceedings McLeod senior conducted himself with +that manly straightforward vigour which had characterised him during the +earlier part of the festivities, though he faltered a little and almost +broke down when, in a speech, he referred to Flora as a bright sunbeam +whom God in His love had permitted to shine upon his path for many +years, who in prosperity had doubled his joys, and who in adversity had +taught him that the Hearer and Answerer of prayer not only can, but does +bring good out of evil, of which fact he was a living instance that day, +for it was the loss of his goods by shipwreck which had enabled him, at +a critical moment in his affairs, to make a fresh start in life, that +had now placed him on the road to prosperity, so that "_Wrecked but not +Ruined_" he thought, might be appropriately adopted as his family motto. +It was this wreck also which had, in a great measure, brought him into +intimate acquaintance with the man who had saved his daughter's life, as +well as his own (cheers), and who had that day carried off a prize +(renewed cheers), a jewel (enthusiastic cheers, in which the ladies +attempted to transcend the gentlemen), he repeated, a prize, the true +value of which was fully known only to himself. + +Here the remainder of the speech--of which a few emphasised words, such +as blessings, health, prosperity, etcetera, were heard--was lost in a +burst of continuous cheering, which suddenly terminated in an uproarious +shout of laughter when Le Rue accidentally knocked the neck off a bottle +of beer, whose contents spouted directly and violently into his face! + +The touch of feeling displayed in McLeod's speech filled little Mr +Gambart with an irresistible desire to start to his legs and "claim his +rights." He regarded himself, in connection with Mrs Gambart, he said, +with a winning smile at his fair partner, as the author and authoress +(humanly speaking of course) of the whole affair, by which he meant the +affair that had just come off so auspiciously. He had seen, and Mrs +Gambart had seen, from the very first, that Mr Redding was deeply in +love with Flora McLeod (as how could he be otherwise), that he, Mr +Gambart, (including Mrs Gambart), foresaw that in selling Loch Dhu to +Mr Redding he was virtually sending it back to the McLeod family; that +unless he had concealed the name of the owners at first he could not +have effected the sale, for Mr Redding at that time thought the McLeods +were--were--. Here an awful frown from Mrs Gambart, intimating that he +(Gambart) was touching on subjects which he had no right to make public, +threw him into confusion, out of which condition he delivered himself, +amidst some laughter and much applause, by a bold and irrelevant +continuation of the subject, to the effect that, knowing all that and a +great deal more besides, he (including Mrs Gambart) had not only +effected a sale which, he might say, was the main-sail that had caught +the breezes of prosperity by which the craft of the McLeods, so to +speak, had been blown so happily that day into the Partridge Bay haven +of felicity (tremendous cheering, during which Gambart wiped his bald +head and flushed face, and collected himself). Moreover, he continued, +it was he who, against McLeod's will, had bought Barker's Mill (hear +hear! from Bob Smart, who thought he was quoting poetry), and although, +of course, he had not known that the goods in the _Betsy_ were insured +(at this point another frown pulled him up and made him reckless), he +nevertheless would stoutly hold against any man (cheers) or woman +(cheers and laughter), that he, including Mrs Gambart, had had a finger +in the pie, which, after simmering for a considerable time (the pie, not +the finger) in the oven of--of (cheers) ah! had that night been done +(brown, from Bob Smart) _to a turn_ (severely), and been dished up in +such splendid style that a more auspicious climax could--could-- + +The remainder was drowned in vociferous cheering, in which Mr Gambart +himself joined, shook hands with the guests on each side of him, sat +down, and blew his nose. + +It was at this point that Bob Smart, overcome by a gush of feeling, +burst into a song, the burden of which was that the light of former days +being faded, their glories past and shaded, and the joys of other days +being too bright to last, it was not worth while doing more than making +a simple statement of these facts without expressing a decided opinion +either one way or another in regard to them. + +As he sang this rather pretty song in the voice of a cracked tea-kettle, +a thrill of delight ran through the company when deaf Mrs Crowder, +being ignorant of what was going on, suddenly said that as there seemed +to be a pause in the flow of soul, she, although a woman, would venture +to express a sentiment, if not to propose a toast. This was of course +received with a shout of joy, which effectually quenched Mr Smart. In +a sweet tremulous little voice the old lady said, "let us wish, with all +our hearts, that health, happiness, charity, and truth may dwell as long +as it shall stand, under the roof-tree of Loch Dhu!" + +Of course this called McLeod to his legs again, after which there were +more speeches and more songs--both grave and gay--until "nature's sweet +restorer, balmy sleep," began gently to tickle the guests, reminding +them that felicity is not less enhanced by occasions of exuberant mirth +than by periods of tranquil repose. + +What more can we say, good reader, than that old Mrs Crowder's wish was +fulfilled to the letter, for a large family, trained by Redding and +Flora to respect the laws of God and love the name of Jesus, caused the +roof-tree of Loch Dhu to ring full many a year thereafter with joyous +tones, that were the direct result of "health, happiness, charity, and +truth." + +McLeod senior dwelt hard by, and was made glad, as well as thoughtful, +by the sight. Ian and Kenneth made a comfortable livelihood out of the +saw-mill at Jenkins Creek, which ultimately became a populous +settlement, whither the young Reddings went annually in summer to enjoy +themselves, in which enjoyment they were greatly aided by Jonas Bellew +the trapper. Roderick was equally prosperous with Barker's Mill at +Partridge Bay. Rooney continued to the end of his days in the service +of his old master, while Le Rue and Elise, a happy couple, became +respectively butler and cook at Loch Dhu, over the door of which +establishment Redding had engraved his father-in-law's favourite +motto--"Wrecked but not Ruined." + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Wrecked but not Ruined, by R.M. 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