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+Project Gutenberg's Matilda Montgomerie, by Major (John) Richardson
+
+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/license
+
+
+Title: Matilda Montgomerie
+       The Prophecy Fulfilled
+
+Author: Major (John) Richardson
+
+Release Date: May 22, 2012 [EBook #39758]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MATILDA MONTGOMERIE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Brian Sogard, Shanna D. Bokoff and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: Bold text denoted by =equal signs=.
+
+
+
+
+MATILDA MONTGOMERIE;
+
+OR,
+
+THE PROPHECY FULFILLED.
+
+
+  A TALE OF THE LATE AMERICAN WAR.
+  BEING THE SEQUEL TO WACOUSTA.
+
+
+  By MAJOR RICHARDSON,
+  AUTHOR OF "WACOUSTA," "HARDSCRABBLE," "ECARTE," ETC., ETC.
+
+
+  NEW YORK:
+  POLLARD & MOSS,
+  42 Park Place and 37 Barclay Street.
+  1888.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+At the northern extremity of the small town which bears its name
+situated at the head of Lake Erie, stands, or rather stood--for the
+fortifications then existing were subsequently destroyed--the small
+fortress of Malden.
+
+Few places in America, or in the world, could, at the period embraced by
+our narrative, have offered more delightful associations than that which
+we have selected for an opening scene. Amherstburg was at that time one
+of the loveliest spots that ever issued from the will of a beneficent
+and gorgeous nature, and were the world-disgusted wanderer to have
+selected a home in which to lose all memory of conventional and
+artificial forms, his choice would assuredly have fallen here. And
+insensible, indeed, to the beautiful realities of the sweet wild
+solitude that reigned around, must that man have been, who could have
+gazed unmoved from the banks of the Erie, on the placid lake beneath his
+feet, mirroring the bright starred heavens on its unbroken surface, or
+throwing into full relief the snow-white sail and dark hull of some
+stately war-ship, becalmed in the offing, and only waiting the rising of
+the capricious breeze, to waft her onward on her _then_ peaceful mission
+of dispatch. Lost indeed to all perception of the natural must he have
+been, who could have listened, without a feeling of voluptuous
+melancholy, to the plaintive notes of the whip-poor-will, breaking on
+the silence of night, and harmonising with the general stillness of the
+scene. How often have we ourselves, in joyous boyhood, lingered amid the
+beautiful haunts, drinking in the fascinating song of this strange
+night-bird, and revelling in a feeling we were too young to analyze, yet
+cherished deeply--yea, frequently, up to this hour, do we in our dreams
+revisit scenes no parallel to which has met our view, even in the course
+of a life passed in many climes; and on awaking, our first emotion is
+regret that the illusion is no more.
+
+Such was Amherstburg and its immediate vicinity, during the early years
+of the present century, and up to the period at which our story
+commences. Not, be it understood that even _then_ the scenery itself had
+lost one particle of its loveliness, or failed in aught to awaken and
+fix the same tender interest. The same placidity of earth and sky and
+lake remained, but the poor whip-poor-will, driven from his customary
+abode by the noisy hum of warlike preparation, was no longer heard, and
+the minds of the inhabitants, hitherto disposed, by the quiet pursuits
+of their uneventful lives, to feel pleasure in its song, had eye or ear
+for naught beyond what tended to the preservation of their threatened
+homes. It was the commencement of the war of 1812.
+
+Let us, however introduce the reader more immediately to the scene.
+Close in his rear, as he stands on the elevated bank of the magnificent
+river of Detroit, and about a mile from its point of junction with Lake
+Erie, was the fort of Amherstburg, its defences consisting chiefly of
+stockade works, flanked, at its several angles, by strong bastions, and
+covered by a demi-lune of five guns, so placed as to command every
+approach by water. Distant about three hundred yards on his right, was a
+large, oblong, square building, resembling in appearance the red,
+low-roofed blockhouses peering above the outward defences of the fort.
+Surrounding this, and extending to the skirt of the thinned forest, the
+original boundary of which was marked by an infinitude of dingy, half
+blackened stumps, were to be seen numerous huts or wigwams of the
+Indians, from the fires before which arose a smoke that contributed,
+with the slight haze of the atmosphere, to envelope the tops of the tall
+trees in a veil of blue vapor, rendering them almost invisible. Between
+these wigwams and the extreme verge of the thickly wooded banks, which
+sweeping in bold curvature for an extent of many miles, brought into
+view the eastern extremity of Turkey Island, situated midway between
+Amherstburg and Detroit, were to be seen, containing the accumulated
+Indian dead of many years, tumuli, rudely executed, it is true, but
+picturesquely decorated with such adornments as it is the custom of
+these simple mannered people to bestow on the last sanctuaries of their
+departed friends. Some three or four miles, and across the water, (for
+it is here that the river acquires her fullest majesty of expansion,) is
+to be seen the American island of Gros Isle, which, at the period of
+which we write, bore few traces of cultivation--scarcely a habitation
+being visible throughout its extent--various necks of land, however,
+shoot out abruptly, and independently of the channel running between it
+and the American main shore, form small bays or harbors in which boats
+may always find shelter and concealment.
+
+Thus far the view to the right of the spectator, whom we assume to be
+facing the river. Immediately opposite to the covering demi-lune, and in
+front of the fort, appeared, at a distance of less than half a mile, a
+blockhouse and battery, crowning the western extremity of the island of
+Bois Blanc, one mile in length, and lashed at its opposite extremity by
+the waters of Lake Erie, which, at this precise point receives into her
+capacious bosom the vast tribute of the noble river connecting her with
+the higher lakes. Between this island and the Canadian shore lies the
+only navigable channel for ships of heavy tonnage, for although the
+waters of the Detroit are of vast depth every where above the island,
+they are near their point of junction with the lake, and, in what is
+called the American channel, so interrupted by shallows and sandbars,
+that no craft larger than those of a description termed "Durham boats,"
+can effect the passage--on the other hand the channel dividing the
+island from the Canadian shore is at once deep and rapid, and capable of
+receiving vessels of the largest size. The importance of such a passage
+was obvious; but although a state of war necessarily prevented aid from
+armed vessels to such forts of the Americans as lay to the westward of
+the lake, it by no means effectually cut off their supplies through the
+medium of the Durham boats already alluded to. In order to intercept
+those, a most vigilant watch was kept by the light gun boats despatched
+into the lesser channel for that purpose.
+
+A blockhouse and battery crowned also the eastern extremity of the
+island, and both, provided with a flagstaff for the purpose of
+communication by signal with the fort, were far from being wanting in
+picturesque effect. A subaltern's command of infantry, and a
+bombvadier's of artillery, were the only troops stationed there, and
+these were rather to look out for and report the approach of whatever
+American boats might be seen stealing along their own channel, than with
+any view to the serious defence of a post already sufficiently commanded
+by the adjacent fortress. In every other direction the island was
+thickly wooded--not a house, not a hut arose, to diversify the wild
+beauty of the scene. Frequently, it is true, along the margin of its
+sands might be seen a succession of Indian wigwams, and the dusky and
+sinewy forms of men gliding round their fires, as they danced to the
+monotonous sound of the war dance; but these migratory people seldom
+continuing long in the same spot, the island was again and again left to
+its solitude.
+
+Strongly contrasted with this, would the spectator, whom we still
+suppose standing on the bank where we first placed him, find the view on
+his left. There would he have beheld a small town, composed entirely of
+wooden houses variously and not inelegantly painted; and receding
+gradually from the river's edge to the slowly disappearing forest, on
+which its latest rude edifice reposed. Between the town and the fort,
+was to be seen a dockyard of no despicable dimensions, in which the hum
+of human voices mingled with the sound of active labor--there too might
+be seen, in the deep harbor of the narrow channel that separated the
+town from the island we have just described, some half-dozen gallant
+vessels bearing the colors of England, breasting with their dark prows
+the rapid current that strained their creaking cables in every strand,
+and seemingly impatient of the curb that checked them from gliding
+impetuously into the broad lake, which, some few hundred yards below,
+appeared to court them to her bosom. But although in these might be
+heard the bustle of warlike preparation, the chief attention would be
+observed to be directed towards a large half finished vessel, on which
+numerous workmen of all descriptions were busily employed, evidently
+with a view of preparing for immediate service.
+
+Beyond the town again might be obtained a view of the high and
+cultivated banks, sweeping in gentle curve until they at length
+terminated in a low and sandy spot, called, from the name of its
+proprietor, Elliott's point. This stretched itself towards the eastern
+extremity of the island, so as to leave the outlet to the lake barely
+wide enough for a single vessel to pass at a time, and that not without
+skilful pilotage and much caution.
+
+Assuming the reader to be now as fully familiar with the scene as
+ourselves, let him next, in imagination, people it, as on the occasion
+we have chosen for his introduction. It was a warm, sunny day, in the
+early part of July. The town itself was as quiet as if the glaive of war
+reposed in its sheath, and the inhabitants pursued their wonted
+avocations with the air of men who had nothing in common with the active
+interest which evidently dominated the more military portions of the
+scene. It was clear that among these latter some cause for excitement
+existed, for, independently of the unceasing bustle within the
+dockyard--a bustle which however had but one undivided object, the
+completion and equipment of the large vessel then on the stocks--the
+immediate neighborhood of the fort presented evidence of some more than
+ordinary interest. The encampment of the Indians on the verge of the
+forest, had given forth the great body of their warriors, and these clad
+in their gayest apparel, covered with feathers and leggings of bright
+colors, decorated with small tinkling bells that fell not inharmoniously
+on the ear, as they kept tune to the measured walk of their proud
+wearers, were principally assembled around and in front of the large
+building we have described as being without, yet adjacent to, the fort.
+These warriors might have been about a thousand in number, and
+amused themselves variously--(the younger at least)--with
+leaping--wrestling--ball-playing--and the foot race--in all which
+exercises they are unrivalled. The elders bore no part in these
+amusements, but stood, or sat cross-legged on the edge of the bank,
+smoking their pipes, and expressing their approbation of the prowess or
+dexterity of the victors in the games, by guttural, yet rapidly uttered
+exclamations. Mingled with these were some six or seven individuals,
+whose glittering costume of scarlet announced them for officers of the
+garrison, and elsewhere disposed, some along the banks and crowding the
+battery in front of the fort, or immediately round the building, yet
+quite apart from their officers, were a numerous body of the inferior
+soldiery.
+
+But although these distinct parties were assembled, to all appearance,
+with a view, the one to perform in, the other to witness, the active
+sports we have enumerated, a close observer of the movements of all
+would have perceived there was something more important in
+contemplation, to the enactment of which these exercises were but the
+prelude. Both officers and men, and even the participators in the
+sports, turned their gaze frequently up the Detroit, as if they expected
+some important approach. The broad reach of the wide river, affording an
+undisturbed view, as we have stated, for a distance of some nine or ten
+miles, where commenced the near extremity of Turkey Island, presented
+nothing, however, as yet, to their gaze, and repeatedly were the
+telescopes of the officers raised only to fall in disappointment from
+the eye. At length a number of small dark specks were seen studding the
+tranquil bosom of the river, as they emerged rapidly, one after the
+other, from the cover of the island. The communication was made, by him
+who first discovered them, to his companions. The elder Indians who sat
+near the spot on which the officers stood, were made acquainted with
+what even their own sharp sight could not distinguish unaided by the
+glass. One sprang to his feet, raised the telescope to his eye, and with
+an exclamation of wonder at the strange properties of the instrument,
+confirmed to his followers the truth of the statement. The elders,
+principally chiefs, spoke in various tongues to their respective
+warriors. The sports were abandoned, and all crowded to the bank with
+anxiety and interest depicted in their attitudes and demeanor.
+
+Meanwhile the dark specks upon the water increased momentarily in size.
+Presently they could be distinguished for canoes, which, rapidly
+impelled, and aided in their course by the swift current, were not long
+in developing themselves to the naked eye. These canoes, about fifty in
+number, were of bark, and of so light a description, that a man of
+ordinary strength might, without undergoing serious fatigue, carry one
+for miles. The warriors who now propelled them, were naked in all save
+their leggings and waist cloths, their bodies and faces begrimed with
+paint: and as they drew near, fifteen was observed to be the complement
+of each. They sat by twos on the narrow thwarts; and, with their faces
+to the prow, dipped their paddles simultaneously into the stream, with a
+regularity of movement not to be surpassed by the most experienced
+boat's crew of Europe. In the stern of each sat a chief guiding his bark
+with the same unpretending but skilful and efficient paddle, and behind
+him drooping in the breezeless air, and trailing in the silvery tide,
+was to be seen a long pendant, bearing the red cross of England.
+
+It was a novel and beautiful sight to behold that imposing fleet of
+canoes, apparently so frail in texture that the dropping of a pebble
+between the skeleton ribs might be deemed sufficient to perforate and
+sink them, yet withal so ingeniously contrived as to bear safely not
+only the warriors who formed their crews, but also their arms of all
+descriptions, and such light equipment of raiment and necessaries as
+were indispensable to men who had to voyage long and far in pursuit of
+the goal they were now rapidly attaining. The Indians already encamped
+near the fort, were warriors of nations long rendered familiar by
+personal intercourse, not only with the inhabitants of the district, but
+with the troops themselves; and these, from frequent association with
+the whites, had lost much of that fierceness which is so characteristic
+of the North American Indian in his ruder state. Among these, with the
+more intelligent Hurons, were the remnants of those very tribes of
+Shawnees and Delawares whom we have recorded to have borne, half a
+century ago, so prominent a share in the confederacy against England,
+but who, after the termination of that disastrous war, had so far
+abandoned their wild hostility, as to have settled in various points of
+contiguity to the forts to which they, periodically, repaired to receive
+those presents which a judicious policy so profusely bestowed.
+
+The reinforcement just arriving was composed principally of warriors who
+had never yet pressed a soil wherein civilization had extended her
+influence--men who had never hitherto beheld the face of a white, unless
+it were that of the Canadian trader, who, at stated periods, penetrated
+fearlessly into their wilds for purposes of traffic, and who to the
+bronzed cheek that exposure had rendered nearly as swarthy as their own,
+united not only the language but so wholly the dress--or rather the
+undress of those he visited, that he might easily have been confounded
+with one of their own dark-blooded race. So remote, indeed, were the
+regions in which some of these warriors had been sought, that they were
+strangers to the existence of more than one of their tribes, and upon
+these they gazed with a surprise only inferior to what they manifested,
+when, for the first time, they marked the accoutrements of the British
+soldier, and turned with secret, but acknowledged awe and admiration
+upon the frowning fort and stately shipping, bristling with cannon, and
+vomiting forth sheets of flame as they approached the shore. In these
+might have been studied the natural dignity of man. Firm of step--proud
+of mien--haughty and penetrating of look, each leader offered in his own
+person a model to the sculptor, which he might vainly seek elsewhere.
+Free and unfettered every limb, they moved in the majesty of nature, and
+with an air of dark reserve, passed, on landing, through the admiring
+crowd.
+
+There was one of the number, however, and his canoe was decorated with a
+richer and a larger flag, whose costume was that of the more civilized
+Indians, and who in nobleness of deportment, even surpassed those we
+have last named. This was Tecumseh. He was not of the race of either of
+the parties who now accompanied him, but of one of the nations, many of
+whose warriors were assembled on the bank awaiting his arrival. As the
+head chief of the Indians, his authority was acknowledged by all, even
+to the remotest of these wild but interesting people, and the result of
+the exercise of his all-powerful influence had been the gathering
+together of those warriors, whom he had personally hastened to collect
+from the extreme west, passing in his course and with impunity, the
+several American posts that lay in their way.
+
+It was amidst the blaze of a united salvo from the demi-lune crowning
+the bank, and from the shipping, that the noble chieftain, accompanied
+by the leaders of those wild tribes, leaped lightly, yet proudly to the
+beach; and having ascended the steep bank by a flight of rude steps cut
+out of the earth, finally stood amid the party of officers waiting to
+receive them. It would not a little have surprised a Bond street
+exquisite of that day to have witnessed the cordiality with which the
+dark hand of the savage was successively pressed in the fairer palms of
+the English officers, neither would his astonishment have been abated,
+on remarking the proud dignity of carriage maintained by the former, in
+this exchange of courtesy, as though, while he joined heart to hand
+wherever the latter fell, he seemed rather to bestow than to receive a
+condescension.
+
+Had none of those officers ever previously beheld him, the fame of his
+heroic deeds had gone sufficiently before the warrior to have insured
+him their warmest greeting and approbation, and none could mistake a
+form that, even amid those who were a password for native majesty, stood
+alone in its bearing; but Tecumseh was a stranger to few. Since his
+defeat on the Wabash he had been much at Amherstburg where he had
+rendered himself conspicuous by one or two animated and highly eloquent
+speeches, having for their object the consolidation of a treaty, in
+which the Indian interests were subsequently bound in close union with
+those of England; and, up to the moment of his recent expedition, had
+cultivated the most perfect understanding with the English chiefs.
+
+It might, however, be seen that even while pleasure and satisfaction at
+a reunion with those he in turn esteemed, flashed from his dark and
+eager eye, there was still lurking about his manner that secret jealousy
+of distinction, which is so characteristic of the haughty Indian. After
+the first warm salutations had passed, he became sensible of the absence
+of the English chief; but this was expressed rather by a certain
+outswelling of his chest, and the searching glance of his restless eye,
+than by any words that fell from his lips. Presently, he whom he sought,
+and whose person had hitherto been concealed by the battery on the bank,
+was seen advancing towards him, accompanied by his personal staff. In a
+moment the shade passed away from the brow of the warrior, and warmly
+grasping and pressing, for the second time, the hand of a youth--one of
+the group of junior officers among whom he yet stood, and who had
+manifested even more than his companions the unbounded pleasure he took
+in the chieftain's re-appearance--he moved forward, with an ardor of
+manner that was with difficulty restrained by his sense of dignity, to
+give them the meeting.
+
+The first of the advancing party was a tall, martial looking man,
+wearing the dress and insignia of a general officer. His rather florid
+countenance was eminently fine, if not handsome, offering, in its more
+Roman than Grecian contour, a model of quiet, manly beauty; while the
+eye beaming with intelligence and candor, gave, in the occasional
+flashes which it emitted, indication of a mind of no common order. There
+was, notwithstanding, a benevolence of expression about it that blended
+(in a manner to excite attention) with a dignity of deportment, as much
+the result of habitual self command, as of the proud eminence of
+distinction on which he stood. The sedative character of middle age,
+added to long acquired military habits, had given a certain rigidity to
+his fine form, that might have made him appear to a first observer even
+older than he was, but the placidity of a countenance beaming good will
+and affability, speedily removed the impression, and, if the portly
+figure added to his years, the unfurrowed countenance took from them in
+equal proportion.
+
+At his side, hanging on his arm and habited in naval uniform, appeared
+one who, from his familiarity of address with the General, not less than
+by certain appropriate badges of distinction, might be known as the
+commander of the little fleet then lying in the harbor. Shorter in
+person than his companion, his frame made up in activity what it wanted
+in height, and there was that easy freedom in his movements which so
+usually distinguishes the carriage of the sailor, and which now offered
+a remarkable contrast to that rigidity we have stated to have attached,
+albeit unaffectedly, to the military commander. His eyes, of a much
+darker hue, sparkled with a livelier intelligence, and although his
+complexion was also highly florid, it was softened down by the general
+vivacity of expression that pervaded his frank and smiling countenance.
+The features, regular and still youthful, wore a bland and pleasing
+character; while neither, in look, nor bearing, nor word could there be
+traced any of that haughty reserve usually ascribed to the "lords of the
+sea." There needed no other herald to proclaim him for one who had
+already seen honorable service, than the mutilated stump of what had
+once been an arm: yet in this there was no boastful display, as of one
+who deemed he had a right to tread more proudly because he had chanced
+to suffer, where all had been equally exposed, in the performance of a
+common duty. The empty sleeve, unostentatiously fastened by a loop from
+the wrist to a button of the lapel, was suffered to fall at his side,
+and by no one was the deficiency less remarked than by himself.
+
+The greeting between Tecumseh and these officers, was such as might be
+expected from warriors bound to each other by mutual esteem. Each held
+the other in the highest honor, but it was particularly remarked that
+while the Indian Chieftain looked up to the General with the respect he
+felt to be due to him, his address to his companion, whom he now beheld
+for the first time, was warmer, and more energetic; and as he repeatedly
+glanced at the armless sleeve, he uttered one of those quick ejaculatory
+exclamations, peculiar to his race, and indicating, in this instance,
+the fullest extent of approbation. The secret bond of sympathy which
+chained his interest to the sailor, might have owed its being to another
+cause. In the countenance of the latter there was much of that eagerness
+of expression, and in the eye that vivacious fire, that flashed, even in
+repose, from his own swarthier and more speaking features; and this
+assimilation of character might have been the means of producing that
+preference for, and devotedness to, the cause of the naval commander,
+that subsequently developed itself in the chieftain. In a word, the
+General seemed to claim the admiration and the respect of the
+Indian--the Commodore, his admiration and friendship.
+
+The greeting between these generous leaders was brief. When the first
+salutations had been interchanged, it was intimated to Tecumseh, through
+the medium of an interpreter then in attendance on the General, that a
+war-council had been ordered, for the purpose of taking into
+consideration the best means of defeating the designs of the Americans,
+who, with a view to offensive operations, had, in the interval of the
+warrior's absence, pushed on a considerable force to the frontier. The
+council, however, had been delayed, in order that it might have the
+benefit of his opinions and of his experience in the peculiar warfare
+which was about to be commenced.
+
+Tecumseh acknowledged his sense of the communication with the bold
+frankness of the inartificial son of nature, scorning to conceal his
+just self-estimate beneath a veil of affected modesty. He knew his own
+worth, and while he overvalued not one iota of that worth, so did he not
+affect to disclaim a consciousness of the fact--that within his swarthy
+chest and active brain, there beat a heart and lived a judgment, as
+prompt to conceive and execute as those of the proudest _he_ that ever
+swayed the destinies of a warlike people. Replying to the complimentary
+invitation of the General, he unhesitatingly said he had done well to
+await his arrival, before he determined on the course of action, and
+that he should now have the full benefit of his opinions and advice.
+
+If the chief had been forcibly prepossessed in favor of the naval
+commander the latter had not been less interested. Since his recent
+arrival to assume the direction of the fleet, Commodore Barclay had had
+opportunities of seeing such of the chiefs as were then assembled at
+Amherstburg; but great as had been his admiration of several of these,
+he had been given to understand they fell far short, in every moral and
+physical advantage, of what their renowned leader would be found to
+possess, when, on his return from the expedition in which he was
+engaged, fitting opportunity should be had of bringing them in personal
+proximity. This admission was now made in the fullest sense, and as the
+warrior moved away to give the greetings to the several chiefs, and
+conduct them to the council hall, the gallant sailor could not refrain
+from expressing in the warmest terms to General Brock, as they moved
+slowly forward with the same intention, the enthusiastic admiration
+excited in him by the person, the manner, and the bearing, of the noble
+Tecumseh.
+
+Again the cannon from the battery and the shipping pealed forth their
+thunder. It was the signal for the commencement of the council, and the
+scene at that moment was one of the most picturesque that can well be
+imagined. The sky was cloudless, and the river, no longer ruffled by the
+now motionless barks of the recently arrived Indians, yet obeying the
+action of the tide, offered, as it glided onward to the lake, the image
+of a flood of quicksilver; while, in the distance that lake itself,
+smooth as a mirror, spread far and wide. Close under the bank yet
+lingered the canoes, emptied only of their helmsmen (the chiefs of the
+several tribes,) while with strange tongues and wilder gestures, the
+warriors of these, as they rested on their paddles, greeted the loud
+report of the cannon--now watching with eager eye the flashes from the
+vessel's sides, and now upturning their gaze, and following with wild
+surprise, the deepening volumes of smoke that passed immediately over
+their heads, from the guns of the battery, hidden from their view by
+the elevated and overhanging bank. Blended with each discharge arose the
+wild yell, which they, in such a moment of novel excitement, felt it
+impossible to control, and this, answered by the Indians above, and
+borne in echo almost to the American shore, had in it something
+indescribably grand and startling. On the bank itself the scene was
+singularly picturesque. Here were to be seen the bright uniforms of the
+British officers, at the head of whom was the tall and martial figure of
+General Brock, furthermore conspicuous from the full and drooping
+feather that fell gracefully over his military hat, mingled with the
+wilder and more fanciful head-dresses of the chiefs. Behind these again,
+and sauntering at a pace that showed them to have no share in the
+deliberative assembly, whither those we have just named were now
+proceeding, amid the roar of artillery, yet mixed together in nearly as
+great dissimilarity of garb, were to be seen numbers of the inferior
+warriors and of the soldiery--while, in various directions, the games
+recently abandoned by the adult Indians were now resumed by mere boys.
+The whole picture was one of strong animation, contrasting as it did
+with the quiet of the little post on the Island, where some twelve or
+fifteen men, composing the strength of the detachment, were sitting or
+standing on the battery, crowned, as well as the fort and shipping, and
+in compliment to the newly arrived Indians, with the colors of England.
+
+Such was the scene, varied only as the numerous actors in it varied
+their movements, when the event occurred with which we commence our next
+chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Several hours had passed away in the interesting discussion of their war
+plans, and the council was nearly concluded, when suddenly the attention
+both of the officers and chiefs was arrested by the report of a single
+cannon. From the direction of the sound, it was evident that the shot
+had been fired from the battery placed on the southern or lakeward
+extremity of the island of Bois Blanc, and as the circumstance was
+unusual enough to indicate the existence of some approaching cause for
+excitement, several of the younger of both, who, from their youth, had
+been prevented from taking any active share in the deliberations of the
+day, stole, successively and unobservedly, through the large
+folding-doors of the building, which, owing to the great heat of the
+weather, had been left open. After traversing about fifty yards of
+sward, intersecting the high road, which, running parallel with the
+river, separated the council-hall from the elevated bank, the officers
+found, collected in groups on the extreme verge of this latter, and
+anxiously watching certain movements in the battery opposite to them,
+most of the troops and inferior Indians they had left loitering there at
+the commencement of the council. These movements were hasty, and as of
+men preparing to repeat the shot, the report of which had reached them
+from the opposite extremity of the island. Presently the forms, hitherto
+intermingled, became separate and stationary--an arm of one was next
+extended--then was seen to rise a flash of light, and then a volume of
+dense smoke, amid which the loud report found its sullen way, bellowing
+like thunder through some blackening cloud, while, from the peculiar
+nature of the sound, it was recognised, by the experienced in those
+matters, to have proceeded from a shotted gun.
+
+The war of 1812 had its beginning in the manner thus described. They
+were the first shots fired in that struggle, and although at an object
+little calculated to inspire much alarm, still, as the first indications
+of an active hostility, they were proportionably exciting to those whose
+lot it was thus to "break ground," for operations on a larger scale.
+
+Although many an eager chief had found it difficult to repress the
+strong feeling of mingled curiosity and excitement, that half raised him
+from the floor on which he sat, the first shot had been heard without
+the effect of actually disturbing the assembly from its fair propriety;
+but no sooner had the second report, accompanied as it was by the wild
+yell of their followers without, reached their ears, than, wholly losing
+sight of the dignity attached to their position as councillors, they
+sprang wildly up, and seizing the weapons that lay at their side, rushed
+confusedly forth, leaving Tecumseh, and two or three only of the more
+aged chiefs, behind them. The debate thus interrupted, the council was
+adjourned, and soon afterwards General Brock, accompanied by his staff,
+and conversing, through his interpreter, with the Shawnee chieftain as
+they walked, approached the groups still crowded along the bank of the
+river.
+
+Meanwhile, after the discharge of the last gun, the battery on the
+island had been quitted by the officer in command, who, descending to
+the beach, preceded by two of his men, stepped into a light skiff that
+lay chained to the gnarled root of a tree overhanging the current, and
+close under the battery. A few sturdy strokes of the oars soon brought
+the boat into the centre of the stream, when the stout, broad-built
+figure and carbuncled face of an officer in the uniform of the
+forty-first regiment, were successively recognised, as he stood upright
+in the stern.
+
+"What the deuce brings Tom Raymond to us in such a hurry? I thought the
+order of the general was that he should on no account leave his post,
+unless summoned by signal," observed one of the group of younger
+officers who had first quitted the council hall, and who now waited with
+interest for the landing of their companion.
+
+"What brings him here, can you ask?" replied one at the side of the
+questioner, and with a solemnity of tone and manner that caused the
+whole of the group to turn their eyes upon him, as he mournfully shook
+his head.
+
+"Aye, _what_ brings him here?" repeated more than one voice, while all
+closed inquiringly around for information.
+
+"Why the thing is as clear as the carbuncles on his own face--the boat,
+to be sure." And the truism was perpetrated with the same provokingly
+ludicrous, yet evidently forced, gravity of tone and manner.
+
+"Execrable, Middlemore.--Will you never give over that vile habit of
+punning?"
+
+"Detestable!" said another.
+
+"Ridiculous!" repeated a third.
+
+"Pshaw! the worst you ever uttered!" exclaimed a fourth, and each, as he
+thus expressed himself, turned away with a movement of impatience.
+
+"That animal, Raymond, grows like a very porpoise," remarked a young
+captain, who prided himself on the excessive smallness of his waist.
+"Methinks that, like the ground-hogs that abound on his island, he must
+fatten on hickory nuts. Only see how the man melts in the noonday sun.
+But as you say, Villiers, what can bring him here without an order from
+the general? And then the gun last fired. Ha! I have it.--He has
+discovered a Yankee boat stealing along through the other channel."
+
+"No doubt there is _craft_ of some description _in the wind_," pursued
+the incorrigible Middlemore, with the same affected unconsciousness.
+
+"Ha!" returned Captain Molineux, the officer who had commented so freely
+upon the fat lieutenant in the boat--"Your pun, infamous as it would be
+at the best, is utterly without point now, for there has not been a
+breath of wind stirring during the whole morning."
+
+"Pun, did you say?" exclaimed Middlemore, with well affected surprise at
+the charge, "my dear fellow, I meant no pun."
+
+Further remark was checked by an impatience to learn the cause of
+Lieutenant Raymond's abrupt appearance, and the officers approached the
+principal group. The former had now reached the shore, and, shuffling up
+the bank as fast as his own corpulency and the abruptness of the ascent
+would permit, hastened to the general, who stood at some little distance
+awaiting the expected communication of the messenger.
+
+"Well, Mr. Raymond, what is it--what have you discovered from your
+post?" demanded the General, who, with those around him, found
+difficulty in repressing a smile at the heated appearance of the fat
+subaltern, the loud puffing of whose lungs had been audible before he
+himself drew near enough to address the chief--"something important, I
+should imagine, if we may judge from the haste with which you appear to
+have travelled over the short distance that separates us?"
+
+"Something very important, indeed, General," answered the officer,
+touching his undress cap, and speaking huskily from exertion; "there is
+a large bark, sir, filled with men, stealing along shore in the American
+channel, and I can see nothing of the gun boat that should be stationed
+there. A shot was fired from the eastern battery, in the hope of
+bringing her to, but, as the guns mounted there are only carronades, the
+ball fell short, and the suspicious looking boat crept still closer to
+the shore--I ordered a shot from my battery to be tried, but without
+success, for, although within range, the boat hugs the land so closely
+that it is impossible to distinguish her hull with the naked eye."
+
+"The gun boat not to be seen, Mr. Raymond?" exclaimed the General; "how
+is this, and who is the officer in command of her?"
+
+"One," quickly rejoined the Commodore, to whom the last query was
+addressed, "whom I had selected for that duty for the very vigilance and
+desire for service attributed to him by my predecessor--of course I have
+not been long enough here, to have much personal knowledge of him
+myself."
+
+"His name?" asked the General.
+
+"Lieutenant Grantham."
+
+"Grantham?" repeated the General, with a movement of surprise; "It is
+indeed strange that _he_ should forego such an opportunity."
+
+"Still more strange," remarked the commodore, "that the boat he commands
+should have disappeared altogether. Can there be any question of his
+fidelity? the Granthams are Canadians, I understand."
+
+The general smiled, while the young officer who had been noticed so
+particularly by Tecumseh on his landing, colored deeply.
+
+"If," said the former, "the mere circumstance of their having received
+existence amid these wilds can make them Canadians, they certainly are
+Canadians; but if the blood of a proud race can make them Britons, such
+they are. Be they which they may, however, I would stake my life on the
+fidelity of the Granthams--still, the cause of this young officer's
+absence must be inquired into, and no doubt it will be satisfactorily
+explained. Meanwhile, let a second gunboat be detached in pursuit."
+
+The commodore having given the necessary instructions to a young
+midshipman, who attended him in the capacity of an aid-de-camp, and the
+general having dismissed Lieutenant Raymond back to his post on the
+island, these officers detached themselves from the crowd, and, while
+awaiting the execution of the order, engaged in earnest conversation.
+
+"By Jove, the commodore is quite right in his observation," remarked the
+young and affected looking officer, who had been so profuse in his
+witticisms on the corpulency of Lieutenant Raymond; "the general may say
+what he will in their favor, but this is the result of entrusting so
+important a command to a Canadian."
+
+"What do you mean, sir?" hastily demanded one even younger than
+himself--it was the youth already named, whose uniform attested him to
+be a brother officer of the speaker. He had been absent for a few
+minutes, and only now rejoined his companions, in time to hear the
+remark which had just been uttered.
+
+"What do you mean, Captain Molineux?" he continued, his dark eye
+flashing indignation, and his downy cheek crimsoning with warmth. "Why
+this remark before me, sir, and wherefore this reflection on the
+Canadians?"
+
+"Why really, Mr. Grantham," somewhat sententiously drawled the captain;
+"I do not altogether understand your right to question in this tone--nor
+am I accountable for any observations I may make. Let me tell you,
+moreover, that it will neither be wise nor prudent in you, having been
+received into a British regiment to become the Don Quixotte of your
+countrymen."
+
+"_Received_ into a British regiment, sir! do you then imagine that I,
+more than yourself, should feel this a distinction," haughtily returned
+the indignant youth. "But, gentlemen, your pardon," checking himself and
+glancing at the rest of the group, who were silent witnesses of the
+scene; "I confess I do feel the distinction of being admitted into so
+gallant a corps--this in a way, however, that must be common to us all.
+Again I ask, Captain Molineux," turning to that officer, "the tendency
+of the observations you have publicly made in regard to my brother."
+
+"Your question, Mr. Grantham might, with as much propriety, be addressed
+to any other person in the full enjoyment of his senses, whom you see
+here, since it is the general topic of conversation; but, as you seem to
+require an answer from me particularly, you shall have it. My remark
+referred to the absence of the officer in charge of the gun-boat from
+the station allotted to him, at a moment when an _armed_ vessel of the
+enemy is in sight. Is this the fact, or is it not?"
+
+"By which remark," returned the other, "you would imply that said
+officer is either guilty of gross neglect or--"
+
+"I draw no inferences, Mr. Grantham, but even if I did, I should be more
+borne out by circumstances than you imagine."
+
+"It is plain you would insinuate that my brother shuns the enemy,
+Captain Molineux--You shall answer to me for this insult, sir."
+
+"As you please, Mr. Grantham, but on one condition only."
+
+"Name it, sir, name it," said the young officer quickly.
+
+"That it is satisfactorily proved your brother has _not_ shunned the
+enemy."
+
+Bitter feelings swelled the heart of the enthusiastic Grantham, as
+unconsciously touching the hilt of his sword, he replied: "If your hope
+of avoidance rest on this, sir, it will be found to hang upon a very
+thread indeed."
+
+The attention of the group where this unpleasant scene had occurred, and
+indeed of all parties, was now diverted by the sudden appearance of the
+American boat, as, shooting past the head of the island, which had
+hitherto concealed her from the view of the assembled crowds, her spars
+and white sails became visible in the far distance. A slight and
+favorable breeze, blowing off the shore which she still closely hugged,
+had now apparently sprung up, and, spreading all her canvass, she was
+evidently making every effort to get beyond the reach of the battery
+(whither Lieutenant Raymond had returned), under whose range she was
+unavoidably impelled by the very wind that favored her advance. Owing to
+some temporary difficulty, the gun-boat, just ordered by the commodore
+to follow in pursuit, was longer than suited the emergency in getting
+under way, and when she had succeeded in so doing, nearly half an hour
+elapsed before, owing to the utter absence of wind, as well as the
+rapidity of the current, she could be brought by the aid of her long and
+cumbrous sweeps to clear the head of the island. The American, now
+discovered to have a small detachment of troops on board, had by this
+time succeeded in getting out of the range of a fire, which although
+well directed had proved harmless, and, using every exertion of oar and
+sail, bade fair, favored as she was by the breeze which reached not the
+canvass of her enemy, to effect her escape.
+
+Concern sat on every brow, and was variously expressed--loud yells
+marking the fierce disappointment of the Indians, and undisguised
+murmurs that of the more disciplined troops. Coupled with this feeling,
+among the officers at least, naturally arose the recollection of him to
+whose apparent neglect this escape of the enemy was to be attributed,
+until at length the conduct of Lieutenant Grantham was canvassed
+generally, and with a freedom little inferior to that which, falling
+from the lips of Captain Molineux, had so pained his sensitive
+brother--with this difference, however, that in this instance they were
+the candidly expressed opinions of men arraigning the conduct of one of
+their fellows apparently guilty of a gross dereliction from duty, and
+not, as in the former they had seemed to be, with any ungenerous
+allusion to his fidelity.
+
+Warmly, and therefore audibly, commented on as was the unaccountable
+absence of the officer, by individuals of almost every rank, it was
+impossible that many of those observations could escape the attention of
+the excited Henry Grantham. Mortified beyond measure at the fact, yet
+unable, as he had done before, to stand forth the champion of his
+brother's honor, where all (with a very few exceptions, among whom he
+had the consolation to find the general) were united in opinion against
+him, his situation was most painful. Not that he entertained the
+remotest doubt of his brother bearing himself harmlessly through the
+ordeal, but that his generous, yet haughty spirit could ill endure the
+thought of any human being daring to cherish, much less to cast the
+slightest aspersion on his blood.
+
+Finding it vain to oppose himself to the torrent of openly expressed
+opinion, the mortified youth withdrew to a distance, and, hastening
+among the rude tumuli we have described, as being scattered about the
+edge of the bank, stood watching, with folded arms and heaving chest,
+the gradually receding bark of the enemy. Alternately, as he thus gazed,
+his dark eye now flashed with the indignation of wounded pride, now
+dilated with the exulting consciousness of coming triumph. The assurance
+was strong within him, not only that his brother would soon make his
+appearance before the assembled groups who had had the cruelty to impugn
+his conduct, but that he would do so under circumstances calculated to
+change their warm censure into even more vehement applause. Fully
+impressed with the integrity of his absent relative, the impetuous and
+generous hearted youth paused not to reflect that circumstances were
+such as to justify the belief--or at least the doubt--that had been
+expressed, even by the most impartial of those who had condemned him. It
+seemed to him that others ought to have known and judged him as he
+himself did, and he took a secret delight in dwelling on the
+self-reproach which he conceived would attach to them, when it should be
+found how erroneous had been the estimate formed of his character.
+
+While he thus gazed, with eyes intently bent upon the river, and
+manifesting even a deeper interest as the fleeing bark drew momentarily
+nearer to one particular point in the distance, the young officer heard
+footsteps approaching him. Hastily dashing away a tear which had been
+called up by a variety of emotions, he turned and beheld the Chieftain
+Tecumseh, and with him one who, in the full uniform of the British
+Staff, united, in his tall and portly figure, the martial bearing of the
+soldier to the more polished graces of the habitual courtier.
+
+"Henry, my noble boy," exclaimed the latter, as he pressed the hand of
+the youth, "you must not yield to these feelings. I have marked your
+impatience at the observations caused by Gerald's strange absence, but I
+have brought you one who is too partial to you both to join in the
+condemnation. I have explained every thing to him, and he it was who,
+remarking you to be alone, and suspecting the cause, first proposed
+coming to rouse you from your reverie."
+
+Affectionately answering the grasp of his noble looking uncle, Henry
+Grantham turned at the same time his eloquent eye upon that of the
+chieftain, and, in a few brief but expressive sentences, conveyed, in
+the language of the warrior, the gratification he experienced in his
+unchanged confidence in the absent officer.
+
+As he concluded, with a warmth of manner that delighted him to whom he
+addressed himself, their hands met for the third time that day. Tecumseh
+at length replied, by pointing significantly to the canoes which still
+lay floating on the river, unemptied of their warriors, stating at the
+same time, that had not his confidence in his young friend been
+unbounded, he would long since have despatched those canoes in pursuit;
+but he was unwilling the officer should lose any of the credit that must
+attach to the capture. "I know," he concluded, "where he is lying like
+the red skin in pursuit of the enemy. Be patient, and we shall soon see
+him."
+
+Before Henry Grantham could find time to inquire if the place of ambush
+was not the same to which his own hopes, induced by his perfect
+knowledge of localities, had, throughout, pointed as the spot most
+likely to conceal the hitherto invisible gun boat, his attention, and
+that of his immediate companion, was drawn to a scene that carried a
+glow of exultation to the bosoms of them all.
+
+The American boat, long since out of range of the battery, and scudding
+with a speed that mocked the useless exertions of those on board of the
+second gun boat, who could with difficulty impel her through the
+powerful eddy formed by the island, had been gradually edging from her
+own shore into the centre of the stream. This movement, however, had the
+effect of rendering her more distinguishable to the eye, breasting, as
+she did, the rapid stream, as while hugging the land, even when much
+nearer, she had been confounded with the dark line of brushwood which
+connected the forest with the shore. She had now arrived opposite a neck
+of land beyond which ran a narrow, deep creek, the existence of which
+was known only to few, and here it chanced that in the exultation of
+escape, they gave a cheer that was echoed back from either shore,
+hoisting at the same moment the American colors. Scarcely, however, had
+this cheer been uttered, when a second and more animating, was heard
+from a different point, and presently, dashing into the river, and
+apparently issuing from the very heart of the wood, was to be seen the
+gun-boat, which had been the subject of so much conversation, every
+stitch of her white canvass bellying from the masts, and her dark prow
+buried in a wreath of foam created by her own speed. As she neared the
+American a column of smoke, followed a second or two later by a dull
+report, rose from her bows, enveloping her a moment from the view, and
+when next visible she was rapidly gaining on the chase. The yells of the
+Indians and the hurrahs of the soldiers gave an indescribable animation
+to the scene.
+
+This was indeed a moment of proud triumph to the heart of Henry
+Grantham. He saw his brother not only freed from every ungenerous
+imputation, but placed in a situation to win to himself the first
+laurels that were to be plucked in the approaching strife. The
+"Canadian," as he imagined he had been superciliously termed, would be
+the first to reap for Britain's sons the fruits of a war in which those
+latter were not only the most prominent actors, but also the most
+interested. Already, in the enthusiasm of his imagination, he pictured
+to himself the honor and promotion, which bestowed upon his gallant
+brother, would be reflected upon himself, and, in the deep excitement of
+his feelings, he could not avoid saying aloud, heedless of the presence
+of his uncle:
+
+"Now, Captain Molineux, your only difficulty is removed--my brother has
+revenged himself. With me you will have an account to settle on my own
+score."
+
+"What do you mean, Henry?" seriously inquired Colonel D'Egville; "surely
+you have not been imprudent enough to engage in a quarrel with one of
+your brother officers."
+
+Henry briefly recounted the conversation which had taken place between
+Captain Molineux and himself.
+
+"Far be it from my intention to check the nice sense of honor which
+should be inherent in the breast of every soldier," returned his uncle
+impressively, "but you are too sensitive. Henry; Captain Molineux, who
+is, moreover, a very young man, may not have expressed himself in the
+most guarded manner, but he only repeated what I have been compelled to
+hear myself--and from persons not only older, but much higher in rank.
+Take my advice, therefore, and let the matter rest where it is; Gerald,
+you see, has given the most practical denial to any observations which
+have been uttered of a nature derogatory to his honor."
+
+"True," quickly returned the youth, with a flushing cheek, "Gerald is
+sufficiently avenged, but you forget the taunt he uttered against
+Canadians!"
+
+"And if he did utter such taunt, why acknowledge it as such?" calmly
+rejoined Colonel D'Egville; "are you ashamed of the name? I too am a
+Canadian, but so far from endeavoring to repudiate my American birth, I
+feel pride in having received my being in a land where everything
+attests the sublimity and magnificence of nature. Look around you, my
+nephew, and ask yourself what there is in the wild grandeur of these
+scenes to disown. But, ha!"--as he cast his eyes upon the water--"I fear
+Gerald will lose his prize after all; the enemy is giving him the Indian
+double."
+
+During the foregoing short conversation, an important change had been
+effected in the position of the adverse boats. The shot fired,
+apparently with the view of bringing the enemy to, had produced no
+favorable result; but no sooner had the gun-boat come abreast of the
+chase, than the latter, suddenly clewing up her sails, put her helm
+about, and plying every oar with an exertion proportioned to the
+emergency, made rapidly for the coast she had recently left. The
+intention of the crew was evidently to abandon the unarmed boat, and to
+seek safety in the woods. Urged by the rapidity of her own course, the
+gun-boat had shot considerably ahead, and when at length she also was
+put about, the breeze blew so immediately in her teeth that it was found
+impossible to regain the advantage which had been lost. Meanwhile, the
+American continued her flight, making directly for the land, with a
+rapidity that promised fair to baffle every exertion on the part of her
+pursuer. The moment was one of intense interest to the crowd of
+spectators who lined the bank. At each instant it was expected the fire
+of the gun-boat would open upon the fugitives; but although this was
+obviously the course to be adopted, it being apparent a single shot was
+sufficient to sink her--not a flash was visible--not a report was heard.
+Presently, however, while the disappointment of the spectators from the
+bank was rising into murmurs, a skiff filled with men was seen to pull
+from the gun-boat in the direction taken by the chase, which was
+speedily hidden from view by the point of land from which the latter had
+previously been observed to issue. Behind this her pursuer also
+disappeared, and after a lapse of a few minutes, pistol and musket shots
+were distinguished, although they came but faintly on the ear. These
+gradually became more frequent and less distinct, until suddenly there
+was a profound pause--then three cheers were faintly heard--and all
+again was still.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+A full half hour had succeeded to these sounds of conflict, and yet
+nothing could be seen of the contending boats. Doubt and anxiety now
+took the place of the confidence that had hitherto animated the bosoms
+of the spectators, and even Henry Grantham--his heart throbbing
+painfully with emotions induced by suspense--knew not what inference to
+draw from the fact of his brother's protracted absence. Could it be that
+the American, defended as she was by a small force of armed men, had
+succeeded, not only in defeating the aim of her pursuer, but also in
+capturing her. Such a result was not impossible. The enemy against whom
+they had to contend yielded to none in bravery; and as the small bark
+which had quitted the gun-boat was not one third of the size of that
+which they pursued, it followed of necessity, that the assailants must
+be infinitely weaker in numbers than the assailed. Still no signal of
+alarm was made by the gun-boat, which continued to lie to, apparently in
+expectation of the return of the detached portion of her crew. Grantham
+knew enough of his brother's character to feel satisfied that he was in
+the absent boat, and yet it was impossible to suppose that one so imbued
+with the spirit of generous enterprise should have succumbed to his
+enemy, after a contest of so short duration, as, from the number of
+shots heard, this had appeared to be. That it was terminated, there
+could be no doubt. The cheers, which had been followed by an universal
+silence, had given evidence of this fact; yet why, in that case, if his
+brother had been victorious, was he not already on his return?
+Appearances, on the other hand, seemed to induce an impression of his
+defeat. The obvious course of the enemy, if successful, was to abandon
+their craft, cut off from escape by the gun-boat without, and to make
+the best of their way through the woods, to their place of destination,
+the American fort of Detroit--and, as neither party was visible, it was
+to be feared this object had been accomplished.
+
+The minds of all were more or less influenced by these doubts, but that
+of Henry Grantham was especially disturbed. From the first appearance of
+the gun-boat his spirits had resumed their usual tone, for he had looked
+upon the fleeing bark as the certain prize of his brother, whose
+conquest was to afford the flattest denial to the insinuation that had
+been urged against him. Moreover, his youthful pride had exulted in the
+reflection that the first halo of victory would play around the brow of
+one for whom he could have made every personal sacrifice; and now, to
+have those fair anticipations clouded at the very moment when he was
+expecting their fullest accomplishment, was almost unendurable. He felt,
+also, that, although his resolution was thus made to stand prominently
+forth, the prudence of his brother would assuredly be called in
+question, for having given chase with so inferior a force, when a single
+gun fired into his enemy must have sunk her. In the impatience of his
+feelings, the excited young soldier could not refrain from adding his
+own censure of the imprudence, exclaiming, as he played his foot
+nervously upon the ground: "Why the devil did he not fire and sink her,
+instead of following in that nutshell?"
+
+While he was yet giving utterance to his disappointment, a hasty
+exclamation met his ear from the chieftain at his side, who, placing one
+hand on the shoulder of the officer, with a familiar and meaning grasp,
+pointed, with the fore-finger of the other, in the direction in which
+the boats had disappeared. Before Grantham's eye could follow, an
+exulting yell from the distant masses of Indians announced an advantage
+that was soon made obvious to all. The small dark boat of the pursuing
+party was now seen issuing from behind the point, and pulling slowly
+towards the gun-boat. In the course of a minute or two afterwards
+appeared the American, evidently following in the wake of the former,
+and attached by a tow-line to her stern. The yell pealed forth by the
+Indians when the second boat came in view, was deafening in the extreme;
+and everything became commotion along the bank, while the little fleet
+of canoes, which still lay resting on the beach, put off one after the
+other to the scene of action.
+
+Meanwhile, both objects had gained the side of the gun-boat, which,
+favored by a partial shifting of the wind, now pursued her course down
+the river with expanded sails. Attached to her stern, and following at
+quarter cable distance, was to be seen her prize, from which the
+prisoners had been removed.
+
+Informed of the success which had crowned the enterprise of their
+officer, the crews of the several vessels in the harbor swelled the
+crowd assembled on the bank near the fort, to which point curiosity and
+a feeling of interest had moreover brought many of the town's people, so
+that the scene finally became one of great animation.
+
+The gun-boat had now arrived opposite the fort, when the small bark,
+which had recently been used in pursuit, was again drawn up to the
+quarter. Into this, to the surprise of all, was first lowered a female,
+hitherto unobserved; next followed an officer in the blue uniform of the
+United States regular army; then another individual, whose garb
+announced him as being of the militia, and whose rank as an officer was
+only distinguishable from the cockade surmounting his round hat, and an
+ornamented dagger thrust into a red morocco belt encircling his waist.
+After these came the light and elegant form of one, habited in the
+undress of a British naval officer, who, with one arm supported by a
+black silk handkerchief, evidently taken from his throat, and suspended
+from his neck, and with the other grasping the tiller of the rudder,
+stood upright in the boat, which, urged by six stout rowers, now stood
+at his command towards the landing place, above which lingered,
+surrounded by several officers of either service, General Brock and
+Commodore Barclay.
+
+"Well, Commodore, what think you of your Lieutenant now?" observed the
+former to his friend; "the young Canadian you must admit, has nobly
+redeemed my pledge. On the score of his fidelity there could exist no
+doubt, and as for his courage, you see," pointing to the young man's
+arm, "his conquest has not been bloodless to himself, at least."
+
+"With all my soul do I disclaim the wrong I have done him," was the
+emphatic and generous rejoinder. "He is, indeed, a spirited youth; and
+well worthy of the favorable report which led me to entrust him with the
+command--moreover he has an easy grace of carriage which pleased and
+interested me in his favor, when I first saw him. Even now, observe how
+courteously he bends himself to the ear of his female prisoner, as if to
+encourage her with words of assurance, that she may sustain the presence
+and yells of these clamorous beings."
+
+The boat had now reached the beach, but the difficulty of effecting a
+passage, through the band of wild Indians that crowded, yelling, in
+every direction, to take a nearer view of the prisoners, would, perhaps,
+have proved insurmountable, had it not been for the interference of one
+who alone possessed the secret of restraining their lawlessness.
+Tecumseh had descended to the beach, eager to be the first to
+congratulate his young friend. He pressed the hand promptly extended to
+receive his, and then, at a single word, made those give way whose
+presence impeded the landing of the party.
+
+Pursuing their way up the rude steps by which Lieutenant Raymond had
+previously descended, the little band of prisoners soon stood in the
+presence of the group assembled to receive them. On alighting from the
+boat, the youthful captor had been seen to make the tender of his
+uninjured arm to the lady, who, however, had rejected it, with a
+movement, seemingly of indignant surprise, clinging in the same moment
+to her more elderly companion. A titter among the younger officers, at
+Gerald Grantham's expense had followed this rejection of his proffered
+arm.
+
+The young sailor was the first to gain the summit of the bank.
+Respectfully touching his hat, and pointing to the captives, who
+followed a few paces in his rear:
+
+"General--Commodore," he observed, his cheek flushing with a
+consciousness of the gratifying position in which he stood, "I have the
+honor to present to you the first fruits of your good fortune. This
+gentleman," pointing to the elder officer, "is the commander of the
+party, and the lady I believe is----"
+
+"Certainly a non-combatant on this occasion," interrupted the General,
+raising his plumed hat, and bowing to the party alluded to; "Gentlemen,"
+he pursued, addressing the two officers, "I am sorry we do not meet
+exactly on the terms to which we have so long been accustomed; but,
+although the fortune of war has made you rather unwilling guests in the
+present instance, the rites of hospitality shall not be the less
+observed. But Mr. Grantham, you have forgotten to introduce these
+officers by name."
+
+"I plead guilty, General, but the truth is I have neglected to make the
+inquiry myself."
+
+"Major Montgomerie, sir, of the United States Infantry," interposed the
+elderly officer, completely set at his ease by the affable and attentive
+manner of the British leader. "This young lady is my niece."
+
+Again the general slightly, but courteously, bowed. "I will not, Major
+Montgomerie, pay you the ill timed compliment of expressing pleasure in
+seeing you on an occasion like the present, since we must unquestionably
+consider you a prisoner of war; but if the young lady your niece, has
+any desire to continue her journey to Detroit, I shall feel pleasure in
+forwarding her thither under a flag of truce."
+
+"I thank you much, General, for this mark of your attention," returned
+the American; "but I think I may venture to answer for my niece, that
+she will prefer remaining with me."
+
+"Not so, sir;" said a voice deep but femininely soft. "General," she
+continued, throwing aside her veil, which had hitherto concealed
+features pale even to wanness, "I have the strongest--the most urgent
+reasons--for the prosecution of my journey, and gladly do I accept your
+offer."
+
+The earnest manner of her address struck every hearer with surprise,
+contrasting as it did, with the unchanging coldness of her look; but the
+matter was a source of serious concern to her uncle. He regarded her
+with an air of astonishment, not unmixed with displeasure.
+
+"How is this, Matilda," he asked; "after having travelled thus far into
+the heart of this disturbed district would you now leave me?"
+
+"Major Montgomerie," she pursued, somewhat impatiently, "we are in the
+presence of strangers, to whom this discussion must be uninteresting--My
+mind is fully made up, and I avail myself of the British General's
+offer."
+
+"Certainly, certainly," observed that officer, somewhat disconcerted by
+the scene; "and I can do it the more readily, as it is my intention to
+send an instant summons to the garrison of Detroit. Miss Montgomerie
+will, however, do well to consider before she decides. If the summons be
+not obeyed, another week will see our columns marching to the assault,
+and she must be prepared for all the horrors of such an extremity,
+aided, as I am compelled to be, (and he glanced at the groups of Indians
+who were standing around, but at some distance, looking silently yet
+eagerly at the prisoners,) by these wild and ungovernable warriors.
+Should she, on the contrary, decide on remaining here with her uncle,
+she will be perfectly safe."
+
+"General," emphatically returned Miss Montgomerie, "were I certain that
+the columns to which you allude would not be repulsed whenever they may
+venture upon that assault, and were I as certain of perishing beneath
+the tomahawk and scalping knife of these savages"--and she looked
+fearlessly towards them--"still would my determination remain the same."
+
+As she concluded, a hectic spot rose to either cheek, lingered there a
+moment, and then left it colorless as before.
+
+"Be it so, Miss Montgomerie, my word is pledged and you shall
+go--Grantham, I had intended sending one of my personal staff with the
+summons, but, on reflection, you shall be the bearer. As the captor of
+the lady, to you shall be awarded the charge of delivering her over to
+her friends."
+
+"Friends!" involuntarily repeated the American, her cheek becoming even
+paler than before, and her lips compressed in a way to indicate some
+deep and painful emotion. Again she dropped her veil.
+
+No other notice was taken of the interruption than what the surprised
+manner of Major Montgomerie manifested, and the General proceeded;
+
+"I would ask you, Major Montgomerie, to become my guest while you remain
+with us, but I fear that, as a bachelor, I have but indifferent
+accommodation to offer to your niece."
+
+"If Miss Montgomerie will accept it," said Colonel D'Egville,
+interposing, "I shall be most happy to afford her the accommodation of a
+home until she finally departs for the opposite shore. If the attention
+of a family of daughters," he continued, more immediately addressing
+himself to the young lady, "can render your temporary sojourn among us
+less tedious, you have but to command them."
+
+So friendly an offer could not well be refused. Miss Montgomerie
+inclined her head in acquiescence, and Colonel D'Egville drew her arm
+within his own.
+
+"It were unkind," remarked the general, good-humoredly, "to separate
+Major Montgomerie altogether from his niece. Either the young lady must
+partake of our rude fare, or we shall consider ourselves included in
+your dinner party."
+
+"You could not confer on me a greater pleasure, General, and indeed I
+was about to solicit it. Commodore Barclay, may I hope that so short and
+unceremonious an invitation will be excused by the circumstances? Good,
+I shall expect you. But there is yet another to be included among our
+guests. Gerald, you will not fail to conduct this gentleman, whose name
+I have not yet had the pleasure of hearing"--and he looked at the
+latter, as if he expected him to announce himself.
+
+"I fear, sir," observed the young officer, pointedly, "that your dinner
+party would be little honored by such an addition. Although he wears the
+uniform of an American officer, this person is wholly unworthy of it and
+of a seat at your table."
+
+Every eye was turned with an expression of deep astonishment on the
+speaker, and thence upon the form of the hitherto scarcely noticed
+militia officer; who, with his head sunk sullenly upon his chest, and an
+eye now and then raised stealthily to surrounding objects, made no
+attempt to refute, or even to express surprise at, the singular
+accusation of his captor.
+
+"This is strong language to apply to a captive enemy, and that enemy
+apparently an officer," gravely remarked the general; "yet I cannot
+believe Mr. Grantham to be wholly without grounds for his assertion."
+
+Before Grantham could reply, a voice in the crowd exclaimed, as if the
+utterer had been thrown off his guard, "What--Phil!"
+
+On the mention of this name, the younger prisoner looked suddenly up
+from the earth on which his gaze had been riveted, and cast a rapid
+glance around him.
+
+"Nay, nay, my young friend, do not, as I see you are, feel hurt at my
+observation," resumed the general, extending his hand to Gerald
+Grantham; "I confess I did at one moment imagine that you had been rash
+in your assertion, but from what has this instant occurred, it is
+evident your prisoner is known to others as well as to yourself. No
+doubt we shall have everything explained in due season. By the bye, of
+what nature is your wound? slight, I should say, from the indifference
+with which you treat it."
+
+"Slight, General--far slighter," he continued, coloring, "than the wound
+that was sought to be affixed to my fair name in my absence."
+
+All looked at the speaker, and at each other with surprise, for, as yet,
+there could have been no communication to him of the doubts which had
+been entertained.
+
+"Who is it of you all, gentlemen," pursued the young man, with the same
+composedness of voice and manner, and turning particularly to the
+officers of the forty-first regiment, who were grouped around their
+chief, "Who is it, I ask, on whom has devolved the enviable duty of
+reporting me as capable of violating my faith as a subject, and my honor
+as an officer?"
+
+There was no reply, although the same looks of surprise were
+interchanged; but, as he continued to glance his eye around the circle,
+it encountered, either by accident or design, that of Captain Molineux,
+on whose rather confused countenance the gaze of Henry Grantham was at
+that moment bent with an expression of much meaning.
+
+"No one answers," continued the youth; "then the sting has been
+harmless. But I crave your pardon, General--I am claiming an exemption
+from censure which may not be conceded by all. Commodore, how shall I
+dispose of my prisoners?"
+
+"Not so, Mr. Grantham; you have sufficiently established your right to
+repose, and I have already issued the necessary instructions. Yet, while
+you have nobly acquitted yourself of _your_ duty, let me also perform
+_mine_. Gentlemen," he continued, addressing the large circle of
+officers, "I was the first to comment on Mr. Grantham's supposed neglect
+of duty, and to cast a doubt on his fidelity. That I was wrong I admit,
+but right I trust will be my reparation, and whatever momentary pain he
+may experience in knowing that he has been thus unjustly judged, it
+will, I am sure, be more than compensated for, when he hears that by
+General Brock himself his defence was undertaken, even to the pledging
+of his own honor. Mr. Grantham," concluded the gallant officer, "how you
+have obtained your knowledge of the conversation that passed here during
+your absence, is a mystery I will not now pause to inquire into, but I
+would fain apologize for the wrong I have done. Have I your pardon?"
+
+At the commencement of this address, the visible heaving of his full
+chest, the curling of his proud lip, and the burning flush of his dark
+cheek, betrayed the mortification Gerald felt, in having been placed in
+a position to be judged thus unjustly; but, as the commodore proceeded,
+this feeling gradually passed away, and when the warm defence of his
+conduct by the general was alluded to, closed as the information was
+with a request for pardon, his temporary annoyance was banished, and he
+experienced only the generous triumph of one who is conscious of having
+won his way, through calumny and slander, to the well merited
+approbation of all right minded men.
+
+"Come, come," interposed the general, more touched than he was willing
+to appear, by the expressive manner in which the only hand of the
+commodore now grasped that of his lieutenant, and perceiving that the
+latter was about to reply--"We will defer all further explanation until
+a later period. But, before we depart, this person must be disposed of;
+Major Montgomerie, excuse my asking if you will be personally
+responsible for your fellow prisoner?"
+
+"Certainly not!" returned the Major quickly, and with something like
+alarm at the required responsibility; "that is to say, he does not
+belong to the United States regular service, and I know nothing of him.
+Indeed, I never saw him before last night, when he joined me with a
+verbal message from Detroit."
+
+Hitherto the individual spoken of had preserved an unbroken silence,
+keeping, as we have already shown, his gaze riveted upon the ground,
+except at intervals, when he looked around with an eye of suspicion, as
+if to measure the distance that separated him from the groups of Indians
+in the background. The disclaimer of the major had, however, the effect
+of restoring to him the use of his tongue. Casting his uncertain eye on
+the gentlemanly person of the latter, he exclaimed, in a tone of
+insufferable vulgarity:
+
+"I'll tell you what it is, Mister Major--you may think yourself a
+devilish fine feller, but I guess as how an officer of the Michigan
+Militia is just as good and as spry as any blue coat in the United
+States rig'lars; so there's that (snapping his fingers) for pretendin'
+not to know me."
+
+An ill-suppressed titter pervaded the group of British officers--the
+general alone preserving his _serieux_.
+
+"May I ask your name?" he demanded.
+
+"I guess, gin'ril, it's Paul Emilius Theophilus Arnoldi, ensign in the
+United States Michigan Militia," was answered with a volubility strongly
+in contrast with the preceding silence of the speaker.
+
+"Then, Mr. Arnoldi, as an officer in the American militia, you shall
+enjoy your liberty on parole. I need not, I presume, sir, point out to
+you the breach of private honor and national faith consequent on any
+violation of that parole."
+
+"I guess not, gin'ril, for, I take it, the word of a Michigan militia
+officer is as good as that of any United States rig'lar as ever stepped
+in shoe leather."
+
+Another very pardonable disposition on the part of the younger officers
+to indulge in mirth, was interrupted by the general, desiring a young
+aide-de-camp to procure the necessary billet and accommodation for
+Ensign Arnoldi.
+
+These two individuals having moved away in search of the required
+lodging, the general, with his staff and prisoner guests, withdrew
+towards the fort. Their departure was the signal for the breaking up of
+the groups, and all dispersed to their several homes, and in pursuit of
+their various duties. The recently arrived Indians were distributed
+throughout the encampment, already occupied as we have described, and
+the prisoners taken in the morning were provided with suitable
+accommodation.
+
+As Colonel D'Egville was about to enter the gate of the fort, with his
+fair charge leaning on his arm, Gerald Grantham approached the party,
+with the intention of addressing the general in regard to the prisoner
+Arnoldi; but finding him engaged in close conversation with Major
+Montgomerie, he lingered, as if awaiting a fitting opportunity to open
+the subject.
+
+While he yet loitered, the eye of Miss Montgomerie met his. What it
+expressed we will not venture to describe, but its effect upon the young
+officer was profound. The moment before, discouraged by her apparent
+reserve, he had stood coldly by, but now startled into animation, he
+bent upon her an earnest and corresponding look; then, with a wild
+tumult at his heart, which he neither sought to stifle nor to analyze,
+and wholly forgetting what had brought him to the spot, he turned and
+joined his brother, who, at a short distance, stood awaiting his return.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+At the garrison mess-table that evening the occurrences of the day
+naturally formed a chief topic of conversation; and a variety of
+conjectures, more or less probable, regarding the American lady, were
+hazarded by the officers to some of whom she had become an object of
+curiosity, as she had to others of interest. This conversation,
+necessarily _parenthesed_ with much extraneous matter, in the nature of
+rapid demands for solids and liquids, during the interesting period
+devoted to the process of mastication, finally assumed a more regular
+character when the cloth had been removed, and the attendants retired.
+
+"Apropos," remarked Captain Granville, who filled the president's chair.
+"We ought to have toasted your brother's gallant exploit, Henry;
+gentlemen, fill your glasses--all full? Then I will give you the health
+of Lieutenant Grantham, of the squadron."
+
+The toast was responded to by all but Captain Molineux. His glass had
+been filled and raised, but its contents remained untasted.
+
+The omission was too marked not to be noticed by more than one of the
+party; Henry Grantham, whose eye had been fixed on Captain Molineux at
+the time, of course detected the slight. He sat for some minutes
+conversing with an unusual and evidently forced animation; then,
+excusing his early departure under the plea of an engagement with his
+brother, rose and quitted the mess-room.
+
+"What have you done with the ugly lout you took charge of, De Courcy?"
+inquired Captain Cranstoun, interrupting the short and meaning pause
+which had succeeded to Grantham's departure.
+
+"Why, I calculate, captain," returned the lively aid-de-camp, imitating
+the nasal drawl and language which had called up so much mirth, even in
+presence of the general--"I calculate as how I have introduced Ensign
+Paul, Emilius, Theophilus Arnoldi, of the United States Michigan
+Militia, into pretty considerable snug quarters--I have billeted him at
+the inn, in which he had scarcely set foot, when his first demand was
+for a glass of 'gin sling,' wherewith to moisten his partick'lar damn'd
+hot, baked clay."
+
+"What a vulgar and uncouth animal," observed St. Clair, a Captain of
+Engineers--"I am not at all surprised at Major Montgomerie's
+disinclination to acknowledge him as a personal acquaintance."
+
+"It is to be hoped," said De Courcy, "we shall not encounter many such
+during the approaching struggle, for, since we have been driven into
+this war, it will be a satisfaction to find ourselves opposed to an
+enemy rather more chivalrous than this specimen seems to promise."
+
+"Nay, nay, De Courcy," remarked Captain Granville, "you must not judge
+of the American officers of the line by that standard; as, for example,
+Major Montgomerie and the person just alluded to. Last winter," he
+continued, "there was a continued interchange of hospitalities between
+the two posts, and, had you been here to participate in them, you would
+have admitted that among the officers of Detroit, there were many very
+superior men indeed."
+
+"Pleasant ball, that last they gave," said Lieutenant Villiers, with a
+malicious laugh, and fixing his eyes on the Captain of Grenadiers.
+
+"The devil take the ball," impatiently retorted Cranstoun, who did not
+seem to relish the allusion; "don't talk about it now, man."
+
+"What was it, Villiers? do pray tell us. Something good, I am sure from
+Cranstoun's manner," eagerly asked the aid-de-camp, his curiosity
+excited by the general titter that followed the remark.
+
+"Shall I tell him, Cranstoun?" asked Villiers, in the same bantering
+tone.
+
+"Don't bother me," petulantly returned the other, as, thrusting his long
+legs under the table and turning his back upon the questioner, he
+joined, or affected to join, in a conversation that was passing, in a
+low tone, at his end of the room.
+
+"I must premise," began Villiers, addressing himself to the attentively
+listening De Courcy, "that such is the mania for dancing in this country
+scarcely any obstacle is sufficient to deter a Canadian lady,
+particularly a French Canadian, from indulging in her favorite
+amusement. It is, therefore, by no means unusual to see women drawn in
+sleighs over drifting masses of ice, with chasms occasionally occurring
+of from fifteen to twenty feet--and that at a moment when, driven by
+wind and current, the huge fragments are impelled over each other with a
+roar that can only be likened to continuous thunder, forming, in various
+directions, hillocks from which the sun's rays are reflected in a
+thousand fantastic shades and shapes. On these occasions the sleighs, or
+carioles, are drawn, not as otherwise customary, by the fast-trotting
+little horses of the country, but by expert natives whose mode of
+transportation is as follows: A strong rope is fastened to the extremity
+of the shafts, and into this the French Canadian, buried to the chin in
+his blanket coat, and provided with a long pole terminating in an iron
+hook, harnesses himself, by first drawing the loop of the cord over the
+back of his neck, and then passing it under his arms. In this manner
+does he traverse the floating ice, stepping from mass to mass with a
+rapidity that affords no time for the detached fragment to sink under
+the weight with which it is temporarily laden. As the iron-shod runners
+obey the slightest impulsion, the draught is light; and the only fatigue
+encountered is in the act of bringing the detached bodies together.
+Wherever an opening intervenes, the Canadian throws forward his pole,
+and, securing the pointed hook in some projection of the floating ice,
+drags it towards that on the extreme verge of which he stands. In like
+manner he passes on to the next, when the same operation remains to be
+performed, until the passage is fully effected. Sometimes it happens
+that a chasm of more than ordinary extent occurs, in which case the pole
+is unavailable, and then his only alternative is to wait patiently until
+some distant mass, moving in a direction to fill up the interstice,
+arrives within his reach. In the meanwhile the ice on which he stands
+sinks slowly and gradually, until sometimes it quite disappears beneath
+the surface of the water."
+
+"And the women, all this time?" demanded De Courcy, with something of
+the nervousness which might be attributed to such a situation.
+
+"Sit as quietly and as unconcernedly, wrapped in their furs, as if they
+were merely taking their customary drive on terra firma," continued
+Villiers; "nay, I am persuaded that if they ever entertain an anxiety on
+those occasions, it is either lest the absence of one of these
+formidable masses should compel them to abandon an enterprise, the bare
+idea of entering upon which would give an European woman an attack of
+nerves, or that the delayed aid should be a means of depriving them of
+one half minute of their anticipated pleasure."
+
+"Why," interrupted Middlemore, despite of a dozen ohs and ahs--"why, I
+say, is Villiers like a man of domestic habits? Do you give it up?
+Because he is fond of dwelling on his own premises."
+
+"Middlemore, when will you renounce that vile habit of punning?" said De
+Courcy, with an earnestness of adjuration that excited a general laugh
+at his end of the table. "Come, Villiers, never mind his nonsense, for
+your premises, although a little long, are not without deep
+interest--but what has all this to do with our good friend above?"
+
+"You shall hear. After a succession of balls last winter, to which the
+ladies of either shore were invariably invited, the concluding one was
+given by the officers in garrison at Detroit. This was at the very close
+of the season, and it chanced that, on the preceding night, the river
+had broken up, so that the roar and fracas of crashing ice might have
+been likened, during forty-eight hours afterwards, to some terrible
+disorganization of nature. Nothing daunted, however, by the
+circumstance, many of the Canadian ladies made the usual preparations,
+and among others the Miss D'Egvilles."
+
+Here Villiers paused a moment, and with a significant "hem," sought to
+arouse the attention of the grenadier; but Cranstoun, insensible to the
+appeal, and perhaps unwilling to listen to a story that occasioned so
+much mirth whenever it was repeated, continued with his back immovably
+turned towards the speaker.
+
+"All very well," pursued Villiers; "but we know the adage--'none so deaf
+as those who will not hear.' I have said," again turning to De Courcy,
+while those who were near listened not without interest to the story,
+familiar even as it was to them all, "that the Miss D'Egvilles were of
+the party. At that time our friend was doing the amiable to the lively
+Julia, although we never could persuade him to confess his penchant;
+and, on this occasion, he had attached himself to their immediate
+sleigh. Provided, like the Canadians, with poles terminated by an iron
+hook at one end and a spike at the other, we made our way after their
+fashion, but in quicker time than they possibly could, harnessed as they
+were in the sledges. With the aid of these poles, we cleared, with
+facility, chasms of from ten to twelve feet, and alighting on our
+moccasined feet, seldom incurred much risk of losing our hold. Our ball
+dresses were taken in charge by the ladies, so that our chief care was
+the safe passage of our own persons. We all arrived without accident,
+and passed a delightful evening, the American officers exerting
+themselves to give the _coup d'eclat_ to the last ball of the season."
+
+"Yes," interrupted the incorrigible Middlemore, as he cracked a peccan
+nut, "and the balls reserved for us this season will also carry with
+them the _coup de grass_."
+
+"The night," pursued Villiers, no one noticing the interruption save by
+an impatient 'pish,' "gave every indication of a speedy break up. The
+ice yet floated along in disjoined masses, but with even greater
+rapidity than on the preceding day. Two alternatives remained--either to
+attempt the crossing before further obstacle should be interposed, or to
+remain in Detroit until the river had been so far cleared of the ice as
+to admit of a passage in canoes. With our leaping poles, we were not so
+much at a loss, but the fear entertained was principally for the safety
+of the sleighs. Nothing dismayed, however, by the dangerous appearance
+of the river, the ladies, after due deliberation, courageously resolved
+on returning without delay, and we accordingly set out on our somewhat
+hazardous expedition.
+
+"Notwithstanding it was, as I have already remarked, the close of
+winter, the cold was intense, and we were warmly clad. I do not know if
+you have ever seen Cranstoun's huge bear skin coat, (an affirmative nod
+was given by De Courcy), well: in this formidable covering had he
+encased himself, so that when he quitted the town, surmounted as his
+head was moreover with a fur cap, he presented more of the appearance of
+a dancing bear than of a human creature. In this guise he attached
+himself to the sleigh of the D'Egvilles, which, in crossing, happened to
+be the furthest down the river, of the group."
+
+"What a damn'd long time you are telling that stupid story, Villiers,"
+at length noticed Cranstoun, wheeling round and regarding the narrator
+with a look of ill assumed indifference, "I could have told it myself in
+half the time."
+
+"I am afraid you would not tell it so faithfully," replied Lieutenant
+Villiers, amid the loud laugh which was now raised at Cranstoun's
+expense. "You see it is so good a thing, I like to make the most of it."
+
+Here Cranstoun again turned his back upon the party, and Villiers
+pursued.
+
+"The main body of the expedition had got nearly half way across the
+river, when suddenly our ears were assailed by moanings, resembling
+those of some wild beast, mingled with incessant and ungovernable
+laughter. Checking our course, and turning to behold the cause, we
+observed, about a hundred yards below us, the sledge of the D'Egvilles,
+from which the almost convulsive laughter proceeded, and at a
+considerable distance beyond this again, an object the true character of
+which we were some time in discovering.
+
+"It appeared, on subsequent explanation, that Cranstoun, who had been
+whispering soft nothings in the ear of Julia D'Egville, (here the
+captain was observed to prick his ear without materially altering his
+position) hem! Cranstoun, I say, it appeared had also taken it into his
+head to give her a specimen of his agility, by an attempt to clear a
+space between two masses of ice of somewhat too great a breadth for a
+heavy grenadier, buttoned up to the chin in a ponderous bear skin coat.
+He succeeded in gaining the opposite piece of ice, but had no sooner
+reached it, than he fell, entangled in such a manner in his covering
+that he found it impossible to extricate himself. To add to his
+disaster, the force of his fall broke off, from the main body, the
+section of ice on which he rested. Borne down by the current, in spite
+of his vain struggles to free himself, he was unable even to call for
+aid, his fingers moreover being so benumbed with cold that he found it
+impossible to unbutton the straps which confined his mouth. In this
+emergency he could only utter the strange and unintelligible moan which
+had reached our ears, and which, mingled with the bursts of laughter
+from Julia D'Egville, formed a most incongruous melange.
+
+"The best of the adventure remains, however, to be told. Numbers of the
+peasantry from either shore, provided with poles, guns, and ropes, were
+now to be seen rushing towards the half congealed Cranstoun, fully
+imagining--nay exclaiming--that it was a wild bear, which, in an attempt
+to cross the river, had had its retreat cut off, and was now, from
+insensibility, rendered harmless. Disputes even arose in the distance as
+to whom the prize should belong, each pursuer claiming to have seen it
+first. Nay, more than one gun had been levelled with a view of
+terminating all doubt by lodging a bullet in the carcase, when,
+fortunately, for the subject in dispute, this proposal was overruled by
+the majority, who were more anxious to capture than to slay the supposed
+bear. Meanwhile the Canadian, harnessed to the sleigh of the D'Egvilles,
+roared out with all his lungs for the two parties to hasten to the
+assistance of the drowning British officer. In the confusion produced by
+their own voices, however, they did not appear to hear or understand
+him; yet all pursued the aim they had in view. Cranstoun's body was so
+doubled up that it was impossible for any one, who had not witnessed the
+accident, to imagine it anything in nature but a bear; and this
+impression, the strange moaning he continued to make, tended to
+confirm.
+
+"The party of Canadians, favored by the nature of their floating
+ice-bridges, were the first to come up to him. A desperate effort of his
+cramped muscles had enabled Cranstoun to extend one of his legs, at the
+moment when they were about to throw a noose round his neck, and this
+was the first intimation the astonished peasantry had of their supposed
+prize being a human being, instead of the fat bear they had expected.
+Poor Cranstoun was of course liberated from his 'durance vile,' but so
+chilled from long immersion, that he could not stand without assistance,
+and it was not until one of their companions had approached with a
+sleigh that he could be removed. He kept his bed three days, as much I
+believe from vexation as illness, and has never worn his unlucky bear
+skin since; neither has he forgiven Julia D'Egville the laugh she
+enjoyed at his expense. Cranstoun," he concluded, "you may turn now, the
+story is told."
+
+But Cranstoun, apparently heedless of the laugh that followed this--as
+indeed it did every--narration of the anecdote, was not to be shaken
+from his equanimity. He continued silent and unmoved, as if he had not
+heard a word of the conclusion.
+
+"Poor Cranstoun," exclaimed the joyous De Courcy, in a strain of
+provoking banter, "what an unfortunate leap that was of yours; and how
+delighted you must have felt when you again stepped on terra firma."
+
+"I don't wonder at his leap being unfortunate," observed Middlemore, all
+eyes fixed upon him in expectation of what was to follow, "for Julia
+D'Egville can affirm that, while paying his court to her, he had not
+chosen a _leap year_."
+
+While all were as usual abusing the far strained pun, a note was brought
+in by the head waiter and handed to the punster. The officer read it
+attentively, and then, with an air of seriousness which in him was
+remarkable, tossed it across the table to Captain Molineux, who, since
+the departure of Henry Grantham, had been sitting with his arms folded,
+apparently buried in profound thought, and taking no part either in the
+conversation or the laughter which accompanied it. A faint smile passed
+over his features, as, after having read, he returned it, with an
+assentient nod to Middlemore. Shortly afterwards, availing himself of
+the opportunity afforded by the introduction of some fresh topic of
+conversation, he quitted his seat, and whispering something in the ear
+of Villiers, left the mess room. Soon after, the latter officer
+disappeared from the table, and in a few moments his example was
+followed by Middlemore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+The dinner party at Colonel D'Egville's was composed in a manner to
+inspire an exclusive with irrepressible horror. At the suggestion of
+General Brock, Tecumseh had been invited, and, with him, three other
+celebrated Indian chiefs, whom we beg to introduce to our readers under
+their familiar names--Split-log--Round-head--and Walk-in-the-water--all
+of the formidable nation of the Hurons. In his capacity of
+superintendent of Indian affairs, Colonel D'Egville had been much in the
+habit of entertaining the superior chiefs, who, with a tact peculiar to
+men of their sedate and serious character, if they displayed few of the
+graces of European polish, at least gave no manifestation of an innate
+vulgarity. As it may not be uninteresting to the reader to have a slight
+sketch of the warriors, we will attempt the portraiture.
+
+The chief Split-log, who indeed should rather have been named Split-ear,
+as we shall presently show, was afflicted with an aldermanic rotundity
+of person, by no means common among his race, and was one, who from his
+love of ease and naturally indolent disposition, seemed more fitted to
+take his seat in the council than to lead his warriors to battle. Yet
+was he not, in reality, the inactive character he appeared, and more
+than once subsequently he was engaged in expeditions of a predatory
+nature, carrying off the customary spoils. We cannot impart a better
+idea of the head of the warrior than by stating, that we never recall
+that of the gigantic Memnon, in the British Museum, without being
+forcibly reminded of Split-log's. The Indian, however, was notorious for
+a peculiarity which the Egyptian had not. So enormous a head, seeming to
+require a corresponding portion of the several organs, nature had, in
+her great bounty, provided him with a nose, which, if it equalled not
+that of Smellfungus in length, might, in height and breadth, have
+laughed it utterly to scorn. Neither was it a single, but a double
+nose--two excrescences, equalling in bulk a moderate sized lemon, and of
+the spongy nature of a mushroom, bulging out, and lending an expression
+of owlish wisdom to his otherwise heavy features. As on that of the
+Memnon, not a vestige of a hair was to be seen on the head of Split-log.
+His lips were, moreover, of the same unsightly thickness, while the
+elephantine ear had been slit in such a manner, that the pliant
+cartilage, yielding to the weight of several ounces of lead which had
+for years adorned it, now lay stretched, and coquetting with the brawny
+shoulder on which it reposed. Such was the Huron, or Wyandot Chief,
+whose cognomen of Split-log had, in all probability, been derived from
+his facility in "suiting the action to the word;" for, in addition to
+his gigantic nose, he possessed a fist, which in size and strength might
+have disputed the palm with Maximilian himself; although his practice
+had chiefly been confined to knocking down his drunken wives, instead of
+oxen.
+
+The second Chief, Round-head, who, by the way, was the principal in
+reputation after Tecumseh, we find the more difficulty in describing
+from the fact of his having had few or none of those peculiarities which
+we have, happily for our powers of description, been enabled to seize
+hold of in Split-log. His name we believe to have been derived from that
+indispensable portion of his frame. His eye was quick, even penetrating,
+and his stern brow denoted intelligence and decision of character. His
+straight, coal-black hair, cut square over the forehead, fell long and
+thickly over his face and shoulders. This, surmounted by a round
+slouched hat, ornamented with an eagle's feather, which he ordinarily
+wore and had not even now dispensed with, added to a blue capote or
+hunting frock, produced a _tout ensemble_, which cannot be more happily
+rendered than by a comparison with one of his puritanical sly-eyed
+namesakes of the English Revolution.
+
+Whether our third hero, Walk-in-the-water, derived his name from any
+aquatic achievement which could possibly give a claim for its adoption,
+we have no means of ascertaining; but certain it is, that in his
+features he bore a striking resemblance to the portraits of Oliver
+Cromwell. The same small, keen, searching eye, the same iron
+inflexibility of feature, together with the long black hair escaping
+from beneath the slouched hat, (for Walk-in-the-water, as well as
+Round-head, was characterised by an unconscious imitation of the
+Rounheads of the Revolution)--all contributed to render the resemblance
+as perfect as perfection of resemblance can be obtained, where the
+physical, and not the moral, man, forms the ground of contrast.
+
+Far above these in nobleness of person, as well as in brilliancy of
+intellect, was the graceful Tecumseh. Unlike his companions, whose dress
+was exceedingly plain, he wore his jerkin or hunting coat of the most
+beautifully soft and pliant deer-skin, on which were visible a variety
+of tasteful devices, exquisitely embroidered with the stained quills of
+the porcupine. A shirt of dazzling whiteness was carefully drawn over
+his expansive chest, and in his equally white shawl-turban was placed an
+ostrich feather, the prized gift of the lady of the mansion. On all
+occasions of festivity, and latterly in the field, he was wont thus to
+decorate himself; and never did the noble warrior appear to greater
+advantage than when habited in this costume. The contrast it offered to
+his swarthy cheek and mobile features, animated as they were by the
+frequent flashing of his eagle eye, seldom failed to excite admiration
+in the bosoms of all who saw him.
+
+The half hour that elapsed between the arrival of the several guests and
+the announcement of dinner, was passed under the influence of feelings
+almost as various in kind as the party itself. Messieurs Split-rock,
+Round-head, and Walk-in-the-water, fascinated by the eagles on the
+buttons of Major Montgomerie's uniform, appeared to regard that officer
+as if they saw no just cause or impediment why certain weapons dangling
+at their sides should not be made to perform, and that without delay, an
+incision into the cranium of their proprietor. True, there was a
+difficulty. The veteran major was partially bald, and wanted the top
+knot or scalping tuft, which to a true warrior was indispensable; not
+that we mean to insinuate, that either of these chiefs would so far have
+forgotten the position in which that gentleman stood, as to have been
+tempted into any practical demonstration of hostility: but there was a
+restlessness about the eye of each, that--much like the instinct of the
+cat, which regards with natural avidity the bird that is suffered to go
+at large within his reach, without daring openly to attack it--betrayed
+the internal effort it cost them to lose sight of the enemy in the
+prisoner and friend of the superintendent. The major, on the other hand,
+although satisfied he was under the roof of hospitality, did not at
+first appear altogether at his ease, but, while he conversed with the
+English officers, turned ever and anon an eye of distrust on the
+movements of his swarthy fellow guests. On the arrival of Tecumseh, who,
+detained until a late hour by the arrangements he had been making for
+the encampment and supplies of his new force, was the last to make his
+appearance, the major's doubts passed entirely away. It was impossible
+to be in the presence of this chieftain, and fail, even without any
+other index to his soul than what the candor of his expression afforded,
+to entertain all the security that man may repose on man. He had in him,
+it is true, too much of the sincerity of nature, to make anything like a
+friendly advance to one of a people on whom he charged all the
+misfortunes of his race, and for whom he had avowed an inextinguishable
+hostility of heart and purpose; but, unless when this might with strict
+propriety be exercised, the spirit of his vengeance extended not; and
+not only would he have scorned to harm a fallen foe, but his arm would
+have been the first uplifted in his defence.
+
+Notwithstanding the glance of intelligence which Captain Granville had
+remarked, and which we have previously stated to have been directed by
+Miss Montgomerie to her captor a few hours before, there was nothing in
+her manner during dinner to convey the semblance of a prepossession.
+True, that in the tumultuous glow of gratified vanity and dawning love,
+Gerald Grantham had executed a toilet, into which, with a view to the
+improvement of the advantage he imagined himself to have gained, all the
+justifiable coquetry of personal embellishment had been thrown; but
+neither the handsome blue uniform with its glittering epaulette, nor the
+beautiful hair on which more than usual pains had been bestowed, nor the
+sparkling of his dark eye, nor the expression of a cheek, rendered
+doubly animated by excitement, nor the interestingly displayed arm _en
+echarpe_--none of these attractions, we repeat, seemed to claim even a
+partial notice from her they were intended to captivate. Cold,
+colorless, passionless, Miss Montgomerie met him with the calmness of an
+absolute stranger; and when, with the recollection of the indescribable
+look she had bestowed upon him glowing at his heart, Gerald again sought
+in her eyes some trace of the expression that had stirred every vein
+into transport, he found there indifference the most complete. How great
+his mortification was, we will not venture to describe, but the arch and
+occasional raillery of his lively cousin, Julia D'Egville, seemed to
+denote most plainly that the conqueror and the conquered had exchanged
+positions.
+
+Nor was this surprising; Miss Montgomerie's travelling habit had been
+discarded for the more decorative ornaments of a dinner toilet, in
+which, however, the most marked simplicity was observed. A plain white
+muslin dress gave full development to a person which was of a perfection
+that no dress could have disguised. It was the bust of a Venus, united
+to a form, to create which would have taxed the imaginative powers of a
+Praxiteles--a form so faultlessly moulded, that every movement presented
+some new and unpremeditated grace. What added to the surpassing richness
+of her beauty was her hair, which, black, glossy, and of eastern
+luxuriance, and seemingly disdaining the girlishness of curls, reposed
+in broad Grecian bands across a brow, the intellectual expression of
+which they contributed to form. Yet never did woman exhibit in her
+person and face more opposite extremes of beauty. If the one was
+strikingly characteristic of warmth, the other was no less indicative of
+coldness. Fair, even to paleness, were her cheek and forehead, which
+wore an appearance of almost marble immobility, save when, in moments of
+oft recurring abstraction, a slight but marked contraction of the brow
+betrayed the existence of a feeling, indefinable indeed to the observer,
+but certainly unallied to softness. Still she was beautiful--coldly,
+classically, beautiful--eminently calculated to inspire passion, but
+seemingly incapable of feeling it.
+
+The coldness of Miss Montgomerie's manner was no less remarkable. Her
+whole demeanor was one of abstraction. It seemed as if heedless, not
+only of ceremony, but of courtesy, her thoughts and feelings were far
+from the board of whose hospitality she was partaking. Indeed, the very
+few remarks she made during dinner referred to the period of departure
+of the boat, in which she was to be conveyed to Detroit, and on this
+subject she displayed an earnestness, which, even Grantham thought,
+might have been suppressed in the presence of his uncle's family.
+Perhaps he felt piqued at her readiness to leave him.
+
+Under these circumstances, the dinner was not, as might be expected,
+particularly gay. There was an embarrassment among all, which even the
+circulating wine did not wholly remove. Major Montgomerie was nearly as
+silent as his niece. Mrs. D'Egville, although evincing all the kindness
+of her really benevolent nature--a task in which she was assisted by her
+amiable daughters--still felt that the reserve of her guest insensibly
+produced a corresponding effect upon herself; while Colonel D'Egville,
+gay, polished, and attentive, as he usually was, could not wholly
+overcome an apprehension that the introduction of the Indian chiefs had
+given offence to both uncle and niece. Still, it was impossible to have
+acted otherwise. Independently of his strong personal attachment to
+Tecumseh, considerations involving the safety of the province,
+threatened as it was, strongly demanded that the leading chiefs should
+be treated with the respect due to their station; and moreover, while
+General Brock and Commodore Barclay were present, there could be no
+ground for an impression that slight was intended. Both these officers
+saw the difficulty under which their host labored, and sought by every
+gentlemanly attention, to remove whatever unpleasantness might lurk in
+the feelings of his American guests.
+
+The dessert brought with it but little addition to the animation of the
+party, and it was a relief to all, when, after a toast proposed by the
+general to the "Ladies of America," Mrs. D'Egville made the usual signal
+for withdrawing.
+
+As soon as they had departed, followed a moment or two afterwards by
+Tecumseh and Gerald Grantham, Messieurs Split-log, Round-head, and
+Walk-in-the-water, deliberately taking their pipe-bowl tomahawks from
+their belts, proceeded to fill them with kinni-kinnick, a mixture of
+Virginia tobacco and odoriferous herbs, than which no perfume can be
+more fragrant. Amid the clouds of smoke puffed from these at the lower
+end of the table, where had been placed a supply of whiskey, their
+favorite liquor--did Colonel D'Egville and his more civilized guests
+quaff their claret; more gratified than annoyed by the savoury
+atmosphere wreathing around them, while, taking advantage of the early
+departure of the abstemious Tecumseh, they discussed the merits of that
+chief, and the policy of employing the Indians as allies, as will be
+seen in the following chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+"What a truly noble looking being!" observed Major Montgomerie, as he
+followed with his eye the receding form of the athletic but graceful
+Tecumseh. "Do you know, Colonel D'Egville, I could almost forgive your
+nephew his success of this morning, in consideration of the pleasure he
+has procured me in this meeting."
+
+Colonel D'Egville looked the gratification he felt at the avowal. "I am
+delighted, Major Montgomerie, to hear you say so. My only fear was that,
+in making those chieftains my guests at the same moment with yourself
+and niece, I might have unconsciously appeared to slight, where slight
+was certainly not intended. You must be aware, however, of the rank held
+by them among their respective nations, and of their consequent claim
+upon the attention of one to whom the Indian interests have been
+delegated."
+
+"My dear sir," interrupted the Major, eager to disclaim, "I trust you
+have not mistaken me so far, as to have imputed a reserve of speech and
+manner during dinner, to which I cannot but plead guilty, to a
+fastidiousness which, situated as I am, (and he bowed to the general and
+commodore,) would have been wholly misplaced. My distraction, pardonable
+perhaps under all the circumstances, was produced entirely by a
+recurrence to certain inconveniences which I felt might arise to me from
+my imprisonment. The captive bird," he pursued, while a smile for the
+first time animated his very fine countenance, "will pine within its
+cage, however gilded the wires which compose it. In every sense, my
+experience of to-day only leads me to the expression of a hope, that all
+whom the chances of war may throw into a similar position, may meet with
+a similar reception."
+
+"Since," observed the General, "your private affairs are of the
+importance you express, Major Montgomerie, you shall depart with your
+niece. Perhaps I am rather exceeding my powers in this respect, but,
+however this may be, I shall take the responsibility on myself. You will
+hold yourself pledged, of course, to take no part against us in the
+forthcoming struggle, until you have been regularly exchanged for
+whatever officer of your own rank, may happen to fall into the hands of
+your countrymen. I shall dispatch an express to the Commander in-Chief,
+to intimate this fact, requesting at the same time, that your name may
+be put down in the first list for exchange."
+
+Major Montgomerie warmly thanked the General for his kind offer, of
+which he said he should be glad to avail himself, as he did not like the
+idea of his niece proceeding without him to Detroit, where she was an
+entire stranger. This, he admitted, determined as she had appeared to
+be, was one of the unpleasant subjects of his reflection during dinner.
+
+With a view of turning the conversation, and anxious moreover, to obtain
+every information on the subject, the general now inquired in what
+estimation Tecumseh was generally held in the United States.
+
+"Among the more intelligent classes of our citizens, in the highest
+possible," was the reply; "but by those who are not so capable of
+judging, and who only see, in the indomitable courage and elevated
+talents of the patriot hero, the stubborn inflexibility of the mere
+savage, he is looked upon far less flatteringly. By all, however, is he
+admitted to be formidable without parallel, in the history of Indian
+warfare. His deeds are familiar to all, and his name is much such a
+bugbear to American childhood, as Marlborough's was in France, and
+Napoleon's is in England. It is a source of much regret to our
+Government never to have been enabled to conciliate this extraordinary
+man."
+
+"What more feasible," remarked the General, but with a tone and manner
+that could not possibly give offence; "had not the difficulty been of
+its own creation? Treaty after treaty, you must admit, major, had been
+made and violated under various pretexts, while the real motive--the
+aggrandizement of territories already embracing a vast portion of their
+early possessions--was carefully sought to be concealed from these
+unfortunate people. How was it to be expected then that a man, whom the
+necessities of his country had raised up to itself in the twofold
+character of statesman and warrior--one gifted with a power of analyzing
+motives which has never been surpassed in savage life--how, I ask, was
+it to be expected that he, with all these injuries of aggression
+staring him in the face, should have been won over by a show of
+conciliation, which long experience, independently of his matured
+judgment, must have assured him was only held forth to hoodwink, until
+fitting opportunity should be found for again throwing off the mask."
+
+"To the charge of violating treaties," returned Major Montgomerie, who
+took the opposite argument in perfectly good part, "I fear, general, our
+Government must to a certain extent plead guilty--much, however, remains
+to be said in excuse. In the first place, it must be borne in mind that
+the territory of the United States, unlike the kingdom of Europe, has no
+fixed or settled boundary whereby to determine its own relative bearing.
+True it is, that we have the Canadas on one portion of our frontier, but
+this being a fixed line of demarcation, there can exist no question as
+to a mutual knowledge of the territorial claims of both countries.
+Unlike that of the old world, however our population is rapidly
+progressing, and where are we to find an outlet for the surplus of that
+population unless, unwilling as we are to come into collision with our
+more civilized neighbors, we can push them forward into the interior. In
+almost all the contracts entered into by our Government with the
+Indians, large sums have been given for the lands ceded by the latter.
+This was at once, of course, a tacit and mutual revocation of any
+antecedent arrangements, and if instances have occurred wherein the
+sacredness of treaty has been violated, it has only been where the
+Indians have refused to part with their lands for the proffered
+consideration, and when those lands have been absolutely indispensable
+to our agricultural purposes. Then indeed has it been found necessary to
+resort to force. That this principle of "might being the right," may be
+condemned _in limine_ it is true, but how otherwise, with a
+superabundant population, can we possibly act?"
+
+"A superabundance of territory, I grant you, but surely not of
+population," remarked the commodore; "were the citizens of the United
+States condensed into the space allotted to Europeans, you might safely
+dispense with half the Union at this moment."
+
+"And what advantages should we then derive from the possession of nearly
+a whole continent to ourselves?"
+
+"Every advantage that may be reaped consistently with common justice.
+What would be thought in Europe, if, for instance to illustrate a point,
+and assuming these two countries to be in a state of profound peace,
+Spain, on the principle of might, should push her surplus population
+into Portugal, compelling the latter kingdom to retire back on herself,
+and crowd her own subjects into the few provinces that might yet be left
+to them."
+
+"I cannot admit the justice of your remark, commodore," returned Major
+Montgomerie, gradually warming into animation; "Both are civilized
+powers, holding the same rank and filling nearly the same scale among
+the nations of Europe. Moreover, there does not exist the same
+difference in the natural man. The uneducated negro is, from infancy and
+long custom, doomed to slavery, wherefore should the copper colored
+Indian be more free? But my argument points not at their subjection. I
+would merely show that, incapable of benefitting by the advantages of
+the soil they inherit, they should learn to yield it with a good grace
+to those who can. Their wants are few, and interminable woods yet remain
+to them, in which their hunting pursuits may be indulged without a fear
+of interruption."
+
+"That it will be long," observed the General, "before, in so vast a
+continent, they will be without a final resting place, I readily admit;
+but the hardship consists in this--that they are driven from particular
+positions to which their early associations lend a preference. What was
+it that stirred into a flame, the fierce hostility of Tecumseh but the
+determination evinced by your Government to wrest, from the hands of his
+tribe, their last remaining favorite haunts on the Wabash?"
+
+"This cannot be denied, but it was utterly impossible we could forego
+the possession of countries bordering so immediately on our settlements.
+Had we pushed our colonization further, leaving the tribes of the Wabash
+in intermediate occupation, we ran the risk of having our settlers cut
+off in detail, at the slightest assumed provocation. Nay, pretexts would
+have been sought for the purpose, and the result of this would have been
+the very war into which we were unavoidably led. The only difference
+was, that, instead of taking up arms to avenge our slaughtered kinsmen,
+we anticipated the period that must sooner or later have arrived, by
+ridding ourselves of the presence of those from whose hostility we had
+everything to apprehend."
+
+"The expediency of these measures," said the General, "no one, Major,
+can of course doubt; the only question at issue is their justice, and in
+making this remark it must be obvious there is no particular allusion to
+the United States, further than that country serves to illustrate a
+general principle. I am merely arguing against the right of a strong
+power to wrest from a weaker what may be essential to its own interest,
+without reference to the comfort, or wishes, or convenience of the
+latter."
+
+"In such light assuredly do I take it," observed Major Montgomerie,
+bowing his sense of the disclaimer. "But to prove to you, general, that
+we are only following in the course pursued by every other people of the
+world, let us, without going back to the days of barbarism, when the
+several kingdoms of Europe were overrun by the strongest, and when your
+own country in particular became in turn the prey of Saxons, Danes,
+Normans, &c., merely glance our eyes upon those provinces which have
+been subjugated by more civilized Europe. Look at South America, for
+instance, and then say what we have done that has not been far exceeded
+by the Spaniards, in that portion of the hemisphere--and yet, with this
+vast difference in the balance, that there the European drove before him
+and mercilessly destroyed an unoffending race, while we, on the
+contrary, have had fierce hostility and treachery everywhere opposed to
+our progress. The Spaniards, moreover, offered no equivalent for the
+country subdued; now we have ever done so, and only where that
+equivalent has been rejected, have we found ourselves compelled to
+resort to force. Look again at the islands of the West Indies, the chief
+of which are conquests by England. Where are the people to whom
+Providence had originally assigned those countries, until the European,
+in his thirst for aggrandizement, on that very principle of might which
+you condemn, tore them violently away. Gone, extirpated, until scarce a
+vestige of their existence remains, even as it must be, in the course of
+time, with the Indians of these wilds--perhaps not in this century or
+the next, but soon or late assuredly. These two people--the South
+Americans and Caribs--I particularly instance, for the very reason that
+they offer the most striking parallel with the immediate subject under
+discussion. But shall I go further than this, gentlemen, and maintain
+that we, the United States, are only following in the course originally
+pointed out to us by England."
+
+"I should be glad to hear your argument," said the Commodore, drawing
+his chair closer to the table.
+
+"And I," added the General, "consider the position too novel not to feel
+interested in the manner in which it will be maintained."
+
+"I will not exactly say," observed Colonel D'Egville, smiling one of his
+blandest smiles, and few men understood the winning art better than
+himself, "that Major Montgomerie has the happy talent of making the
+worse appear the better cause; but certainly, I never remember to have
+heard that cause more ably advocated."
+
+"More subtly perhaps you would say, Colonel; but seriously, I speak from
+conviction alone. It is true, as a citizen of the United States, and
+therefore one interested in the fair fame of its public acts, that
+conviction may partake in some degree of partial influences; still it is
+sincere. But to my argument. What I would maintain is, as I have before
+stated, that in all we have done we have only followed the example of
+England. For instance, when the colonisation of the Eastern and Southern
+states of the Union took place, that is to say, when our common
+ancestors first settled in this country, how was their object effected?
+Why, by driving from their possessions near the sea, in order to make
+room for themselves, those very nations whom we are accused of a desire
+to exterminate, as if out of a mere spirit of wantonness. Did either
+English or Dutch then hesitate as to what course _they_ should pursue,
+or suffer any qualms of conscience to interfere with their colonial
+plans? No; as a measure of policy--as a means of security--they sought
+to conciliate the Indians, but not the less determined were they to
+attain their end. Who, then, among Englishmen, would have thought of
+blaming their fellow countrymen, when the object in view was the
+aggrandizement of the national power, and the furtherance of individual
+interests? While the colonists continued tributary to England they could
+do no wrong--they incurred no censure. Each succeeding year saw them,
+with a spirit that was _then_ deemed worthy of commendation, pushing
+their advantages and extending their possessions, to the utter exclusion
+and at the expense of the original possessors of the soil. For this they
+incurred no blame. But mark the change: no sooner had the war of the
+revolution terminated in our emancipation from the leading strings of
+childhood--no sooner had we taken rank among the acknowledged nations of
+the world--no sooner had we, in a word, started into existence as an
+original people--than the course we had undeviatingly pursued in
+infancy, and from which we did not dream of swerving in manhood, became
+a subject for unqualified censure. What had been considered laudable
+enterprise in the English colonist, became unpardonable ambition in the
+American republican; and acts affecting the national prosperity, that
+carried with them the approbation of society and good government during
+our nonage, were stigmatized as odious and grasping the moment we had
+attained our majority."
+
+"Most ably and eloquently argued, Major," interrupted the general, "and
+I fear with rather more truth than we Englishmen are quite willing to
+acknowledge: still it must be admitted, that what in the first instance
+was a necessity, partook no longer of that character at a later period.
+In order to colonize the country originally, it was necessary to select
+such portions as were, by their proximity to the sea, indispensable to
+the perfection of the plan. If the English colonists drove the Indians
+into the interior, it was only for a period. They had still vast tracts
+to traverse, which have since, figuratively speaking, been reduced to a
+mere span: and their very sense of the difference of the motive--that is
+to say, of the difference between him who merely seeks whereon to erect
+his dwelling, and him who is anxious to usurp to himself the possession
+of an almost illimitable territory--cannot be better expressed than by
+the different degrees of enmity manifested against the two several
+people. When did the fierceness of Indian hatred blaze forth against the
+English colonists, who were limited in their views, as it has since
+against the subjects of the United States, who, since the Revolution,
+have more than tripled their territorial acquisitions?"
+
+"Nay, general," replied the American, his lip partially curling with a
+smile, indicating consciousness of triumphant argument; "I shall defeat
+you on your own ground, and that by going back to a period anterior to
+the revolution--to the very period you describe as being characterised
+by less intense hostility to your own government."
+
+"What, for instance, have we seen in modern times, to equal the famous
+Indian league, which, under the direction of the celebrated Pontiac, a
+chieftain only surpassed by Tecumseh, consigned so many of the European
+posts to destruction, along this very line of district, about the middle
+of the last century. It has been held up as a reproach to us, that we
+have principally subjected ourselves to the rancorous enmity of the
+Indians, in consequence of having wrested from them their favorite and
+beautiful hunting grounds, (Kentucky in particular,) to which their
+early associations had linked them. But to this I answer, that in
+Pontiac's time this country was still their own, as well as Ohio,
+Louisiana, Indiana, &c., and yet the war of fierce extermination was not
+the less waged towards the English; not because these latter had
+appropriated their principal haunts, but because they had driven them
+from their original possessions near the sea. The hatred of the Indians
+has ever been the same towards those who first secured a footing on
+their continent, and, although we are a distinct people in the eyes of
+the civilized world, still we are the same in those of the natives, who
+see in us, not the emancipated American, but merely the descendant of
+the original colonist. That their hostility has progressed in proportion
+with our extension of territory, I cannot altogether admit, for although
+our infant settlements have in a great degree suffered from occasional
+irruptions of the savages, when men, women and children, have alike been
+devoted to the murderous tomahawk, in no way have our fortresses been
+systematically assailed, as during the time of Pontiac."
+
+"For this," interrupted the general, "there are two obvious reasons. In
+the first instance, your fortresses are less isolated than ours were at
+that period, and secondly, no such intelligent being as the chieftain
+you have named, had started up among the Indian nations until now. What
+Tecumseh may not effect in course of time, should he not perish in the
+struggle for his country's liberty, ought to be a matter of serious
+consideration with your Government."
+
+"Of his great talents and dauntless determination they are fully aware,"
+replied the major; "but as I have already said, nothing short, not
+merely of giving up all claim to future advantages, but of restoring the
+country wrested from him on the Wabash, can ever win him from his
+hostility; and this is a sacrifice the Government will never consent to
+make."
+
+At this point of the argument, Messieurs Split-log, Round-head, and
+Walk-in-the-water, having finished their kinni-kinnick, and imbibed a
+due quantum of whiskey; possibly, moreover, not much entertained by the
+conversation that was carried on in a language neither of them
+understood but imperfectly, rose to take their leave. They successively
+shook hands with the British leaders, then advancing towards Major
+Montgomerie, with a guttural "Ugh," so accentuated as to express good
+will and satisfaction, tendered their dark palms to that officer also,
+muttering as they did something about "good Chemocomon." They then with
+becoming dignity withdrew, followed by Colonel D'Egville, who had risen
+to conduct them to the door.
+
+The conversation, thus temporarily interrupted, was resumed on that
+officer's return.
+
+"Admitting the truth of your position, Major Montgomerie," remarked the
+Commodore, "that the Government of the United States is justified, both
+by expediency and example, in the course it has pursued, it will not at
+least be denied, that Tecumseh is, on the very same principle, borne out
+in the hatred and spirit of hostility evinced by him towards the
+oppressors of his country."
+
+"Granted," returned the Major, "but this point has no reference to my
+argument, which tends to maintain, that in all we have done, we have
+been justified by necessity and example."
+
+"The fact is, however, that this position of things is one unavoidably
+growing out of the clashing of adverse interests--the Indians being
+anxious to check, we to extend, our dominion and power as a people; and
+the causes existing now were in being nearly a century ago, and will, in
+all probability continue, until all vestige of Indian existence shall
+have passed utterly away. When the French were in the occupancy of the
+Canadas, having nothing to gain from them, they cultivated the alliance
+and friendship of the several nations, and by fostering their fierce
+hostility against the English colonists, rendered them subservient to
+their views. To-day the English stand precisely where the French did.
+Having little to expect from the Indians but assistance in a case of
+need, they behold, and have for years beheld, with anything but
+indifference, the struggle continued by the United States which was
+commenced by themselves. I hope I shall not be understood as expressing
+my own opinion, when I add, that in the United States, the same covert
+influence is attributed to the commanders of the British fortresses that
+was imputed to the French. Indeed it is a general belief, among the
+lower classes particularly, that, in all the wars undertaken against the
+American out-posts and settlements, the Indians have been instigated to
+the outrage by liberal distributions of money and presents from the
+British Government."
+
+"It will hardly be necessary to deny the justice of such an imputation
+to Major Montgomerie," remarked the General, with a smile, "especially
+after having disavowed the opinion as his own. The charge is too absurd
+for serious contradiction--yet we are not altogether ignorant that such
+an impression has gone abroad."
+
+"Few of the more enlightened of our citizens give into the belief," said
+the Major; "still it will give me especial pleasure to have it in my
+power to contradict the assertion from the lips of General Brock
+himself."
+
+"That we have entered into a treaty of alliance with the Indians,"
+observed Colonel D'Egville, "is most certainly true; but it is an
+alliance wholly defensive. I must further observe, that in whatever
+light the policy of the Government of the United States in its relations
+with the Indians, may be privately viewed, we are, under all
+circumstances, the last people in the world who should condemn it as
+injurious to our public interests, since it has been productive of
+results affecting the very existence of these provinces. Had the
+American Government studied conciliation rather than extension of
+territory, it is difficult to say to what side the great body of the
+Indians would, in the impending struggle, have leaned. The possibility
+of some such event as the present had not only been foreseen, but
+anticipated. It has long been obvious to us that the spirit of
+acquisition manifested by the United States, would not confine itself to
+its customary channels; but on the contrary, that, not contented with
+the appropriation of the hunting grounds of the Indians, it would
+finally extend its views to Canada. Such a crisis has long been provided
+against. Presents, to a large amount, have certainly been distributed
+among the Indians, and not only this, but every courtesy, consistent at
+once with our dignity and our interest, has been shown to them. You have
+seen, for instance," continued he with a smile, "my three friends who
+have just left the room; they are not exactly the happiest specimens of
+Indian grace, but they have great weight in the council, and are the
+leading men in the alliance to which you alluded, although not wholly
+for the same purpose. In the wars of Pontiac--and these are still fresh
+in the recollection of certain members of my own family--the English
+commanders, with one or two exceptions, brought those disasters upon
+themselves. Forgetting that the Indians were a proud people, whom to
+neglect was to stir into hatred, they treated them with indifference, if
+not with contempt; and dearly did they pay the penalty of their fault.
+As we all know, they, with only one exception, were destroyed. In their
+fall expired the hostility they themselves had provoked, and time had
+wholly obliterated the sense of injustice from the minds of the several
+nations. Were we then, with these fearful examples yet fresh in our
+recollection, to fall into a similar error? No: a course of conciliation
+was adopted, and has been pursued for years; and now do we reap the
+fruit of what, after all, is but an act of justifiable policy. In my
+capacity of Superintendent of Indian affairs, Major Montgomerie, even
+more than as a Canadian brought up among them, I have had opportunities
+of studying the characters of the heads of the several nations. The most
+bitter enmity animates the bosoms of all against the Government and
+people of the United States, from whom, according to their own showing,
+they have to record injury upon injury; whereas from us they have
+received but benefits. I repeat, this is at once politic and just. What
+could Canada have hoped to accomplish in the approaching struggle, had
+the conduct of the American Government been such as to have neutralized
+the interest we had excited in and for ourselves? She must have
+succumbed; and my firm impression is, that at whatever epoch of her
+existence, the United States may extend the hand of conquest over these
+colonies, with the Indian tribes that are now leagued with us crowding
+to her own standard, not all the armies that England may choose to send
+to their defence will be able to prevent it."
+
+"Filling the situation you now occupy, Colonel, there can be no doubt
+you are in every way enabled to arrive at a full knowledge of Indian
+feelings and Indian interests; and we have but too much reason to fear,
+that the strong hatred to the United States you describe as existing on
+the part of their several leaders, has had a tendency to unite them more
+cordially to the British cause. But your course of observation suggests
+another question. Why is it that, with the knowledge possessed by the
+British Government of the cruel nature of Indian warfare, it can consent
+to enlist them as allies? To prevent their taking up arms against the
+Canadas may be well, but in my opinion, (and it is one generally
+entertained through the United States,) the influence of the British
+authorities should have been confined to neutralizing their services."
+
+"Nay, Major Montgomerie," observed the General, "it would indeed be
+exacting too much to require that we should offer ourselves unresisting
+victims to your Government; and what but self-immolation would it be to
+abstain from the only means by which we can hope to save these
+threatened Provinces? Colonel D'Egville has just said that, with the
+Indians opposed to us, Canada would fall. I go farther, and aver that,
+without the aid of the Indians, circumstanced as England now is, Canada
+must be lost to us. It is a painful alternative, I admit, for that a
+war, which is not carried on with the conventional courtesies of
+civilized belligerent nations, is little suited to our taste, you will
+do us the justice to believe; but by whom have we been forced into the
+dilemma? Had we been guilty of rousing the Indian spirit against you,
+with a view to selfish advantage; or had we in any way connived at the
+destruction of your settlements, from either dread or jealousy of your
+too close proximity, then should we have deserved all the odium of such
+conduct. But this we unequivocally deny.
+
+"I would ask you, on the other hand, if you are aware of the great
+exertions made by your Government, to induce them to take an active part
+in this very war. If not, I can acquaint you that several of the chiefs,
+now here, have been strongly urged to declare against us; and, not very
+long since, an important council was held among the several tribes,
+wherein some few, who had been won over by large bribes, discussed the
+propriety of deserting the British cause, in consideration of advantages
+which were promised them by the United States. These of course were
+overruled by the majority, who expressed the utmost indignation at the
+proposal; but the attempt to secure their active services was not the
+less made. We certainly have every reason to congratulate ourselves on
+its failure."
+
+"This certainly partakes of the _argumentum ad hominem_," said the
+Major, good humoredly; "I do confess, I am aware that, since the idea of
+war against England was first entertained, great efforts have been made
+to attach the Indians to our interests; and in all probability, had any
+other man than Tecumseh presided over their destinies, our Government
+would have been successful. I however, for one, am no advocate for their
+employment on either side; for it must be admitted they are a terrible
+and a cruel enemy, sparing neither age nor sex."
+
+"Again, Major," returned the General, "do we shield ourselves under our
+former plea--that, as an assailed party, we have a right to avail
+ourselves of whatever means of defence are within our reach. One of two
+things--either we must retain the Indians, who are bound to us in one
+common interest, or we must, by discarding them, quietly surrender the
+Canadas to your armies. Few will be Quixotic enough to hesitate as to
+which of the alternatives we should adopt."
+
+"And if we should be accused of neglecting the means of preventing
+unnecessary cruelty," observed Colonel D'Egville, "the people of the
+United States will do us infinite wrong. This very circumstance has been
+foreseen and provided against. Without the power to prevent the Indians
+from entering upon these expeditions, we have at least done all that
+experience and a thorough knowledge of their character admits, to
+restrain their vengeance, by the promise of head money. It has been made
+generally known to them that every prisoner that is brought in and
+delivered up shall entitle the captor to a certain sum. This promise, I
+have no doubt, will have the effect, not only of saving the lives of
+those who are attacked in their settlements, but also of checking any
+disposition to unnecessary outrage in the hour of conflict."
+
+"The idea is one certainly reflecting credit on the humanity of the
+British authorities," returned Major Montgomerie; "but I confess I doubt
+its efficacy. We all know the nature of an Indian too well to hope that
+in the career of his vengeance, or the full flush of victory, he will
+waive his war trophy in consideration of a few dollars. The scalp he may
+bring, but seldom a living head with it."
+
+"It is, I fear, the horrid estimation in which the scalp is held, that
+too frequently whets the blades of these people," observed the
+Commodore. "Were it not considered a trophy, more lives would be spared;
+but an Indian, from all I can understand, takes greater pride in
+exhibiting the scalp of a slain enemy, than a knight of ancient times
+did in displaying in his helmet the glove that had been bestowed on him
+as a mark of favor by his lady-love."
+
+"After all," said the General, "necessary as it is to discourage it by
+every possible mark of disapprobation, I do not see, in the mere act of
+scalping, half the horrors usually attached to the practice. The motive
+must be considered. It is not the mere desire to inflict wanton torture
+that influences the warrior but an anxiety to possess himself of that
+which gives undisputed evidence of his courage and success in war. The
+prejudice of Europeans is strong against the custom, however, and we
+look upon it in a light very different, I am sure from that in which it
+is viewed by the Indians themselves. The burnings of prisoners, which
+were practised many years ago, no longer continue; and the infliction of
+the torture has passed away, so that, after all, Indian cruelty does not
+exceed that which is practised even at this day in Europe, and by a
+nation bearing high rank among the Catholic powers of Europe. I have
+numerous letters, recently received from officers of my acquaintance now
+serving in Spain, all of which agree in stating that the mutilations
+perpetrated by the Guerilla bands, on the bodies of such of the
+unfortunate French detachments as they succeeded in overpowering, far
+exceeded anything imputed to the Indians of America; and, as several of
+these letters are from individuals who joined the Peninsular Army from
+this country, in which they had passed many years, the statement may be
+relied on as coming from men who have had more than hearsay knowledge of
+both parties."
+
+Here a tall, fine-looking black, wearing the livery of Colonel
+D'Egville, entering to announce that coffee was waiting for them in an
+adjoining room--the party rose and retired to the ladies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Many of our readers will doubtless bear in mind the spot called
+Elliott's Point, at the western extremity of Lake Erie, to which we have
+already introduced them. At a considerable distance beyond that again
+(its intermediate shores washed by the silver waves of the Erie)
+stretches a second, called also, from the name of its proprietor,
+Hartley's Point. Between these two necks are three or four farms; one of
+which, and adjoining Hartley's, was, at the period of which we treat,
+occupied by an individual of whom, unfortunately for the interests of
+Canada, too many of the species had been suffered to take root within
+her soil.
+
+This person had his residence near Hartley's Point. Unlike those however
+whose dwellings rose at a distance, few and far between, hemmed in by
+the fruits of prosperous agriculture, he appeared to have paid but
+little attention to the cultivation of a soil, which in every part was
+of exceeding fertility. A rude log hut, situated in a clearing of the
+forest, the imperfect work of lazy labor, was his only habitation, and
+here he had for years resided without its being known how he contrived
+to procure the necessary means of subsistence; yet, in defiance of the
+apparent absence of all resources, it was subject of general remark,
+that he not only never wanted money, but had been enabled to bestow
+something like an education on a son, who had, at the epoch opened by
+our narrative, been absent from him upwards of five years. From his
+frequent voyages, and the direction his canoe was seen to take, it was
+inferred by his immediate neighbors, that he dealt in contraband,
+procuring various articles on the American coast, which he subsequently
+disposed of in the small town of Amherstburg (one of the principal
+English posts) among certain subjects domiciliated there, who were
+suspected of no very scrupulous desire to benefit the revenue of the
+country. So well and so wisely however, did he cover his operations,
+that he had always contrived to elude detection--and, although suspicion
+attached to his conduct, in no instance had he openly committed himself.
+The man himself, tall, stout, and of a forbidding look, was of a
+fearless and resolute character, and if he resorted to cunning, it was
+because cunning alone could serve his purposes in a country, the laws of
+which were not openly to be defied.
+
+For a series of years after his arrival, he had contrived to evade
+taking the customary oaths of allegiance; but this, eventually awakening
+the suspicions of the magistracy, brought him more immediately under
+their surveillance, when year after year, he was compelled to a renewal
+of the oath, for the imposition of which, it was thought, he owed more
+than one of those magistrates a grudge. On the breaking out of the war,
+he still remained in undisturbed possession of his rude dwelling,
+watched as well as circumstances would permit, it is true, but not so
+narrowly as to be traced in his various nocturnal excursions by water.
+Nothing could be conceived more uncouth in manner and appearance than
+this man--nothing more villanous than the expression of his eye. No one
+knew from what particular point of the United States he had come, and
+whether Yankee or Kentuckian, it would have puzzled one of that race of
+beings, so proverbial fer acumen--a Philadelphia lawyer--to have
+determined.
+
+The day following that of the capture of the American detachment was
+just beginning to dawn, as two individuals appeared on the skirt of the
+rude clearing in which the hut of the man we have just described, had
+been erected. The persons of both these, wrapped in blue military
+cloaks, reposed upon the dark foliage in a manner to enable them to
+observe, without being themselves seen, all that passed within the
+clearing, from the log hut to the sand of the lake shore. There had been
+an indication by one of these of a design to step forth from his
+concealment into the clearing, and advance boldly towards the house; but
+this had been checked by his companion, who, laying his hand upon his
+shoulder, arrested the movement, pointing out at the same time, the
+leisurely but cautious advance of two men from the hut towards the
+shore, on which lay a canoe half drawn up on the sands. Each, on issuing
+from the hut, had deposited a rifle against the rude exterior of the
+dwelling, the better to enable them to convey a light mast, sail,
+paddles, several blankets and a common corn-bag, apparently containing
+provisions, with which they proceeded towards the canoe.
+
+"So," said the taller of the first party, in a whisper, "there is that
+d----d rascal Desborough setting out on one of his contraband
+excursions. He seems to have a long absence in view, if we may judge
+from the contents of his provision sack."
+
+"Hist," rejoined his companion, "there is more here than meets the eye.
+In the first instance, remove the pistols from the case, and be prepared
+to afford me assistance, should I require it."
+
+"What the devil are you going to do?" asked the first speaker, following
+however the hint that had been given him, and removing a pair of
+duelling pistols from their mahogany case.
+
+While he was in the act of doing this, his companion had, without
+replying, quitted his side, and cautiously and noiselessly advanced to
+the hut. In the course of a few minutes he again appeared at the point
+whence he had started, grasping in either hand the rifles so recently
+deposited there.
+
+"Well, what is the meaning of this feat? you do not intend, Yankee
+fashion, to exchange a long shot with poor Molineux, I hope--if so, my
+dear fellow, I cry off, for upon my honor, I cannot engage in anything
+that is not strictly orthodox."
+
+He, thus addressed, could scarcely restrain a laugh at the serious tone
+in which his companion expressed himself, as if he verily believed he
+had that object in view.
+
+"Would you not like," he asked, "to be in some degree instrumental in
+banishing wholly from the country a man whom we all suspect of treason,
+but are compelled to tolerate from inability to prove his guilt--this
+same notorious Desborough?"
+
+"Now that you no longer speak and act in parables, I can understand you.
+Of course I should, but what proof of his treason are we to discover in
+the mere fact of his departing on what he may choose to call a hunting
+excursion? even admitting he is speculating in the contraband, _that_
+cannot banish him; and if it could, we would never descend to become
+informers."
+
+"Nothing of the kind is required of us--his treason will soon unfold
+itself, and that in a manner to demand, as an imperative duty, that we
+secure the traitor. For this have I removed the rifles which may, in a
+moment of desperation, be turned at backwoodsman's odds against our
+pistols. Let us steal gently towards the beach, and then you shall
+satisfy yourself; but I had nearly forgotten--suppose the other party
+should arrive?"
+
+"Then they must in their turn wait for us. They have already exceeded
+their time ten minutes."
+
+"Look," exclaimed his companion, as he slightly grasped the shoulder on
+which his hand had rested, "he is returning for the rifles."
+
+Only one of the two men now retrod his steps from the beach towards the
+hut, but with a more hurried action than before. As he passed where the
+friends still lingered, he gave a start of surprise, apparently produced
+by the absence of the rifles. A moment's reflection seeming to satisfy
+him it was possible his memory had failed him, and that they had been
+left within the building, he hurried forward to assure himself. After a
+few moments of apparently ineffectual search, he again made his
+appearance, making the circuit of the hut to discover his lost weapons,
+but in vain; when in the fierceness of his anger, he cried aloud, with a
+bitterness that gave earnest of sincerity.
+
+"By ----. I wish I had the curst British rascal who played me this
+trick, on t'other shore--if I wouldn't tuck my knife into his b----y
+gizzard, then is my name not Jeremiah Desborough. What the h--ll's to be
+done now?"
+
+Taking advantage of his entrance into the hut, the two individuals,
+first described, had stolen cautiously under cover of the forest, until
+they arrived at its termination, within about twenty yards of the shore,
+where however there was no outward or visible sign of the individual who
+had been Desborough's companion. In the bows of the canoe were piled the
+blankets, and in the centre was deposited the provision bag that had
+formed a portion of their mutual load. The mast had not been hoisted,
+but lay extended along the hull, its sail loosened and partially
+covering the before-mentioned article of freightage. The bow half of the
+canoe pressed the beach, the other lay sunk in the water, apparently in
+the manner in which it had first approached the land.
+
+Still uttering curses, but in a more subdued tone, against "the feller
+who had stolen his small bores," the angry Desborough retraced his steps
+to the canoe. More than once he looked back to see if he could discover
+any traces of the purloiner, until at length his countenance seemed to
+assume an expression of deeper cause for concern, than even the loss of
+his weapons.
+
+"Ha, I expect some d----d spy has been on the look out--if so, I must
+cut and run I calculate purty soon."
+
+This apprehension was expressed as he arrived opposite the point where
+the forest terminated. A slight rustling among the underwood reduced
+that apprehension to certainty. He grasped the handle of his huge knife
+that was thrust into the girdle around his loins, and riveting his gaze
+on the point whence the sound had proceeded, retreated in that attitude.
+Another and more distinct crush of underwood, and he stood still with
+surprise, on finding himself face to face, with two officers of the
+garrison.
+
+"We have alarmed you, Desborough," said the younger, as they both
+advanced leisurely to the beach. "Do you apprehend danger from our
+presence?"
+
+A keen searching glance flashed from the ferocious eye of the ruffian.
+It was but momentary. Quitting his firm grasp of the knife, he suffered
+his limbs to relax their tension, and aiming at carelessness, observed
+with a smile, that was tenfold more hideous from its being forced:
+
+"Well now, I guess, who would have expected to see two officers so fur
+away from the fort at this early hour of the mornin'?"
+
+"Ah," said the taller of the two, availing himself of the first opening
+to a pun which had been afforded, "we are merely out on a _shooting_
+excursion."
+
+Desborough gazed doubtingly on the speaker. "Strange sort of a dress
+that for shootin' I guess--them cloaks must be a great tanglement in the
+bushes."
+
+"They serve to keep our _arms_ warm," continued Middlemore, perpetrating
+another of his execrables.
+
+"To keep your arms warm! well sure-_ly_, if that arn't droll. It may be
+some use to keep the primins dry, I reckon; but I can't see the use of
+keepin' the fowlin' pieces warm. Have you met with any game yet,
+officers? I expect as how I can point you out a purty spry place for
+pattridges and sich like."
+
+"Thank you, my good fellow; but we have appointed to meet our _game_
+here."
+
+The dry manner in which this was observed had a visible effect on the
+settler. He glanced an eye of suspicion around, to see if other than the
+two officers were in view, and it was not without effort that he assumed
+an air of unconcern, as he replied:
+
+"Well, I expect I have been many a long year a hunter, as well as other
+things, and yet, dang me if I ever calculated the game would come to me.
+It always costs me a purty good chase in the woods."
+
+"How the fellow _beats_ about the _bush_ to find what _game_ we are
+driving at," observed Middlemore, in an under tone, to his companion.
+
+"Let him alone for that," returned he whom our readers have doubtless
+recognised for Henry Grantham. "I will match his punning against your
+cunning any day."
+
+"The truth is, he is _fishing_ to discover our motive for being here,
+and to find out if we are in any way connected with the disappearance of
+his rifles."
+
+During this conversation _apart_, the Yankee had carelessly approached
+his canoe, and was affecting to make some alteration in the disposition
+of the sail. The officers, the younger especially, keeping a sharp
+look-out upon his movements, followed at some little distance, until
+they, at length, stood on the extreme verge of the sands. Their near
+approach seemed to render Desborough impatient.
+
+"I expect, officers," he said, with a hastiness that, at any other
+moment, would have called down immediate reproof, if not chastisement,
+"you will only be losin' time here for nothin'; about a mile beyond
+Hartley's there'll be plenty of pattridges at this hour, and I am jist
+goin to start myself for a little shootin' in the Sandusky river."
+
+"Than I presume," said Grantham, with a smile, "you are well provided
+with silver bullets, Desborough; for, in the hurry of departure, you
+seem likely to forget the only medium through which leaden ones can be
+made available--not a rifle or a shot-gun do I see."
+
+The man fixed his eyes for a moment, with a penetrating expression, on
+the youth, as if he would have sought a meaning deeper than the words
+implied. His reading seemed to satisfy him that all was right.
+
+"What," he observed, with a leer, half cunning, half insolent, "if I
+have hid my rifle near the Sandusky swamp, the last time I hunted
+there?"
+
+"In that case," observed the laughing Middlemore, to whom the
+opportunity was irresistible, "you are going out on a _wild goose chase_
+indeed. Your prospects for a good hunt, as you call it, cannot be said
+to _be sure as a gun_; for in regard to the latter, you may depend some
+one has discovered and _rifled_ it before this."
+
+"You seem to have laid in a store of provisions for this trip,
+Desborough," remarked Henry Grantham; "how long do you purpose being
+absent?"
+
+"I guess three or four days," was the sullen reply.
+
+"Three or four days! why your bag contains"--and the officer partly
+raised a corner of the sail, "provisions for a week, or, at least, for
+_two_ for half that period."
+
+The manner in which the _two_ was emphasised did not escape the
+attention of the settler. He was visibly disconcerted, nor was he at all
+reassured when the younger officer proceeded:
+
+"By the bye, Desborough, we saw you leave the hut with a companion--what
+has become of him?"
+
+The settler, who had now recovered his self-possession, met the question
+without the slightest show of hesitation:
+
+"I expect you mean, young man," he said, with insufferable insolence, "a
+help as I had from Hartley's farm, to assist gittin' down the things. He
+took home along shore when I went back to the hut for the small bores."
+
+"Oh ho, sir! the rifles are not then concealed near the Sandusky swamp,
+I find?"
+
+For once the wily settler felt his cunning had overreached itself. In
+the first fury of his subdued rage, he muttered something amounting to a
+desire that he could produce them at that moment, as he would well know
+where to lodge the bullets--but, recovering himself, he said aloud:
+
+"The rale fact is, I've a long gun hid, as I said, near the swamp, but
+my small bore I always carry with me--only think, jist as I and
+Hartley's help left the hut, I pit my rifle against the outside wall,
+not being able to carry it down with the other things, and when I went
+back a minute or two after, drot me if some tarnation rascal hadn't
+stole it."
+
+"And if you had the British rascal on t'other shore, you wouldn't be
+long in tucking a knife into his gizzard, would you?" asked Middlemore,
+in a nearly verbatim repetition of the horrid oath originally uttered by
+Desborough. "I see nothing to warrant our interfering with him," he
+continued in an under tone to his companion.
+
+Not a little surprised to hear his words repeated, the man lost somewhat
+of his confidence as he replied, "Well now, sure-_ly_, you officers
+didn't think nothin' o' that--I expect I was in a mighty rage to find my
+small bore gone, and I did curse a little heart_y_, to be sure."
+
+"The small bore multiplied in your absence," observed Grantham; "when I
+looked at the hut there were two."
+
+"Then may be you can tell me who was the particular d----d rascal that
+stole them," said the settler eagerly.
+
+Middlemore laughed heartily at his companion who observed:
+
+"The particular d----d rascal who removed, not stole them thence, stands
+before you."
+
+Again the settler looked disconcerted. After a moment's hesitation he
+continued, with a forced grin that gave an atrocious expression to his
+whole countenance:
+
+"Well now, you officers are playing a purty considerable spry
+trick--it's a good lark, I calculate--but you know, as the saying is,
+enough's as good as a feast. Do tell me, Mr. Grantham," and his
+discordant voice became more offensive in its effort at a tone of
+entreaty, "Do tell me where you've hid my small bore; you little think,"
+he concluded, with an emphasis then unnoticed by the officers, but
+subsequently remembered to have been perfectly ferocious, "what reason I
+have to vally it."
+
+"We never descend to larks of the kind," coolly observed Grantham; "but
+as you say you value your rifle, it shall be restored to you on one
+condition."
+
+"And what may that be?" asked the settler, somewhat startled at the
+serious manner of the officer.
+
+"That you show us what your canoe is freighted with. Here in the bows, I
+mean."
+
+"Why," rejoined the Yankee quickly, but, as if without design,
+intercepting the officers' near approach, "that bag, I calculate,
+contains my provisions, and these here blankets that you see, peepin'
+like from under the sail, are what I makes my bed of while out huntin'."
+
+"And are you quite certain there is nothing under those blankets?--nay
+do not protest--you cannot answer for what may have occurred while your
+back was turned, on your way to the hut for the rifle."
+
+"By hell," exclaimed the settler, blusteringly, "were any man to tell
+me, Jeremiah Desborough, that there was anythin' beside them blankets in
+the canoe, I would lick him into a jelly, even though he could whip his
+own weight in wild cats."
+
+"So is it? Now then, Jeremiah Desborough, although I have never yet
+tried to whip my own weight in wild cats, I tell you there is something
+more than those blankets; and what is more, I insist upon seeing what
+that something is."
+
+The settler stood confounded. His eye rolled rapidly from one to the
+other of the officers, at the boldness and determination of this
+language. Singly, he could have crushed Henry Grantham in his gripe,
+even as one of the bears of the forest, near the outskirt of which they
+stood; but there were two, and while attacking the one, he was sure of
+being assailed by the other--nay, what was worse, the neighborhood might
+be alarmed. Moreover, although they had kept their cloaks carefully
+wrapped around their persons, there could be little doubt that both
+officers were armed, not, as they had originally given him to
+understand, with fowling pieces, but with (at the present close quarters
+at least) far more efficient weapons--pistols. He was relieved from his
+embarrassment by Middlemore exclaiming:
+
+"Nay, do not press the poor devil, Grantham; I dare say the story of his
+hunting is all a hum, and that the fact is, he is merely going to earn
+an honest penny in one of his free commercial speculations--a little
+contraband," pointing his finger to the bows, "is it not, Desborough?"
+
+"Why now, officer," said the settler, rapidly assuming a dogged air, as
+if ashamed of the discovery that had been so acutely made, "you won't
+hurt a poor feller for doin' a little in this way. Drot me, these are
+hard times, and this here war jist beginnin' quite pits one to one's
+shifts."
+
+"This might do, Desborough, were your present freight an arrival instead
+of a departure, but we all know that contraband is imported, not
+exported."
+
+"Mighty cute you are, I guess," replied the settler warily, with
+something like the savage grin of the wild cat to which he had so
+recently alluded; "but I expect it would be none so strange to have
+packed up a few dried hog skins to stow away the goods I am goin' for."
+
+"I should like to try the effect of a bullet among the skins," said
+Grantham, leisurely drawing forth and cocking a pistol, after having
+whispered something in the ear of his companion.
+
+"Nay, officer," said Desborough, now for the first time manifesting
+serious alarm, "you sure-_ly_ don't mean to bore a hole through them
+innocent skins?"
+
+"True!" said Middlemore, imitating. "If he fires, the hole will be
+something more than _skin_ deep, I reckon--these pistols, to my
+knowledge, send a bullet through a two inch plank at twenty paces."
+
+As Middlemore thus expressed himself, both he and Grantham saw, or
+fancied they saw, the blankets slightly agitated.
+
+"Good place for a _hide_ that!" said the former, addressing his pun to
+the settler, on whom it was totally lost, "show us those said skins, my
+good fellow, and if we find they are not filled with anything it would
+be treason in a professed British subject to export thus clandestinely,
+we promise that you shall depart without further hindrance."
+
+"Indeed, officer," muttered Desborough sullenly and doggedly, "I shan't
+do no sich thing. You don't belong to the custom-house, I reckon, and so
+I wish you a good day, for I have a considerable long course to run, and
+must be movin'." Then seizing the paddles that were lying on the sand,
+he prepared to shove the canoe from the beach.
+
+"Not at least before I have sent a bullet to ascertain the true quality
+of your skins," said Grantham, levelling his pistol.
+
+"Sure-_ly_," said Desborough, as he turned and drew himself to the full
+height of his bony and muscular figure, while his eye measured the
+officer from head to foot, with a look of concentrated but suppressed
+fury, "you wouldn't _dare_ to do this--you wouldn't dare to fire into my
+canoe--besides, consider," he said, in a tone somewhat deprecating,
+"your bullet may go through her, and you would hardly do a feller the
+injury to make him lose the chance of a good cargo."
+
+"Then why provoke such a disaster by refusing to show us what is beneath
+those blankets?"
+
+"Because it's my pleasure to do so," fiercely retorted the other, "and I
+won't show them to no man."
+
+"Then it is my pleasure to fire," said Grantham. "The injury be on your
+own head, Desborough--one--two--"
+
+At this moment the sail was violently agitated--something, struggling
+for freedom, cast the blankets on one side, and presently the figure of
+a man stood upright in the bows of the canoe, and gazed around him with
+an air of stupid astonishment.
+
+"What," exclaimed Middlemore, retreating back a pace or two, in
+unfeigned surprise; "has that pistol started up, like the ghost in
+Hamlet, Ensign Paul Emilius Theophilus Arnoldi, of the United States
+Michigan Militia--a prisoner on his parole of honor? and yet attempting
+a clandestine departure from the country--how is this?"
+
+"Not this merely," exclaimed Grantham, "but a traitor to his country,
+and a deserter from our service. This fellow," he pursued, in answer to
+an inquiring look of his companion, "is a scoundrel, who deserted three
+years since from the regiment you relieved. I recognised him yesterday
+on his landing, as my brother Gerald, who proposed making his report to
+the general this morning, had done before. Let us secure both,
+Middlemore; for, thank heaven, we have been enabled to detect the
+traitor at last in that which will excuse his final expulsion from the
+soil, even if no worse befall him. I have only tampered with him thus
+long to render his conviction more complete."
+
+"Secure me! secure Jeremiah Desborough?" exclaimed the settler, with
+rage manifest in the clenching of his teeth and the tension of every
+muscle of his iron frame, "and that for jist tryin' to save a
+countryman--well, we'll see who'll have the best of it."
+
+Before Grantham could anticipate the movement, the active and powerful
+Desborough had closed with him in a manner to prevent his making use of
+his pistol, had he even so desired. In the next instant it was wrested
+from him, and thrown far from the spot on which he struggled with his
+adversary, but at fearful odds against himself. Henry Grantham, although
+well and actively made, was of slight proportion, and yet in boyhood.
+Desborough, on the contrary, was in the full force of a vigorous
+manhood. A struggle, hand to hand, between two combatants so
+disproportioned, could not, consequently, be long doubtful as to its
+issue. No sooner had the formidable settler closed with his enemy, than
+pressing the knuckles of his iron hand, which met round the body of the
+officer, with violence against his spine, he threw him backward with
+force upon the sands. Grasping his victim with one hand as he lay upon
+him, he seemed, as Grantham afterwards declared, to be groping for his
+knife with the other. He was evidently anxious to despatch one enemy, in
+order that he might fly to the assistance of his son, for it was he whom
+Middlemore, with a powerful effort, had dragged from the canoe to the
+beach. While his right hand was still groping far the knife--an object
+which the powerful resistance of the yet unsubdued, though prostrate,
+officer rendered somewhat difficult of attainment--the report of a
+pistol was heard, fired evidently by one of the other combatants.
+Immediately the settler looked up to see who was the triumphant party.
+Neither had fallen, and Middlemore, if anything, had the advantage of
+his enemy; but to his infinite dismay, Desborough beheld a horseman,
+evidently attracted by the report of the pistol, urging his course with
+the rapidity of lightning, along the firm sands, and advancing with
+cries and vehement jesticulations to the rescue.
+
+Springing with the quickness of thought from his victim, the settler was
+in the next moment at the side of Middlemore. Seizing him from behind by
+for arm within his nervous grasp, he pressed the latter with such
+prodigious force as to cause him to relinquish, by a convulsive
+movement, the firm hold he had hitherto kept of his adversary.
+
+"In, boy, to the canoe for your life," he exclaimed, hurriedly as,
+following up his advantage, he spun the officer round, and sent him
+tottering to the spot where Grantham lay, still stupified and half
+throttled. The next instant saw him heaving the canoe from the shore,
+with all the exertion called for by his desperate situation. And all
+this was done so rapidly, in so much less time than it will take our
+readers to trace it, that before the horseman, so opportunely arriving,
+had reached the spot, the canoe, with its inmates, had pushed from the
+shore.
+
+Without pausing to consider the rashness and apparent impracticability
+of his undertaking, the strange horseman, checking his rein, and burying
+the rowels of his spurs deep into the flanks of his steed, sent him
+bounding and plunging into the lake, in pursuit of the fugitives.
+
+He himself evinced every symptom of one in a state of intoxication.
+Brandishing a stout cudgel over his head, and pealing forth a shout of
+defiance, he rolled from side to side on his spirited charger, like some
+laboring bark careering to the violence of the winds, but ever, like
+that bark, regaining an equilibrium that was never thoroughly lost.
+Shallow as the lake was at this point for a considerable distance, it
+was long before the noble animal lost its footing; and thus had its
+rider been enabled to arrive within a few paces of the canoe, at the
+very moment when the increasing depth of the water, in compelling the
+horse to the less expeditious process of swimming, gave a proportionate
+advantage to the pursued. No sooner, however, did the Centaur-like rider
+find that he was losing ground, than, again darting his spurs into the
+flanks of his charger, he made every effort to reach the canoe. Maddened
+by the pain, the snorting beast half rose upon the calm element, like
+some monster of the deep, and, making two or three desperate plunges
+with his fore feet, succeeded in reaching the stem. Then commenced a
+short but extraordinary conflict. Bearing up his horse as he swam, with
+the bridle in his teeth, the bold rider threw his left hand upon the
+stern of the vessel, and brandishing his cudgel in the right, seemed to
+provoke both parties to the combat. Desborough, who had risen from the
+stern at his approach, stood upright in the centre, his companion still
+paddling at the bows; and between these two a singular contest now
+ensued. Armed with the formidable knife which he had about his person,
+the settler made the most desperate and infuriated efforts to reach his
+assailant; but in so masterly a manner did his adversary use his simple
+weapon, that every attempt was foiled, and more than once did the hard
+iron-wood descend upon his shoulders, in a manner to be heard from the
+shore. Once or twice the settler stooped to evade some falling blow,
+and, rushing forward, sought to sever the hand which still retained its
+hold of the stern; but, with an activity remarkable in so old a man as
+his assailant, for he was upwards of sixty years of age, the hand was
+removed--and the settler, defeated in his object, was amply repaid for
+his attempt, by a severe collision of his bones with the cudgel. At
+length, apparently enjoined by his companion, the younger removed his
+paddle, and, standing up also in the canoe, aimed a blow with its
+knobbed handle at the head of the horse, at a moment when his rider was
+fully engaged with Desborough. The quick-sighted old man saw the action,
+and, as the paddle descended, an upward stroke from his own heavy weapon
+sent it flying in fragments in the air, while a rapid and returning blow
+fell upon the head of the paddler, and prostrated him at length in the
+canoe. The opportunity afforded by this diversion, momentary as it was,
+was not lost upon Desborough. The horseman, who, in his impatience to
+avenge the injury offered to the animal, which seemed to form a part of
+himself, had utterly forgotten the peril of his hand; and before he
+could return from the double blow that had been so skilfully wielded, to
+his first enemy, the knife of the latter had penetrated his hand, which,
+thus rendered powerless, now relinquished its grasp. Desborough, whose
+object--desperate character as he usually was--seemed now rather to fly
+than to fight, availed himself of this advantage to hasten to the bows
+of the canoe, where, striding across the body of his insensible
+companion, he with a few vigorous strokes of the remaining paddle, urged
+the lagging bark rapidly ahead. In no way intimidated by his disaster,
+the courageous old man, again brandishing his cudgel, and vociferating
+taunts of defiance, would have continued the pursuit; but panting as he
+was, not only with the exertion he had made, but under the weight of his
+impatient rider, in an element in which he was supported merely by his
+own buoyancy, the strength and spirit of the animal began now
+perceptibly to fail him, and he turned, despite of every effort to
+prevent him, towards the shore. It was fortunate for the former that
+there were no arms in the canoe, or neither he nor the horse would, in
+all probability, have returned alive; such was the opinion, at least,
+pronounced by those who were witnesses of the strange scene, and who
+remarked the infuriated but impotent gestures of Desborough, as the old
+man, having once more gotten his steed into depth, slowly pursued his
+course to the shore, but with the same wild brandishing of his enormous
+cudgel, and the same rocking from side to side, until his body was often
+at right angles with that of his jaded, but sure-footed beast. As he is,
+however, a character meriting rather more than the casual notice we have
+bestowed, we shall take the opportunity, while he is hastening to the
+discomfited officers on the beach, more particularly to describe him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+Nearly midway between Elliott's and Hartley's points, both of which are
+remarkable for the low and sandy nature of the soil, the land, raising
+gradually towards the centre, assumes a more healthy and arable aspect;
+and, on its highest elevation, stood a snug, well cultivated property,
+called Girty's farm. From this height, crowned on its extreme summit by
+a neat and commodious farm-house, the far reaching sands, forming the
+points above-named, are distinctly visible. Immediately in the rear, and
+commencing beyond the orchard which surrounded the house, stretched
+forestward, and to a considerable distance, a tract of rich and
+cultivated soil, separated into strips by zig-zag enclosures, and
+offering to the eye of the traveller, in appropriate season, the several
+species of American produce, such as Indian corn, buck wheat, &c., with
+here and there a few patches of indifferent tobacco. Thus far of the
+property, a more minute description of which is unimportant. The
+proprietors of this neat little place were a father and son, to the
+latter of whom was consigned, for reasons which will appear presently,
+the sole management of the farm. Of him we will merely say that, at the
+period of which we treat, he was a fine, strapping, dark curley-haired,
+white-teethed, red-lipped, broad-shouldered, and altogether comely and
+gentle tempered youth, of about twenty, who had, although unconsciously,
+monopolized the affections of almost every well favored maiden of his
+class, for miles around him--advantages of nature from which had
+resulted a union with one of the prettiest of the fair competitors for
+connubial happiness.
+
+The father we may not dismiss so hastily. He was--but, before attempting
+the portraiture of his character, we will, in the best of our ability,
+sketch his person.
+
+Let the reader fancy an old man of about sixty, possessed of that
+comfortable amptitude of person which is the result rather of a mind at
+peace with itself, and undisturbed by worldly care, than of any marked
+indulgence in indolent habits. Let him next invest this comfortable
+person in a sort of Oxford grey, coarse capote, or frock, of capacious
+size, tied closely round the waist with one of those-parti-colored
+worsted sashes, we have, on a former occasion described as peculiar to
+the bourgeois settlers of the country. Next, suffering the eye to
+descend on and admire the rotund and fleshy thigh, let it drop gradually
+to the stout and muscular legs, which he must invest in a pair of
+closely fitting leathern trowsers, the wide-seamed edges of which are
+slit into innumerable small strips, much after the fashion of the
+American Indian. When he has completed the survey of the lower
+extremities, to which he must not fail to subjoin a foot of
+proportionate dimensions, tightly moccasined, and, moreover, furnished
+with a pair of old English hunting spurs, the reader must then examine
+the head with which this heavy piece of animated machinery is
+surmounted. From beneath a coarse felt hat, garnished with an inch-wide
+band or ribbon, let him imagine he sees the yet vigorous grey hair,
+descending over a forehead not altogether wanting in a certain dignity
+of expression, and terminating in a beetling brow, silvered also with
+the frost of years, and shadowing a sharp, grey, intelligent eye, the
+vivacity of whose expression denotes its possessor to be far in advance,
+in spirit, even of his still active and powerful frame. With these must
+be connected a snub nose--a double chin, adorned with grizzly honors,
+which are borne, like the fleece of the lamb, only occasionally to the
+shears of the shearer--and a small, and not unhandsome, mouth, at
+certain periods pursed into an expression of irresistible humor, but
+more frequently expressing a sense of lofty independence. The grisly
+neck, little more or less bared, as the season may demand--a kerchief
+loosely tied around the collar of a checkered shirt--and a knotted
+cudgel in his hand--and we think our sketch of Simon Girty is complete.
+
+Nor must the reader picture to himself this combination of animal
+properties, either standing, or lying, or walking, or sitting; but in a
+measure glued, Centaur-like, to the back of a noble stallion, vigorous,
+active, and of a dark chestnut color, with silver mane and tail. In the
+course of many years that Simon had resided in the neighborhood, no one
+could remember to have seen him stand, or lie, or walk, or sit, while
+away from his home, unless absolutely compelled. Both horse and rider
+seemed as though they could not exist while separated, and yet
+Silvertail (thus was the stallion named) was not more remarkable in
+sleekness of coat, soundness of carcase, and fleetness of pace, than his
+rider was in the characteristics of corpulency and joviality.
+
+Simon Girty had passed the greater part of his younger days in America.
+He had borne arms in the revolution, and was one of those faithful
+loyalists, who preferring rather to abandon a soil which, after all, was
+one of adoption, than the flag under which they had been nurtured, had,
+at the termination of that contest, passed over into Canada. Having
+served in one of those irregular corps, several of which had been
+employed with the Indians, during the revolutionary contest, he had
+acquired much of the language of these latter, and to this knowledge was
+indebted for the situation of interpreter which he had for years
+enjoyed. Unhappily for himself, however, the salary attached to the
+office was sufficient to keep him in independence, and, to the idleness
+consequent on this, (for the duties of an interpreter were only
+occasional,) might have been attributed the rapid growth of a vice--an
+addiction to liquor--which unchecked indulgence had now ripened into
+positive disease.
+
+Great was the terror that Simon was wont to excite in the good people of
+Amherstburg. With Silvertail at his speed he would gallop into the town,
+brandishing his cudgel, and reeling from side to side, exhibiting at one
+moment the joyous character of a Silenus, at another, as we have already
+shown--that of an inebriated Centaur. Occasionally he would make his
+appearance, holding his sides convulsed with laughter, as he reeled and
+tottered in every direction, but without ever losing his equilibrium. At
+other times he would utter a loud shout, and, brandishing his cudgel,
+dart at full speed along the streets, as if he purposed singly to carry
+the town by (what Middlemore often facetiously called) a _coup de main_.
+At these moments were to be seen mothers rushing into the street to look
+for, and hurry away, their loitering offspring, while even adults were
+glad to hasten their movements, in order to escape collision with the
+formidable Simon; not that either apprehended the slightest act of
+personal violence from the old man, for he was harmless of evil as a
+child, but because they feared the polished hoofs of Silvertail, which
+shone amid the clouds of dust they raised as he passed, like rings of
+burnished silver. Even the very Indians, with whom the streets were at
+this period habitually crowded, were glad to hug the sides of the
+houses, while Simon passed; and they who, on other occasions, would have
+deemed it in the highest degree derogatory to their dignity to have
+stepped aside at the approach of danger, or to have relaxed a muscle of
+their stern countenance, would then open a passage with a rapidity which
+in them was remarkable, and burst into loud laughter as they fled from
+side to side to make way for Simon. Sometimes, on these occasions, the
+latter would suddenly check Silvertail, while in full career, and, in a
+voice that could be heard from almost every quarter of the little town,
+harangue them for half an hour together in their own language, and with
+an air of authority that was ludicrous to those who witnessed it--and
+must have been witnessed to be conceived. Occasionally a guttural "ugh"
+would be responded in mock approval of the speech, but more frequently a
+laugh, on the part of the more youthful of his red auditors, was the
+only notice taken. His lecture concluded, Simon would again brandish his
+cudgel, and vociferate another shout; then betaking himself to the
+nearest store, he would urge Silvertail upon the footway, and with a tap
+of his rude cudgel against the door, summon whoever was within, to
+appear with a glass of his favorite beverage. And this would he repeat,
+until he had drained what he called his stirrup cup, at every shop in
+the place where the poisonous liquor was vended.
+
+Were such a character to make his appearance in the Mother Country,
+endangering, to all perception, the lives of the Sovereign's liege
+subjects, he would, if in London, be hunted to death like a wild beast,
+by at least one half of the Metropolitan police; and, if in a provincial
+town, would be beset by a posse of constables. No one, however--not even
+the solitary constable of Amherstburgh, ever ventured to interfere with
+Simon Girty, who was in some degree a privileged character. Nay, strange
+as it may appear, notwithstanding his confirmed habit of inebriety, the
+old man stood high in the neighborhood, not only with simple but with
+gentle, for there were seasons when he evinced himself "a rational
+being," and there was a dignity of manner about him, which, added to his
+then quietude of demeanor, insensibly interested in his favor, those
+even who were most forward to condemn the vice to which he was
+unfortunately addicted. Not, be it understood, that in naming seasons of
+rationality, we mean seasons of positive abstemiousness; nor can this
+well be, seeing that Simon never passed a day of strict sobriety during
+the last twenty years of his life. But, it might be said, that his three
+divisions of day--morning, noon and night--were characterised by three
+corresponding divisions of drunkenness--namely, drunk, drunker, and most
+drunk. It was, therefore, in the first stage of his graduated scale,
+that Simon appeared in his most amiable and winning, because his least
+uproarious, mood. His libations commenced at early morn, and his
+inebriety became progressive to the close of the day. To one who could
+ride home at night, as he invariably did, after some twelve hours of
+hard and continued drinking, without rolling from his horse, it would
+not be difficult to enact the sober man in its earlier stages. As his
+intoxication was relative to himself, so was his sobriety in regard to
+others--and although, at mid-day, he might have swallowed sufficient to
+have caused another man to bite the dust, he looked and spoke, and
+acted, as if he had been a model of temperance. If he passed a lady in
+the street, or saw her at her window Simon Girty's hat was instantly
+removed from his venerable head, and his body inclined forward over his
+saddle-bow, with all the easy grace of a well-born gentleman, and one
+accustomed from infancy to pay deference to woman; nay, this at an hour
+when he had imbibed enough of his favorite liquor to have rendered most
+men insensible even to their presence. These habits of courtesy,
+extended moreover to the officers of the garrison, and such others among
+the civilians as Simon felt to be worthy of his notice. His tones of
+salutation, at these moments, were soft, his manner respectful, even
+graceful; and while there was nothing of the abashedness of the
+inferior, there was also no offensive familiarity, in the occasional
+conversations held by him with the different individuals, or groups, who
+surrounded and accosted him.
+
+Such was Simon Girty, in the first stage of his inebriety, no outward
+sign of which was visible. In the second, his perception became more
+obscured, his voice less distinct, his tones less gentle and
+insinuating, and occasionally the cudgel would rise in rapid flourish,
+while now and then a loud halloo would burst from lungs, which the
+oceans of whiskey they had imbibed had not yet, apparently, much
+affected. These were infallible indices of the more feverish stage, of
+which the gallopings of Silvertail--the vociferations of his master--the
+increasing flourishing of the cudgel--the supposed danger of
+children--and the consequent alarm of mothers, together with the
+harangues to the Indian auditory, were the almost daily results.
+
+There was one individual, however, in the town of Amherstburgh, of whom,
+despite his natural wilfulness of character, Simon Girty stood much in
+awe, and that to such a degree, that if he chanced to encounter him in
+his mad progress, his presence had the effect of immediately quieting
+him. This gentleman was the father of the Granthams, who, although then
+filling a civil situation, had formerly been a field officer in the
+corps in which Simon had served; and who had carried with him into
+private life those qualities of stern excellence for which he had been
+remarkable as a soldier--qualities which had won to him the respect and
+affection, not only of the little community over which, in the capacity
+of its chief magistrate, he had presided, but also of the inhabitants of
+the country generally for many miles around. Temperate to an extreme
+himself, Major Grantham held the vice of drunkenness in deserved
+abhorrence, and so far from sharing the general toleration extended to
+the old man, whose originality (harmless as he ever was in his
+intoxication,) often proved a motive for encouragement; he never failed,
+on encountering him, to bestow his censure in a manner that had an
+immediate and obvious effect on the culprit. If Simon, from one end of
+the street, beheld Major Grantham approaching at the other, he was wont
+to turn abruptly away; but if perchance the magistrate came so
+unexpectedly upon him as to preclude the possibility of retreat, he
+appeared as one suddenly sobered, and would rein in his horse, fully
+prepared for the stern lecture which he was well aware would ensue.
+
+It afforded no slight amusement to the townspeople, and particularly
+the young urchins, who usually looked up to Simon with awe,
+to be witnesses of one of those rencontres. In a moment, the
+shouting--galloping--rampaging cudgel-wielder was to be seen changed, as
+if by some magic power, into a being of almost child-like obedience,
+while he listened attentively and deferentially to the lecture of Major
+Grantham, whom he both loved and feared. On these occasions, he would
+hang his head upon his chest--confess his error--and promise solemnly to
+amend his course of life, although it must be needless to add that never
+was that promise heeded. Not unfrequently, after these lectures, when
+Major Grantham had left him, Simon would turn his horse, and, with his
+arms still folded across his chest, suffer Silvertail to pursue his
+homeward course, while he himself, silent and thoughtful, and looking
+like a culprit taken in the fact, sat steadily in his saddle, without
+however venturing to turn his eye either to the right or to the left, as
+he passed through the crowd, who, with faces strongly expressive of
+mirth, marked their sense of the change which had been produced in the
+old interpreter. Those who had seen him thus for the first time, might
+have supposed that a reformation in one so apparently touched would have
+ensued; but long experience had taught that, although a twinge of
+conscience, or more probably fear of, and respect for, the magistrate,
+might induce a momentary humiliation, all traces of cause and effect
+would have vanished with the coming dawn.
+
+To the sterling public virtues he boasted, Simon Girty united that of
+loyalty in no common degree. A more staunch adherent to the British
+crown existed nowhere in the sovereign's dominions; and such was his
+devotedness to "King George," that, albeit he could not in all
+possibility have made the sacrifice of his love for whiskey, he would
+willingly have suffered his left arm to be severed from his body, had
+such proof of his attachment to the throne been required. Proportioned
+to his love for everything British, arose, as a natural consequence,
+his dislike for everything anti-British; and especially for those who
+under the guise of allegiance, had conducted themselves in a way to
+become objects of suspicion to the authorities. A near neighbor of
+Desborough, he had watched him as narrowly as his long indulged habits
+of intoxication would permit, and he had been the means of conveying to
+Major Grantham much of the information which had induced that
+uncompromising magistrate to seek the expulsion of the dangerous
+settler--an object which, however, had been defeated by the perjury of
+the unprincipled individual, in taking the customary oaths of
+allegiance. Since the death of Major Grantham, for whom, notwithstanding
+his numerous lectures, he had ever entertained that reverential esteem
+which is the result of the ascendancy of the powerful and virtuous mind
+over the weak, and not absolutely vicious--and for whose sons he felt
+almost a fatherly affection--old Girty had but indifferently troubled
+himself about Desborough, who was fully aware of what he had previously
+done to detect and expose him, and consequently repaid with usury--an
+hostility of feeling which, however, had never been brought to any
+practical issue.
+
+As a matter of course, Simon was of the number of anxious persons
+collected on the bank of the river, on the morning of the capture of the
+American gun-boat; but, as he was only then emerging from his first
+stage of intoxication (which we have already shown to be tantamount to
+perfect sobriety in any other person), there had been no time for a
+display of those uproarious qualities which characterized the last, and
+which, once let loose, scarcely even the presence of the General could
+have restrained. With an acuteness, however, which is often to be
+remarked in habitual drunkards at moments when their intellect is
+unclouded by the confusedness to which they are more commonly subject,
+the hawk's eye of the old man had detected several particulars which had
+escaped the general attention, and of which he had, at a later period of
+the day, retained sufficient recollection to connect with an accidental,
+yet important discovery.
+
+At the moment when the prisoners were landed, he had remarked
+Desborough, who had uttered the hasty exclamation already recorded,
+stealing cautiously through the surrounding crowd, and apparently
+endeavoring to arrest the attention of the younger of the American
+officers. An occasional pressing of the spur into the flank of
+Silvertail, enabled him to turn as the settler turned, and thus to keep
+him constantly in view; until, at length, as the latter approached the
+group of which General Brock and Commodore Barclay formed the centre, he
+observed him distinctly to make a sign of intelligence to the Militia
+Officer, whose eye he at length attracted, and who now bestowed upon him
+a glance of hasty and furtive recognition. Curiosity induced Simon to
+move Silvertail a little more in advance, in order to be enabled to
+obtain a better view of the prisoners; but the latter turning away his
+head at the moment, although apparently without design, baffled his
+penetration. Still he had a confused and indistinct idea that the person
+was not wholly unknown to him.
+
+When the prisoners had been disposed of, and the crowd dispersed, Simon
+continued to linger near the council-house, exchanging greetings with
+the newly arrived chiefs, and drinking from whatever whiskey bottle was
+offered to him until he at length gave rapid indication of arriving at
+his third or grand climacteric. Then were to be heard the loud
+shoutings of his voice, and the clattering of Silvertail's hoofs; as
+horse and rider flew like lightning past the fort into the town, where a
+more than usual quantity of the favorite liquid was quaffed at the
+several stores, in commemoration, as he said, of the victory of his
+noble boy, Gerald Grantham, and to the success of the British arms
+generally throughout the war.
+
+Among the faults of Simon Girty, was certainly not that of neglecting
+the noble animal to whom long habit had deeply attached him. Silvertail
+was equally a favorite with the son, who had more than once ridden him
+in the occasional races that took place upon the hard sands of the lake
+shore, and in which he had borne everything away. As Simon was ever
+conscious and collected about this hour, care was duly taken by him that
+his horse should be fed, without the trouble to himself of dismounting.
+Even as Girty sat in his saddle, Silvertail was in the daily practice of
+munching his corn out of a small trough that stood in the yard of the
+inn where he usually stopped, while his rider conversed with whoever
+chanced to be near him--the head of his cudgel resting on his ample
+thigh, and a glass of his favorite whiskey in his other and unoccupied
+hand.
+
+Now it chanced that, on this particular day, Simon neglected to pay his
+customary visit to the inn, an omission which was owing rather to the
+hurry and excitement occasioned by the stirring events of the morning,
+than to any wilful neglect of his steed. Nor was it until some hours
+after dark that, seized with a sudden fit of caressing Silvertail, whose
+glossy neck he patted, until the tears of warm affection started to his
+eyes, he bethought him of the omission of which he had been guilty.
+Scarcely was the thought conceived, before Silvertail was again at full
+career, and on his way to the inn. The gate stood open, and, as Simon
+entered, he saw two individuals retire, as if to escape observation,
+within a shed adjoining the stable. Drunk as he was, a vague
+consciousness of the truth, connected as it was with his earlier
+observation, flashed across the old man's mind; and when, in answer to
+his loud hallooing, a factotum, on whom devolved all the numerous
+officers of the inn, from waiter down to ostler, made his appearance,
+Simon added to his loudly expressed demand for Silvertail's corn, a
+whispered injunction to return with a light. During the absence of the
+man, he commenced trolling a verse of "Old King Cole," a favorite ballad
+with him, and with the indifference of one who believes himself to be
+alone. Presently the light appeared, and, as the bearer approached, its
+rays fell on the forms of two men, retired into the furthest extremity
+of the shed and crouching to the earth as if in concealment, whom Simon
+recognised at a glance. He however took no notice of the circumstance to
+the ostler, or even gave the slightest indication, by look or movement,
+of what he had seen.
+
+When the man had watered Silvertail and put his corn in the trough, he
+returned to the house, and Simon, with his arms folded across his chest,
+as his horse crunched his food, listened attentively to catch whatever
+conversation might ensue between the loiterers. Not a word however was
+uttered, and soon after he saw them emerge from their concealment--step
+cautiously behind him--cross the yard towards the gate by which he had
+entered--and then disappear altogether. During this movement the old man
+had kept himself perfectly still, so that there could be no suspicion
+that he had in any way observed them. Nay, he even spoke once or twice
+coaxingly to Silvertail, as if conscious only of the presence of that
+animal, and, in short, conducted himself in a manner well worthy of the
+cunning of a drunken man. The reflections to which this incident gave
+rise, had the effect of calling up a desperate fit of loyalty, which he
+only awaited the termination of Silvertail's hasty meal to put into
+immediate activity. Another shout to the ostler, a second glass
+swallowed, the reckoning paid, Silvertail bitted, and away went Simon
+once more at his speed through the now deserted town, the road out of
+which to his own place, skirted partly the banks of the river, and
+partly those of the lake.
+
+After galloping about a mile, the old man found the feet of Silvertail
+burying themselves momentarily deeper in the sands which form the road
+near Elliot's Point. Unwilling to distress him, he pulled him up to a
+walk, and, throwing the reins upon his neck, folded his arms as usual,
+rolling from side to side at every moment, and audibly musing, in the
+thick, husky voice that was common to him in inebriety.
+
+"Yes, by Jove, I am as true and loyal a subject as any in the service of
+King George, God bless him (here he bowed his head involuntarily and
+with respect), and though, as that poor dear old Grantham used to say, I
+do drink a little (hiccup), still there's no great harm in that. It
+keeps a man alive. I am the boy, at all events, to scent a rogue. That
+was Desborough and his son I saw just now, and the rascals, he! he!
+he!--the rascals thought, I suppose, I was too drunk (hiccup), too drunk
+to twig them. We shall tell them another tale before the night is over.
+D----n such skulking scoundrels, I say. Whoa! Silvertail, whoa!--what do
+you see there, my boy, eh?"
+
+Silvertail only replied by the sharp pricking of his ears, and a side
+movement, which seemed to indicate a desire to keep as much aloof as
+possible from a cluster of walnut trees, which, interspersed with wild
+grape vines, may be seen to this hour, resting in gloomy relief on the
+white deep sands that extend considerably in that direction.
+
+"Never mind, my boy, we shall be at home presently," pursued Simon,
+patting the neck of his unquiet companion. "But, no--I had forgotten; we
+must give chase to these (hiccup) to these rascals. Now there's that son
+Bill of mine fast asleep, I suppose, in the arms of his little wife.
+They do nothing but lie in bed, while their poor old father is obliged
+to be up at all hours, devising plans for the good of the King's
+service, God bless him! But I shall soon (hiccup)--Whoa, Silvertail!
+whoa, I say! D----n you, you brute, do you mean to throw me?"
+
+The restlessness of Silvertail, despite of his rider's caresses, had
+been visibly increasing as they approached the dark cluster of walnuts.
+Arrived opposite to this, his ears and tail erect, he had evinced even
+more than restlessness--alarm: and something, that did not meet the eye
+of his rider, caused him to take a sideward spring of several feet. It
+was this action that, nearly unseating Simon, had drawn from him the
+impatient exclamation just recorded.
+
+At length the thicket was passed, and Silvertail, recovered from his
+alarm, moved forward once more on the bound, in obedience to the well
+known whistle of his master.
+
+"Good speed have they made," again mused Simon, as he approached his
+home: "if indeed, as I suspect, it be them who are hiding in yonder
+thicket. Silvertail could not have been more than ten minutes finishing
+his (hiccup) his corn, and the sands had but little time to warm
+beneath his boots when he did start. These Yankees are swift footed
+fellows, as I have had good (hiccup) good experience in the old war,
+when I could run a little myself like the best of them. But here we are
+at last. Whoa, Silvertail, whoa! and now to turn out Bill from his
+little wife. Bill, I say, hilloa! hilloa! Bill, hilloa!"
+
+Long habit, which had taught the old man's truly excellent and exemplary
+son the utter hopelessness of his disease, had also familiarized him
+with these nightly interruptions to his slumbers. A light was speedily
+seen to flash across the chamber in which he slept, and presently the
+principal door of the lower building was unbarred, and unmurmuring and
+uncomplaining, the half-dressed young man stood in the presence of his
+father. Placing the light on the threshold, he prepared to assist him as
+usual to dismount, but Simon, contrary to custom, rejected for a time
+every offer of the kind. His rapid gallop through the night air, added
+to the more than ordinary quantity of whiskey he had that day swallowed,
+was now producing its effect, and, while every feature of his
+countenance manifested the extreme of animal stupidity, his apprehension
+wandered and his voice became almost inarticulate. Without the power to
+acquaint his son with the purpose he had in view, and of which he
+himself now entertained but a very indistinct recollection, he yet
+strove, impelled as he was by his confusedness of intention, to retain
+his seat, but was eventually unhorsed and handed over to the care of his
+pretty daughter-in-law, whose office it was to dispose of him for the
+night, while her husband rubbed down, fed, and otherwise attended to
+Silvertail.
+
+A few hours of sound sleep restored Simon to his voice and his
+recollection, when his desire to follow the two individuals he had seen
+in the yard of the inn the preceding night, and whom he felt persuaded
+he must have passed on the road, was more than ever powerfully revived.
+And yet, was it not highly probable that the favorable opportunity had
+been lost, and that, taking advantage of the night, they were already
+departed from the country, if such (and he doubted it not) was their
+intention. "What a cursed fool," he muttered to himself, "to let a
+thimbleful of liquor upset me on such an occasion, but, at all events,
+here goes for another trial." With the impatient, over-indulged Simon,
+to determine on a course of action, was to carry it into effect.
+
+"Hilloa, Bill! I say, Bill my boy!" he shouted from the chamber next to
+that in which his son slept. "Hilloa! Bill, come here directly."
+
+Bill answered not, but sounds were heard in his room as of one stepping
+out of bed, and presently the noise of flint and steel announced that a
+light was being struck. In a few minutes the rather jaded-looking youth
+appeared at the bedstead of his parent.
+
+"Bill, my dear boy," said Simon, in a more subdued voice, "did you see
+anybody pass last night after I came home? Try and recollect yourself;
+did you see two men on the road?"
+
+"I did, father; just as I had locked the stable door, and was coming in
+for the night, I saw two men passing down the road. But why do you ask?"
+
+"Did you speak to them--could you recognise them?" asked Simon, without
+stating his motive for the question.
+
+"I wished them good night; and one of them gruffly bade me good night
+too; but I could not make out who they were, though one did for a
+moment strike me to be Desborough, and both were tallish sort of men."
+
+"You're a lad of penetration, Bill; now saddle me Silvertail as fast as
+you can."
+
+"Saddle Silvertail! Surely, father, you are not going out yet; it's not
+daylight."
+
+"Saddle Silvertail, Bill," repeated the old man, with the air of one
+whose mandate was not to be questioned. "But where the devil are you
+going, sir?" he added, impatiently.
+
+"Why to saddle Silvertail, to be sure," said the youth, who was just
+closing the door for that purpose.
+
+"What, and leave me, a miserable old man, to get up without a light? Oh
+fie, Bill. I thought you loved your poor old father better than to
+neglect him so--there, that will do. Now send in Lucy to dress me."
+
+The light was kindled, Bill went in and spoke to his wife, then
+descended to the stable. A gentle tap at the door of the old
+interpreter, and Lucy entered in her pretty night dress, and, half
+asleep, half awake, but without a shadow of discontent in her look,
+proceeded to assist him in drawing on his stockings, &c. Simon's toilet
+was soon completed, and Silvertail being announced as "all ready," he,
+without communicating a word of his purpose, issued forth from his home
+just as the day was beginning to dawn.
+
+Although the reflective powers of Girtie had been in some measure
+restored by sleep, it is by no means to be assumed he was yet thoroughly
+sober. Uncertain in regard to the movements of those who had so strongly
+excited his loyal hostility, (and, mayhap, at the moment his curiosity,)
+it occurred to him that if Desborough had not already baffled his
+pursuit, a knowledge of the movements and intentions of that individual
+might be better obtained from an observation of what was passing on the
+beach in front of his hut. The object of this reconnaissance was,
+therefore, only to see if the canoe of the settler was still on the
+shore, and with this object he suffered Silvertail to take the road
+along the sands, while he himself, with his arms folded and his head
+sunk on his chest, fell into a reverie with which was connected the
+manner and the means of securing the disloyal Desborough, should it
+happen that he had not yet departed. The accidental discharge of
+Middlemore's pistol, at the very moment when Silvertail had doubled a
+point that kept the scene of contention from his view, caused him to
+raise his eyes, and then the whole truth flashed suddenly upon him. We
+have already seen how gallantly he advanced to them, and how madly, and
+in a manner peculiarly his own, he sought to arrest the traitor
+Desborough in his flight.
+
+"Sorry I couldn't force the scoundrel back, gentlemen," said Simon, as
+he now approached the discomfited officers. "Not much hurt, I hope,"
+pointing with his own maimed and bleeding hand to the leg of Middlemore,
+which that officer, seated on the sand, was preparing to bind with a
+silk handkerchief. "Ah, a mere flesh wound, I see. Henry, Henry
+Grantham, my poor dear boy, what still alive after the desperate
+clutching of that fellow at your throat? But now that we have routed the
+enemy--must be off--drenched to the skin. No liquor on the stomach to
+keep out the cold, and if I once get an ague fit, its all over with poor
+old Simon. Must gallop home, and, while his little wife wraps a bandage
+round my hand, shall send down Bill with a litter. Good morning, Mr.
+Middlemore, good bye, Henry, my boy." And then, without giving time to
+either to reply, the old man applied his spurs once more to the flanks
+of Silvertail, who, with drooping mane and tail, resembled a half
+drowned rat; and again hallooing defiance to Desborough, who lay to at a
+distance, apparently watching the movements of his enemies, he retraced
+his way along the sands at full gallop, and was speedily out of sight.
+
+Scarcely had Girty disappeared, when two other individuals, evidently
+officers, and cloaked precisely like the party he had just quitted,
+issued from the wood near the hut upon the clearing, and thence upon the
+sands--their countenances naturally expressing all the surprise that
+might be supposed to arise from the picture now offered to their view.
+
+"What in the name of Heaven is the meaning of all this?" asked one of
+the new comers, as both now rapidly advanced to the spot where
+Middlemore was yet employed in coolly binding up his leg, while Henry
+Grantham, who had just risen, was gasping with almost ludicrous efforts
+to regain his respiration.
+
+"You must ask the meaning of our friend here," answered Middlemore, with
+the low chuckling good-natured laugh that was habitual to him, while he
+proceeded with his bandaging. "All I know is, that I came out as a
+second, and here have I been made a first--a principal, which, by the
+way, is contrary to all my principle."
+
+"Do be serious for once, Middlemore. How did you get wounded, and who
+are those scoundrels who have just quitted you?" anxiously inquired
+Captain Molineux, for it was he, and Lieutenant Villiers, who, (the
+party already stated to have been expected), had at length arrived.
+
+"Two desperate fellows in their way, I can assure you," replied
+Middlemore, more amused than annoyed at the adventure. "Ensign Paul,
+Emilius, Theophilus, Arnoldi, is, I calculate, a pretty considerable
+strong ac_tyve_ sort of fellow; and, to judge by Henry Grantham's half
+strangled look, his companion lacks not the same qualities. Why, in the
+name of all that is precious would you persist in poking your nose into
+the rascal's skins, Grantham? The ruffians had nearly made dried skins
+of ours."
+
+"Ha! is that the scoundrel who calls himself Arnoldi," asked Captain
+Molineux? "I have heard," and he glanced at Henry Grantham as he spoke,
+"a long story of his villainy from his captor within this very hour."
+
+"Which is your apology, I suppose," said Middlemore, "for having so far
+exceeded your appointment, gentlemen."
+
+"It certainly is," said Lieutenant Villiers, "but the fault was not
+ours. We chanced to fall in with Gerald Grantham, on our way here, and
+that he detained us, should be a matter of congratulation to us all."
+
+"Congratulation!" exclaimed Middlemore, dropping his bandage, and
+lifting his eyes with an expression of indescribable humor. "Am I then
+to think it matter of congratulation that, as an innocent second, I
+should have had a cursed piece of lead stuck in my flesh to spoil my
+next winter's dancing. And Grantham is to think it matter of
+congratulation that, instead of putting a bullet through you, Molineux,
+(as I intend he shall when I have finished dressing this confounded leg,
+if his nerves are not too much shaken), he should have felt the gripe of
+that monster Desborough around his throat, until his eyes seem ready to
+start from their sockets, and all this because you did not choose to be
+in time. Upon my word, I do not know that it is quite meet that we
+should meet you. What say you, Grantham?"
+
+"I hope," said Captain Molineux with a smile, "your principal will think
+as you do, for should he decline the meeting, nothing will afford more
+satisfaction to myself."
+
+Both Grantham and Middlemore looked their utter surprise at the language
+thus used by Captain Molineux, but neither of them spoke.
+
+"If an apology the most ample for my observation of yesterday,"
+continued that officer, "an apology founded on my perfect conviction of
+error, (that conviction produced by certain recent explanations with
+your brother), can satisfy you, Mr. Grantham, most sincerely do I make
+it. If, however, you hold me to my pledge, here am I of course to redeem
+it. I may as well observe to you in the presence of our friends, (and
+Villiers can corroborate my statement), that my original intention on
+leaving your brother, was to receive your fire and then tender my
+apology, but, under the circumstances in which both you and Middlemore
+are placed at this moment, the idea would be altogether absurd. Again I
+tender my apology, which it will be a satisfaction to me to repeat this
+day at the mess table, where I yesterday refused to drink your brother's
+health. All I can add is that when you have heard the motives for my
+conduct, and learnt to what extent I have been deceived, you will
+readily admit that I acted not altogether from caprice."
+
+"Your apology I accept, Captain Molineux," said Grantham, coming forward
+and unhesitatingly offering his hand. "If you have seen my brother, I am
+satisfied. Let there be no further question on the subject."
+
+"So then I am to be the only bulleted man on this occasion," interrupted
+Middlemore, with ludicrous pathos--"the only poor devil who is to be
+made to remember Hartley's point for ever. But no matter. I am not the
+first instance of a second being shot, through the awkward bungling of
+his principal, and certainly Grantham you were in every sense the
+principal in this affair, for had you taken my advice you would have let
+the fellows go to the devil their own way."
+
+"What! knowing, as I did, that the traitor Desborough had concealed in
+his canoe a prisoner on parole--nay, worse, a deserter from our
+service--with a view of conveying him out of the country."
+
+"How did you know it."
+
+"Because I at once recognised him, through the disguise in which he left
+the hut, for what he was. That discovery made, there remained but one
+course to pursue."
+
+"Ah! and coarse work you made of it, with a vengeance," said Middlemore,
+"first started him up like a fox from his cover, got the mark of his
+teeth, and then suffered him to escape."
+
+"Is there no chance of following--no means of overtaking them?" said
+Captain Molineux--"No, by Heaven," as he glanced his eye from right to
+left, "not a single canoe to be seen anywhere along the shore."
+
+"Following!" echoed Middlemore; "faith the scoundrels would desire
+nothing better: if two of us had such indifferent play with them on
+terra firma, you may rely upon it that double the number would have no
+better chance in one of these rickety canoes. See there how the rascals
+lie to within half musket shot, apparently hailing us."
+
+Middlemore was right. Desborough had risen in the stern of the canoe,
+and now, stretched to his full height, called leisurely, through his
+closed hands, on the name of Henry Grantham. When he observed the
+attention of that officer had, in common with that of his companions,
+been arrested, he proceeded at the full extent of his lungs.
+
+"I reckon, young man, as how I shall pay you out for this, and drot my
+skin, if I once twists my fingers round your neck again, if anything on
+this side hell shall make me quit it, afore you squeaks your last
+squeak. You've druv me from my home, and I'll have your curst blood for
+it yet. I'll sarve you as I sarved your old father. You got my small
+bore, I expect, and if its any good to you to know that one of its
+nineties to the pound sent the old rascal to the devil--why then you
+have it from Jeremiah Desborough's own lips, and be d----d to you."
+
+And, with this horrible admission, the settler again seated himself in
+the stern of his canoe, and making good use of his paddle soon scudded
+away until his little vessel appeared but as a speck on the lake.
+
+Henry Grantham was petrified with astonishment and dismay at a
+declaration, the full elucidation of which we must reserve for a future
+opportunity. The daring confession rang in his ears long after the voice
+had ceased, and it was not until a light vehicle had been brought for
+Middlemore from Simon's farm, that he could be induced to quit the
+shore, where he still lingered, as if in expectation of the return of
+the avowed _murderer of his Father_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+At the especial invitation of Captain Molineux Gerald Grantham dined at
+the garrison mess, on the evening of the day when the circumstances
+detailed in our last chapter took place. During dinner the extraordinary
+adventure of the morning formed the chief topic of conversation, for it
+had become one of general interest, not only throughout the military
+circles, but in the town of Amherstburgh itself, in which the father of
+the Granthams had been held in an esteem amounting almost to veneration.
+Horrible as had been the announcement made by the detected and
+discomfited settler to him who now, for the first time, learnt that his
+parent had fallen a victim to ruffian vindictiveness, too many years had
+elapsed since that event, to produce more than the ordinary emotion
+which might be supposed to be awakened by a knowledge rather of the
+manner than the fact of his death. Whatever therefore might have been
+the pain inflicted on the hearts of the brothers, by this cruel
+re-opening of a partially closed wound, there was no other evidence of
+suffering than the suddenly compressed lip and glistening eye, whenever
+allusion was made to the villain with whom each felt he had a fearful
+account to settle.
+
+Much indeed of the interest of the hour was derived from the animated
+account, given by Gerald, of the circumstances which had led to his
+lying in ambuscade for the American on the preceding day; and as his
+narrative embraces not only the reasons for Captain Molineux's strange
+conduct, but other hitherto unexplained facts, we cannot do better than
+follow him in his detail:
+
+"I think it must have been about half past eleven o'clock, on the night
+preceding the capture," commenced Gerald, "that, as my gun-boat was at
+anchor close under the American shore, at rather more than half a mile
+below the farther extremity of Bois Blanc, my faithful old Sambo
+silently approached me, while I lay wrapped in my watch-cloak on deck,
+calculating the chances of falling in with some spirited bark of the
+enemy which would afford me an opportunity of proving the mettle of my
+crew.
+
+"'Massa Geral,' he said, in a mysterious whisper--for old age and long
+services in my family have given him privileges which I have neither the
+power nor the inclination to check--'Massa Geral,' pulling me by the
+collar, 'I dam ib he no go sleep when him ought to hab all him eyes
+about him--him pretty fellow to keep watch when Yankee pass him in e
+channel.'
+
+"'A Yankee pass me in the channel!' I would have exclaimed aloud,
+starting to my feet with surprise; but Sambo, with ready thought, put
+his hand upon my mouth, in time to prevent more than the first word from
+being uttered.
+
+"'Hush! dam him, Massa Geral, ib you make a noise, you no catch him.'
+
+"'What do you mean, then--what have you seen?' I asked, in the same low
+whisper, the policy of which his action had enjoined on me.
+
+"'Lookee dare, Massa Geral, lookee dare!'
+
+"Following the direction in which he pointed, I now saw, but very
+indistinctly, a canoe in which was a solitary individual stealing across
+the lake to the impulsion of an apparently muffled paddle; for her
+course, notwithstanding the stillness of the night, was utterly
+noiseless. The moon, which is in her first quarter, had long since
+disappeared; yet the heavens, although not particularly bright, were
+sufficiently dotted with stars to enable me, with the aid of a night
+telescope, to discover that the figure, which guided the cautiously
+moving bark, had nothing Indian in its outline. The crew of the gun-boat
+(the watch only excepted) had long since turned in; and even the latter
+lay reposing on the forecastle, the sentinels only keeping the ordinary
+lookout. So closely, moreover, did we lay in shore, that but for the
+caution of the paddler, it might have been assumed she was too nearly
+identified with the dark forest against which her hull and spars
+reposed, to be visible. Curious to ascertain her object, I watched the
+canoe in silence, as, whether accidentally or with design, I know not,
+she made the half circuit of the gun-boat and then bore away in a direct
+line for the Canadian shore. A suspicion of the truth now flashed across
+my mind, and I resolved without delay to satisfy myself. My first care
+was to hasten to the forecastle, and enjoin on the sentinels, who I
+feared might see and hail the stranger, the strictest silence. Then
+desiring Sambo to prepare the light boat, which I dare say most of you
+have remarked to form a part of my Lilliputian command, I proceeded to
+arm myself with cutlass and pistols. Thus equipped, I sprang lightly in;
+and having again caught sight of the chase, on which I had moreover
+directed one of the sentinels to keep a steady eye as long as she was in
+sight, desired Sambo to steer as noiselessly as possible in pursuit. For
+some time we kept the stranger in view, but whether, owing to his
+superior paddling or lighter weight, we eventually lost sight of him.
+The suspicion which had at first induced my following, however, served
+as a clue to guide me in the direction I should take. I was aware that
+the scoundrel Desborough was an object of distrust--I knew that the
+strictness of my father, during his magistracy, in compelling him to
+choose between taking the oaths of allegiance and quitting the country,
+had inspired him with deep hatred to himself and disaffection to the
+Government; and I felt that if the spirit of his vengeance had not
+earlier developed itself, it was solely because the opportunity and the
+power had hitherto been wanting; but that now, when hostilities between
+his natural and adopted countries had been declared, there would be
+ample room for the exercise of his treason. It was the strong assurance
+I felt that he was the solitary voyager on the face of the waters, which
+induced me to pursue him; for I had a presentiment that, could I but
+track him in his course, I should discover some proof of his guilt,
+which would suffice to rid us for ever of the presence of so dangerous a
+subject. The adventure was moreover one that pleased me, although
+perhaps I was not strictly justified in quitting my gun-boat, especially
+as in the urgency of the moment, I had not even thought of leaving
+orders with my boatswain, in the event of anything unexpected occurring
+during my absence. The sentinels alone were aware of my departure.
+
+"The course we pursued was in the direction of Hartley's point, and so
+correct had been the steering and paddling of the keen-sighted negro,
+that when we made the beach, we found ourselves immediately opposite to
+Desborough's hut.
+
+"'How is this, Sambo?' I asked in a low tone, as our canoe grated on the
+sand within a few paces of several others that lay where I expected to
+find but one--'are all these Desborough's?'
+
+"'No, Massa Geral--'less him teal him toders, Desborough only got
+one--dis a public landin' place.'
+
+"'Can you tell which is his?' I inquired.
+
+"'To be sure--dis a one,' and he pointed to one nearly twice the
+dimensions of its fellows.
+
+"'Has it been lately used, Sambo--can you tell?'
+
+"'I soon find out, Massa Geral.'
+
+"His device was the most simple and natural in the world, and yet I
+confess it was one which I never should have dreamt of. Stooping on the
+sands, he passed his hand under the bottom of the canoe, and then
+whispered:
+
+"'Him not touch a water to-night, Massa Geral--him dry as a chip.'
+
+"Here I was at fault. I began to apprehend that I had been baffled in my
+pursuit, and deceived in my supposition. I knew that Desborough had had
+for years, one large canoe only in his possession, and it was evident
+that this had not been used for the night. I was about to order Sambo to
+shove off again, when it suddenly occurred to me, that, instead of
+returning from a visit, the suspected settler might have received a
+visiter, and I accordingly desired my _fides Achates_ to submit the
+remainder of the canoes to the same inspection.
+
+"After having passed his hand ineffectually over several, he at length
+announced, as he stooped over one which I recognised, from a peculiar
+elevation of the bow and stern, to be same we had passed.
+
+"'Dis a one all drippin' wet, Massa Geral. May I nebber see a Hebben ib
+he not a same we follow.'
+
+"A low tapping against the door of the hut, which, although evidently
+intended to be subdued, was now, in the silence of night, distinctly
+audible, while our whispers on the contrary, mingled as they were with
+the crisping sound of the waves rippling on the sands were, at that
+distance, undistinguishable. It was evident that I had erred in my
+original conjecture. Had it been Desborough himself, living alone as he
+did, he would not have knocked for admission where there was no one to
+afford it, but would have quietly let himself in. It could then be no
+other than a visiter, perhaps a spy from the enemy--and the same to whom
+we had given chase.
+
+"From the moment that the tapping commenced, Sambo and I stood
+motionless on the shore, and without trusting our voices again, even to
+a whisper. In a little time we heard the door open, and the low voice of
+Desborough in conversation with another. Presently the door was shut,
+and soon afterwards, through an imperfectly closed shutter on the only
+floor of the hut, we could perceive a streak of light reflected on the
+clearing in front, as if from a candle or lamp that was stationary.
+
+"'I tink him dam rascal dat man, Massa Geral,' at length ventured my
+companion. 'I 'member long time ago,' and he sighed, 'when Sambo was no
+bigger nor dat paddle, one berry much like him. But, Massa Geral, Massa
+always tell me nebber talk o' dat.'
+
+"'A villain he is, I believe, Sambo, but let us advance cautiously and
+discover what he is about.'
+
+"We now stole along the skirt of the forest, until we managed to
+approach the window, through which the light was still thrown in one
+long, fixed, but solitary ray. It was however impossible to see who were
+within, for although the voices of men were distinguishable, their forms
+were so placed as not to be visible through the partial opening.
+
+"The conversation had evidently been some moments commenced. The first
+words I heard uttered were by Desborough.
+
+"'A Commissary boat, and filled with bags of goold eagles, and a
+fiftieth part our'n, if we get her clean slick through to Detroit. Well,
+drot me, if that ain't worth the trial. Why didn't they try it by land,
+boy?'
+
+"'I reckon, father, that cock wouldn't fight. The Injuns are outlyin'
+everywhere to cut off our mails, and the ready is too much wanted to be
+thrown away. No, no: the river work's the safest, I take it, for there
+they little expect it to come.'
+
+"The voice of the last speaker excited in me a strong desire to see the
+face of Desborough's visiter. Unable, where I stood, to catch the
+slightest view of either, I fancied that I might be more successful in
+rear of the hut. I therefore moved forward, followed by Sambo, but not
+so cautiously as to prevent my feet from crushing a fragment of decayed
+wood that lay in my path.
+
+"A bustle within, and the sudden opening of the door announced that the
+noise had been overheard. I held up my finger impressively to Sambo, and
+we both remained motionless.
+
+"'Who the hell's there?' shouted Desborough, and the voice rang like the
+blast of a speaking trumpet along the skirt of the forest.
+
+"'Some raccoon looking out for Hartley's chickens, I expect,' said his
+companion, after a short pause. 'There's nothin' human, I reckon, to be
+seen movin' at this hour of the night.'
+
+"'Who the hell's there?' repeated Desborough--still no answer.
+
+"Again the door was closed, and under cover of the slight noise made by
+the settler in doing this, and resuming his seat, Sambo and I
+accomplished the circuit of the hut. Here we had an unobstructed view of
+the persons of both. A small store room or pantry communicated with that
+in which they were sitting at a table, on which was a large flagon, we
+knew to contain whiskey, and a couple of japanned drinking cups, from
+which, ever and anon, they 'wetted their whistles,' as they termed it,
+and whetted their discourse. As they sat each with his back to the inner
+wall, or more correctly, the logs of the hut, and facing the door
+communicating with the store-room, left wide open, and in a direct line
+with the back window at which we had taken our stand, we could
+distinctly trace every movement of their features, while, thrown into
+the shade by the gloom with which we were enveloped, we ran no risk of
+detection ourselves. It is almost unnecessary to observe, after what has
+occurred this morning, that the companion of Desborough was no other
+than the _soi-disant_ Ensign Paul Emilius Theophilus Arnoldi; or, more
+properly, the scoundrel son of a yet more scoundrel father. He wore the
+dress in which you yesterday beheld him, but beneath a Canadian blanket
+coat, which, when I first saw him in the hut, was buttoned up to the
+chin so closely as to conceal everything American about the dress.
+
+"'Well now, I reckon we must lay our heads to do this job;' said the
+son, as he tossed off a portion of the liquid he had poured into his
+can. 'There's only that one gun-boat I expect in t'other channel.'
+
+"'Only one, Phil--do you know who commands it?'
+
+"'One of them curst Granthams, to be sure. I say, old boy,' and his eye
+lighted up significantly as he pointed to the opposite wall. 'I see
+you've got the small bore still.'
+
+"A knowing wink marked the father's sense of the allusion. 'The devil's
+in it,' he rejoined, 'if we can't come over that smooth-faced chap some
+how or other. Did you see anythin' of him as you come along?'
+
+"'I reckon I did. Pretty chick he is to employ for a look-out. Why I
+paddled two or three times round his gun-boat as it lay 'gin the shore,
+without so much as a single livin' soul being on deck to see me.'
+
+"It is proverbial," continued Grantham, "that listeners never hear any
+good of themselves. I paid the common penalty. But if I continued calm,
+my companion did not. Partly incensed at what had related to me--but
+more infuriated at the declaration made by the son, that he had paddled
+several times round the gun-boat, without a soul being on deck to see
+him, he drew near to me, his white teeth displaying themselves in the
+gloom, as he whispered, but in a tone that betrayed extreme irritation.
+
+"'What a dam liar rascal, Massa Geral. He nebber go round: I see him
+come a down a ribber long afore he see a boat at all.'
+
+"'Hush, Sambo! hush--not a word,' I returned in the same low whisper.
+'The villains are at some treason, and if we stir, we shall lose all
+chance of discovering it.'
+
+"'Me no peak, Massa Geral; but dam him lyin' teef,' he continued to
+mutter, 'I wish I had him board a gun-boat.'
+
+"'A dozen fellers well armed might take the d----d British craft,'
+observed Desborough. 'How many men may there be aboard the Commissary?'
+
+"'About forty, I reckon, under some d----d old rig'lar major. I've got a
+letter for him here to desire him to come on, if so be as we gets the
+craft out of the way.'
+
+"'Drot me if I know a better way than to jump slick aboard her,'
+returned Desborough, musingly, 'forty genu_ine_ Kaintucks ought to
+swallow her up crew and all.'
+
+"'I guess they would,' returned his companion, 'but they are not
+Kaintucks, but only rig'lars; and then agin if they are discovered, one
+spry cannon might sink her; and if the eagles go to the bottom we shall
+lose our fiftieth. You don't reckon that.'
+
+"'What the hell's to be done then?' exclaimed Desborough, resorting to
+his favorite oath when in doubt.
+
+"'My plan's already cut and dried by a wiser head nor yours nor mine, as
+you shall larn; but first let a feller wet his whistle.' Here they both
+drained off another portion of the poison that stood before them.
+
+"Not to tire you," pursued Grantham, "with a repetition of the oaths and
+vulgar and interjectional chucklings that passed between the
+well-assorted pair during the disclosure of the plan, I will briefly
+state that it was one of the most stupid that could have been conceived,
+and reflected but little credit on the stratagetic powers of whoever
+originated it.
+
+"The younger scoundrel, who since his desertion from our service, claims
+to be a naturalized citizen of the United States, (his name of
+Desborough being changed for that of Arnoldi, and his rank of full
+private for that of Ensign of Militia,) had been selected, from his
+knowledge of the Canadian shore and his connexion with the disaffected
+settler, as a proper person to entrust with a stratagem, having for its
+object the safe convoy of a boat with specie, of which the American
+garrison, it appears, stands much in need. The renegade had been
+instructed to see his father, to whom he was to promise a fiftieth of
+the value of the freight, provided he should by any means contrive to
+draw the gun-boat from her station. The most plausible plan suggested
+was, that he should intimate to me that a prize of value was lying
+between Turkey Island and our own shore, which it required but my sudden
+appearance to ensure, without even striking a blow. Here a number of
+armed boats were to be stationed in concealment in order to take me at a
+disadvantage, and even if I avoided being captured, the great aim would
+be accomplished--namely, that of getting me out of the way until the
+important boat should have cleared the channel running between Bois
+Blanc and the American shore, and secreted herself in one of the several
+deep creeks which empty themselves into the river. Here she was to have
+remained until I had returned to my station, when her passage upward
+might be pursued, if not without observation, at least without risk. As
+Desborough was known to be suspected by us, it was further suggested
+that he should appear to have been influenced in the information
+conveyed to me, not by any motives of patriotism, which would have been
+in the highest degree misplaced, but by the mere principle of
+self-interest. He was to require of me a pledge that, out of the
+proceeds of the proposed capture a twentieth share should be his, or, if
+I would not undertake to guarantee this from the Government or my own
+authority, that I should promise my own eventual share should be divided
+with him. This stratagem successful, the younger Desborough was to
+repair to the boat which had been lying concealed for the last day or
+two, a few miles below me, with an order for her to make the best of her
+way during the night if possible. If failing on the other hand, she was
+to return to the port whence she had sailed, until a more fitting
+opportunity should present itself.
+
+"This," continued Grantham, after a slight pause, during which the
+bottle was again circulated, "was delightful intelligence. Distrustful
+as I was of Desborough, I could not have been deceived by this advice,
+even had I not thus fortunately become acquainted with the whole of the
+design; but now that I knew my man, and could see my way, I at once
+resolved to appear the dupe they proposed to make me. Specie, too, for
+the payment of the garrison! This was no contemptible prize with which
+to commence my career. Besides, the boat was well manned; and although
+without cannon, still, in point of military equipment, quite able to
+cope with my crew, which did not exceed thirty men.
+
+"With your knowledge of Desborough's character, it will not surprise you
+to learn, although I confess I boiled with indignation at the moment to
+hear, that the object of the scoundrels was, with a view to the
+gratification of their own private vengeance, not merely to raise a
+doubt of my fidelity, but to prefer against me a direct charge of
+treason. Thus, in their vulgar language, they argued. If misled by their
+representations, I quitted my station on the channel, and fell into the
+ambuscade prepared for me near Turkey Island, I raised a suspicion of
+the cause of my absence, which might be confirmed by an anonymous
+communication; and if, on the other hand, I escaped that ambuscade, the
+suspicion would be even stronger, as care would be taken to announce to
+the English garrison the fact of my having been bribed to leave the
+channel free for the passage of a boat, filled with money and
+necessaries for Detroit. My return to my post immediately afterwards
+would confirm the assertion; and so perfectly had they, in their wise
+conceit, arranged their plans, that a paper was prepared by the son and
+handed to his father, for the purpose of being dropped in the way of one
+of the officers--the purport of which was an accusation against me, of
+holding a secret understanding with the enemy, in proof whereof it was
+stated that at an important moment, I should be found absent from my
+post. I think I am correct, Captain Molineux."
+
+"Perfectly," returned that officer--"such indeed were the contents of
+the paper which I picked up in my rounds about daylight yesterday
+morning, and which I have only again to express my regret that I should
+have allowed to make on me even a momentary impression. Indeed,
+Grantham, I am sure you will do me the justice to believe, that until we
+actually saw the American boat passing, while you were nowhere to be
+seen, I never for one moment doubted its being, what it has proved to
+be--the falsest and most atrocious of calumnies."
+
+"Your after doubt was but natural," replied the sailor, "although I
+confess I could not help wincing under the thought of its being
+entertained. I knew that, on my return, I should be enabled to explain
+everything, but yet felt nettled that even my short absence should, as I
+knew it must, give rise to any strictures on my conduct. It was that
+soreness of feeling which induced my impatient allusion to the subject,
+even after my good fortune of yesterday, for I at once detected that the
+slanderous paper had been received and commented on; and from the
+peculiar glance, I saw Henry direct to you, I was at no loss to discover
+into whose hands it had fallen. But to resume.
+
+"Their plan of action being finally settled, the traitors began to give
+indication of separating--the one to hasten and announce to the American
+boat the removal of all impediment to her passage upwards--the other to
+my gun-boat, in order to play off the falsehood devised for the success
+of their stratagem.
+
+"'Here's damnation to the curst race of Granthams,' said the son, as
+raising his tall and lanky body, he lifted the rude goblet to his lips.
+
+"'Amen,' responded the father, rising also and drinking to the pledge
+'and, what's more, here's to the goold eagles that'll repay us for our
+job. And now Phil, let's be movin'.'
+
+"The heavy tread of their feet within the hut as they moved to and fro,
+to collect the several articles belonging to the equipment of
+Desborough's canoe, promising fair to cover the sound of our footsteps,
+I now whispered to Sambo, and we hastily made good our retreat to the
+point where we left our skiff. In a few minutes, we were again on the
+lake, paddling swiftly but cautiously towards my gun-boat. I had
+instructed the sentinels not to hail me on my return, therefore when I
+gained the deck, it was without challenge or observation of any kind,
+which could denote to those from whom I had so recently parted, that any
+one had been absent.
+
+"Again I had thrown myself upon the deck, and was ruminating on the
+singular events of the evening, associating the rich prize, which I now
+already looked upon as my own, with the rascality of those who,
+imagining me to be their dupe, were so soon to become mine; and moreover
+meditating such measures as I fancied most likely to secure a result so
+opposite to that which they anticipated, when the loud quick sharp hail
+of the sentinels announced that a craft of some kind was approaching.
+
+"'Want to see the officer,' shouted a voice which I knew to be
+Desborough's. 'Somethin' very partick'lar to tell him, I guess.'
+
+"Permission having been granted, the canoe came rapidly up to the side,
+and in the next minute, the tall heavy form of the settler stood
+distinctly defined against the lake, as he stepped on the gun-wale of
+the boat.
+
+"It must be needless here to repeat the information of which he was the
+bearer," pursued Grantham. "Its purport was, in every sense, what I had
+so recently overheard in the hut.
+
+"'And how am I to know that this tale of yours is correct,' I demanded
+when he had concluded, yet in a tone that seemed to admit, I was as much
+his dupe as he could reasonably desire. 'You are aware, Desborough, that
+your character for loyalty does not stand very high, and this may prove
+but a trick to get me out of the way. What good motive can you give for
+my believing you?'
+
+"'The best I calculate as can be,' he unhesitatingly answered, 'and that
+is my own interest. I don't make no boast of my loyalty, as you say, to
+be sure, Mr. Grantham, but I've an eye like a hawk for the rhino, and I
+han't giv' you this piece of news without expectin' a promise that I
+shall git a purty considerable sum in eagles, if so be as you succeeds
+in wallopin' the prize.'
+
+"'Walloping--what do you call walloping, man?'
+
+"'What do I call wallopin'? why licking her slick and clean out, and
+gettin' hold of the dust to be sure.'
+
+"I could have knocked the scoundrel to the deck, for the familiarity of
+the grin which accompanied his reply, and as for Sambo, I had more than
+once to look him peremptorily into patience.
+
+"I knew from what had passed between father and son, that, until the
+former had communicated with, and impressed a conviction of the accuracy
+of his report, upon me, nothing was to be attempted by the boat, the
+capture of which was now, for a variety of reasons, an object of weighty
+consideration. Whatever violence I did to myself therefore, in
+abstaining from a castigation of the traitor. I felt that I could not
+hope for success, unless, by appearing implicitly to believe all he had
+stated. I thus set suspicion at rest.
+
+"'A more satisfactory motive for your information you could not have
+given me, Desborough,' I at length replied, with a sarcasm which was
+however lost upon him, 'and I certainly do you the justice to believe
+that to the self-interest you have avowed, we shall be indebted for the
+capture of the prize in question. She lies, you say, between Turkey
+Island and our own shores.'
+
+"'I guess as how she does,' replied the settler, with an eagerness that
+betrayed his conviction that the bait had taken; 'but Mr.
+Grantham.'--and I could detect a lurking sneer, 'I expect at least that
+when you have lick'd the prize you will make my loyalty stand a little
+higher than it seems to be at this moment, for I guess, puttin' the
+dollars out of the question, it's a right loyal act I am guilty of now.'
+
+"'You may rely upon it, Desborough, you shall have all the credit you
+deserve for your conduct on the occasion--that it shall be faithfully
+reported on my return, you may take for granted.' Here I summoned all
+hands up to weigh anchor and make sail for Turkey Island. 'Now then,
+Desborough, unless you wish to be a sharer in our enterprise, the sooner
+you leave us the better, for we shall be off immediately.'
+
+"In obedience to my order, all hands were speedily upon deck, and busied
+in earnest preparation. In pleasing assurance that I was as completely
+his dupe as could be desired, the villain had now the audacity to demand
+from me a written promise that, in consideration of the information
+given, five hundred dollars should be paid to him on the disposal of the
+prize. This demand (aware as he was--or rather as he purposed--that I
+was to play the part of the captured instead of that of the captor), was
+intended to lull me into even greater reliance on his veracity. I had
+difficulty in restraining my indignation, for I felt that the fellow was
+laughing at me in his sleeve; however, the reflection that, in less than
+twenty-four hours, the tables would be turned upon him, operated as a
+check upon my feelings, and I said with a hurried voice and air:
+
+"'Impossible. Desborough, I have no time now to give the paper, for as
+you perceive we are getting under way--I however, repeat to you my
+promise, that if your claims are not attended to elsewhere, you shall
+have my share of the profits, if I take this prize within the next eight
+and forty hours within the boundary of Turkey Island. Will that content
+you?'
+
+"'I expect as how it must,' returned the secretly delighted, yet
+seemingly disappointed settler, as he now prepared to recross the
+gun-wale into this canoe; 'but I guess, Mr. Grantham, you might at least
+advance a feller a little money out of hand, on the strength of the
+prize. Jist say twenty dollars.'
+
+"'No, Desborough, not one. When the Turkey Island prize is mine, then if
+the Government refuse to confirm your claims, we will share equally; but
+as I said before, I must first capture her, before I consent to part
+with a shilling.'
+
+"'Well then, I guess I must wait,' and the scoundrel confidently
+believing that he had gulled me to his heart's content, stepped heavily
+into his canoe, which he directed along the lake shore, while we with
+willing sails, glided up the channel and speedily lost him from our
+view."
+
+"A perfect adventure, upon my word!" interrupted De Courcy.
+
+"What a bold and deliberate scoundrel!" added Captain Granville. "I
+confess, Grantham, I cannot but admire the coolness and self-possession
+you evinced on this occasion. Had I been there in your stead, I should
+have tied the rascal up, given him a dozen or two on the spot, and then
+tumbled him head-foremost into the lake."
+
+"The remainder is soon told," continued Gerald. "On parting from
+Desborough, I continued my course directly up the channel, with a view
+of gaining a point, where unseen myself, I could observe the movements
+of the American boat, which, from all I had heard, I fully expected
+would attempt the passage in the course of the following day. My perfect
+knowledge of the country suggested to me, as the safest and most secure
+hiding place, the creek whence you saw me issue at a moment when it was
+supposed the American had altogether escaped. The chief object of the
+enemy was evidently to get me out of the channel. That free, it was of
+minor importance whether I fell into the ambuscade or not, so that the
+important boat could effect the passage unobserved, or at least in
+safety. If my gun-boat should be seen returning unharmed from Turkey
+Island, the American was to run into the first creek along the shore,
+which she had orders to hug until I had passed, and not until I had
+again resumed my station in the channel, was she to renew her course
+upwards to Detroit, which post it was assumed she would then gain
+without difficulty.
+
+"It was scarcely yet day," continued Grantham, "when I reached and ran
+into the creek of which I have just spoken, and which, owing to the
+narrowness of the stream and consequent difficulty of waring, I was
+obliged to enter stern-foremost. That no time might be lost in getting
+her out at the proper moment, I, instead of dropping her anchor, made
+the gun-boat fast to a tree; and, desiring the men, with the exception
+of the watch, to take their rest as usual, lay quietly awaiting the
+advance of the enemy.
+
+"The gun fired from the lower battery on the island, was the first
+intimation we had of the approach of the prize which I had given my
+gallant fellows to understand was in reserve for us; and presently
+afterwards Sambo, whom I had dispatched on the look out, appeared on the
+bank, stating that a large boat, which had been fired at ineffectually,
+was making the greatest exertions to clear the channel. A second shot,
+discharged from a nearer point, soon after announced that the boat had
+gained the head of the island, and might therefore be shortly expected.
+In the impatience of my curiosity I sprang to the shore, took the
+telescope out of the hands of Sambo, and hastened to climb the tree from
+which he had so recently descended. I now distinctly saw the boat, and,
+availing herself of the rising and partial breeze, she steered more into
+the centre of the stream; and I thought I could observe marks of
+confusion and impatience among the groups in front of the fort, whom I
+had justly imagined to have been assembled there to witness the arrival
+of the canoes we had seen descending the river long before the first gun
+was fired."
+
+"But the chase, and the firing after you doubled the point?" inquired
+Captain Granville. "We saw nothing of this."
+
+"The American, plying his oars with vigor, gave us work enough,"
+answered the young sailor, "and had made considerable way up the creek,
+before we came up with him. An attempt was then made to escape us by
+running ashore, and abandoning the boat, but it was too late. Our bow
+was almost touching his stern, and in the desperation of the moment, the
+American troops discharged their muskets, but with so uncertain an aim,
+in consequence of their being closely crowded upon each other, that only
+three of my men were wounded by their fire. Before they could load
+again, we were enabled to grapple with them hand to hand. A few of my
+men had discharged their pistols, in answer to the American volley,
+before I had time to interfere to prevent them; but the majority having
+reserved theirs, we had now immeasurably the advantage. Removing the
+bayonets from their muskets, which at such close quarters were useless,
+they continued their contest a short time with these, but the cutlass
+soon overpowered them, and they surrendered."
+
+"And the Major, Grantham; did he behave well on the occasion?"
+
+"Gallantly. It was the Major that cut down the only man I had
+dangerously wounded in the affair, and he would have struck another
+fatally, had I not disarmed him. While in the act of doing so, I was
+treacherously shot (in the arm only, fortunately,) by the younger
+scoundrel, Desborough, whom in turn I saved from Sambo's vengeance, in
+order that he might receive a more fitting punishment. And now,
+gentlemen, you have the whole history."
+
+"Yes, as far as regards the men portion," said De Courcy, with a
+malicious smile; "but what became of the lady all this while, my
+conquering hero? Did you find her playing a very active part in the
+skirmish?"
+
+"Active--no!" replied Gerald, slightly coloring as he remarked all eyes
+directed to him at this demand, "but passively courageous she was to a
+degree I could not have supposed possible in woman. She sat calm and
+collected amid the din of conflict, as if she had been accustomed to the
+thing all her life, nor once moved from the seat which she occupied in
+the stern, except to make an effort to prevent me from disarming her
+uncle. I confess that her coolness astonished me, while it excited my
+warmest admiration."
+
+"I hope it may be nothing beyond admiration," observed the captain of
+Grenadiers; "I tell you as a friend, Gerald, I do not like this account
+you give of her conduct. A woman who could show no agitation in such a
+scene must have either a damn'd cold, or a damn'd black heart, and
+there's but little claim to admiration there."
+
+"Upon my word, Captain Cranstoun," and the handsome features of Gerald
+crimsoned with a feeling not unmixed with serious displeasure, "I do not
+quite understand you--you appear to assume something between Miss
+Montgomerie and myself that should not be imputed to either--and
+certainly, not thus publicly."
+
+"Nonsense, man, there's no use in making a secret of the matter,"
+returned the positive grenadier. "The subject was discussed after dinner
+yesterday, and there was nobody present who didn't agree, that if you
+had won her heart you had given your own in exchange."
+
+"God forbid!" said Henry Grantham with unusual gravity of manner, while
+he looked affectionately on the changing and far from satisfied
+countenance of his conscious brother, "for I repeat with Captain
+Cranstoun, I like her not. Why, I know not; still I like her not, and I
+shall be glad, Gerald, when you have consigned her to the place of her
+destination."
+
+"Pooh! pooh! nonsense!" interrupted Captain Granville; "never mind,
+Gerald," he pursued, good-humoredly, "she is a splendid girl, and one
+that you need not be ashamed to own as a conquest. By heaven, she has a
+bust to warm the bosom of an anchorite, and depend upon it, all that
+Cranstoun has said arises only from pique that he is not the object
+preferred. Those black eyes of hers have set his ice blood upon the
+boil, and he would willingly exchange places with you, as I honestly
+confess I should."
+
+Vexed as Gerald certainly felt at the familiar tone the conversation was
+now assuming in regard to Miss Montgomerie, and although satisfied that
+mere pleasantry was intended, it was not without a sensation of relief
+that he found it interrupted by the entrance of the several
+non-commissioned officers with their order-books. Soon after the party
+broke up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Before noon, on the following day, the boat that was to convey Major
+Montgomerie and his niece to the American shore, pulled up to the
+landing-place in front of the fort. The weather, as on the preceding
+day, was fine, and the river exhibited the same placidity of surface.
+Numerous bodies of Indians were collected on the banks, pointing to and
+remarking on the singularity of the white flag which hung drooping at
+the stern of the boat. Presently the prisoners were seen advancing to
+the bank, accompanied by General Brock, Commodore Barclay, and the
+principal officers of the garrison. Major Montgomerie appeared pleased
+at the prospect of the liberty that awaited him, while the countenance
+of his niece, on the contrary, presented an expression of deep thought,
+although it was afterwards remarked by Granville and Villiers, both
+close observers of her demeanor, that as her eye occasionally glanced in
+the direction of Detroit, it lighted up with an animation strongly in
+contrast with the general calm and abstractedness of her manner. All
+being now ready, Gerald Grantham, who had received his final
+instructions from the General offered his arm to Miss Montgomerie, who,
+to all outward appearance, took it mechanically and unconsciously,
+although, in the animated look which the young sailor turned upon her in
+the next instant, there was evidence the contact had thrilled
+electrically to his heart. After exchanging a cordial pressure of the
+hand with his gallant entertainers, and reiterating to the General his
+thanks for the especial favor conferred upon him, the venerable Major
+followed them to the boat. His departure was the signal for much
+commotion among the Indians. Hitherto they had had no idea of what was
+in contemplation; but when they saw them enter and take their seats in
+the boat, they raised one of those terrific shouts which have so often
+struck terror and dismay; and brandishing their weapons, seemed ready to
+testify their disapprobation by something more than words. It was
+however momentary--a commanding voice made itself heard, even amid the
+din of their loud yell, and, when silence had been obtained, a few
+animated sentences, uttered in a tone of deep authority, caused the
+tumult at once to subside. The voice was that of Tecumseh, and there
+were few among his race who, brave and indomitable as they were, could
+find courage to thwart his will. Meanwhile the boat, impelled by eight
+active seamen, urged its way through the silvery current, and in less
+than an hour from its departure had disappeared.
+
+Two hours had elapsed--the General and superior officers had
+retired--and the Indians, few by few, had repaired to their several
+encampments, except a party of young warriors, who, wrapped in their
+blankets and mantles, lay indolently extended on the grass, smoking
+their pipes, or producing wild sounds from their melancholy flutes. Not
+far from these, sat, with their legs overhanging the edge of the steep
+bank, a group of the junior officers of the garrison, who, with that
+indifference which characterized their years, were occupied in casting
+pebbles into the river, and watching the bubbles that arose to the
+surface. Among the number was Henry Grantham, and, at a short distance
+from him, sat the old but athletic negro, Sambo, who, not having been
+required to accompany Gerald, to whom he was especially attached, had
+continued to linger on the bank long after his anxious eye had lost
+sight of the boat in which the latter had departed. While thus engaged,
+a new direction was given to the interest of all parties by a peculiar
+cry, which reached them from a distance over the water, apparently from
+beyond the near extremity of the island of Bois Blanc. To the officers
+the sound was unintelligible, for it was the first of the kind they had
+ever heard; but the young Indians appeared fully to understand its
+import. Starting from their lethargy, they sprang abruptly to their
+feet; and giving a sharp, answering yell, stamped upon the green turf,
+and snuffed the hot air with distended nostrils, like so many wild
+horses let loose upon the desert. Nor was the excitement confined to
+these, for, all along the line of encampment the same wild notes were
+echoed, and forms came bounding again to the front, until the bank was
+once more peopled with savages.
+
+"What was the meaning of that cry, Sambo, and whence came it?" asked
+Henry Grantham, who, as well as his companions, had strained his eyes in
+every direction, but in vain, to discover its cause.
+
+"Dat a calp cry, Massa Henry--see he dere a canoe not bigger than a
+hick'ry nut," and he pointed with his finger to what in fact had the
+appearance of being little larger; "I wish," he pursued, with
+bitterness, "dey bring him calp of dem billains Desborough--Dam him
+lying tief."
+
+"Bravo!" exclaimed De Courcy, who, in common with his companions,
+recollecting Gerald's story of the preceding day, was at no loss to
+understand why the latter epithet had been so emphatically bestowed; "I
+see (winking to Henry Grantham) you have not forgiven his paddling round
+the gun-boat the other night, while you and the rest of the crew were
+asleep, eh, Sambo?"
+
+"So help me hebben, Obbicer, he no sail around a gun-boat, he dam a
+Yankee. He come along a lake like a dam tief in e night and I tell a
+Massa Geral--and Massa Geral and me chase him all ober e water--I not
+asleep. Massa Courcy," pursued the old man, with pique; "I nebber
+sleep--Massa Geral nebber sleep."
+
+"The devil ye don't," observed De Courcy, quaintly; "then the Lord
+deliver _me_ from gun-boat service, I say."
+
+"Amen!" responded Villiers.
+
+"Why," asked Middlemore, "do Gerald Grantham and old Frumpy here remind
+one of a certain Irish festival? Do you give it up? Because they are
+_awake_----"
+
+The abuse heaped on the pre-eminently vile attempt was unmeasured--Sambo
+conceived it a personal affront to himself, and he said, with an air of
+mortification and wounded dignity, not unmixed with anger:
+
+"Sambo poor black nigger--obbicer berry white man, but him heart all ob
+a color. He no Frumpy--Massa Geral no like an Irish bestibal. I wonder
+he no tick up for a broder, Massa Henry." His agitation here was
+extreme.
+
+"Nonsense, Sambo--don't you see we are only jesting with you?" said the
+youth, in the kindest tone--for he perceived that the faithful creature
+was striving hard to check the rising tear--"there is not an officer
+here who does not respect you for your long attachment to my family, and
+none would willingly give you pain; neither should you suppose they
+would say anything offensive in regard of my brother Gerald."
+
+Pacified by this assurance, which was moreover corroborated by several
+of his companions, really annoyed at having pained the old man, Sambo
+sank once more into respectful silence, still however continuing to
+occupy the same spot. During this colloquy the cry had been several
+times repeated, and as often replied to from the shore; and now a canoe
+was distinctly visible, urging its way to the beach. The warriors it
+contained were a scouting party, six in number--four paddling the light
+bark, and one at the helm, while the sixth, who appeared to be the
+leader, stood upright in the bow, waving from the long pole, to which it
+was attached, a human scalp. A few minutes and the whole had landed, and
+were encircled on the bank by their eager and inquiring comrades. Their
+story was soon told. They had encountered two Americans at some distance
+on the opposite shore, who were evidently making the best of their way
+through the forest to Detroit. They called upon them to deliver
+themselves up, but the only answer was an attempt at flight. The Indians
+fired, and one fell dead, pierced by many balls. The other, however, who
+happened to be considerably in advance, threw all his energy into his
+muscular frame; and being untouched by the discharge that had slain his
+companion, succeeded in gaining a dense underwood, through which he
+finally effected his escape. The scouts continued their pursuit for
+upwards of an hour, but finding it fruitless, returned to the place
+where they had left their canoe, having first secured the scalp and
+spoils of the fallen man.
+
+"Dam him, debbel," exclaimed Sambo, who, as well as the officers, had
+approached the party detailing their exploit, and had fixed his dark eye
+on the dangling trophy--"May I nebber see a hebben ib he not a calp of a
+younger Desborough. I know him lying tief by he hair--he all yaller like
+a soger's breastplate--curse him rascal (and his white and even teeth
+were exhibited in the grin that accompanied the remark,) he nebber more
+say he sail round Massa Geral's gun-boat, and Massa Geral and Sambo
+sleep."
+
+"By Jove he is right," said De Courcy. "I recollect remarking the color
+of the fellow's hair yesterday, when, on calling for a glass of "gin
+sling," at the inn to which I had conducted him, he threw his slouched
+hat unceremoniously on the table, and rubbed the fingers of both hands
+through his carrotty locks, until they appeared to stand like those of
+the Gorgon, perfectly on end."
+
+"And were there other proof wanting," said Villiers, "we have it here in
+the spoil his slayers are exhibiting to their companions. There is the
+identical powder horn, bullet pouch, and waist belt, which he wore when
+he landed on this very spot."
+
+"And I," said Middlemore, "will swear by the crooked buckhorn handle of
+that huge knife or dagger; for in our struggle on the sands yesterday
+morning, his blanket coat came open, and discovered the weapon, on which
+I kept a sharp eye during the whole affair. Had he but managed to plant
+that monster (and he affected to shudder,) under my middle ribs, then
+would it have been all over with poor Middlemore."
+
+"There cannot be a doubt," remarked Henry Grantham. "With Sambo and De
+Courcy, I well recollect the hair, and I also particularly noticed the
+handle of his dagger, which, as you perceive, has a remarkable twist in
+it."
+
+All doubt was put to rest by Sambo, who, having spoken with its
+possessor for a moment, now returned, bearing the knife, at the
+extremity of the handle of which was engraved, on a silver shield, the
+letters P. E. T. A. Ens. M. M.
+
+"Paul Emilius Theophilus Arnoldi, Ensign Michigan Militia," pursued
+Grantham, reading. "This, then, is conclusive, and we have to
+congratulate ourselves that one at least of two of the vilest scoundrels
+this country ever harbored, has at length met the fate he merited."
+
+"Fate him merit, Massa Henry!" muttered the aged and privileged negro,
+with something like anger in his tones, as he returned the knife to the
+Indian, "he dam 'serter from a king! No, no he nebber deserb a die like
+dis. He ought to hab a rope roun him neck and die him lying tief like a
+dog."
+
+"I guess, however, our friend Jeremiah has got clean slick off," said
+Villiers, imitating the tone and language of that individual, "and he, I
+take it, is by far the more formidable of the two. I expect that, before
+he dies, he will give one of us a long shot yet, in revenge for the fall
+of young hopeful."
+
+"Traitorous and revengeful scoundrel!" aspirated Henry Grantham, as the
+recollection of the manner of his father's death came over his mind. "It
+is, at least, some consolation to think his villainy has in part met its
+reward. I confess, I exult in the death of young Desborough, less even
+because a dangerous enemy has been removed, than because in his fall the
+heart of the father will be racked in its only assailable point. I trust
+I am not naturally cruel, yet do I hope the image of his slain partner
+in infamy may ever after revisit his memory, and remind him of his
+crime."
+
+An exclamation of the Indians now drew the attention of the officers to
+a boat that came in sight, in the direction in which that of Gerald
+Grantham had long since disappeared, and as she drew nearer, a white
+flag floating in the stern, became gradually distinguishable.
+Expressions of surprise passed among the officers, by whom various
+motives were assigned as the cause of the return of the flag of truce,
+for that it was their own boat no one doubted, especially as, on
+approaching sufficiently near, the blue uniform of the officer who
+steered the boat was visible to the naked eye. On a yet nearer approach,
+however, it was perceived that the individual in question wore not the
+uniform of the British navy, but that of an officer of the American
+line, the same precisely, indeed, as that of Major Montgomerie. It was
+further remarked that there was no lady in the boat, and that,
+independently of the crew, there was besides the officer already named,
+merely one individual, dressed in the non-commissioned uniform, who
+seemed to serve as his orderly. Full evidence being now had that this
+was a flag sent from the American fort, which had, in all probability,
+missed Gerald by descending one channel of the river formed by Turkey
+Island, while the latter had ascended by the other, the aid-de-camp, De
+Courcy, hastened to acquaint General Brock with the circumstance, and to
+receive his orders. By the time the American reached the landing-place,
+the youth had returned, accompanying a superior officer of the staff.
+Both descended the flight of steps leading to the river, when, having
+saluted the officer, after a moment or two of conversation, they
+proceeded to blindfold him. This precaution having been taken, the
+American was then handed over the gun-wale of the boat, and assisted up
+the flight of steps by the two British officers on whose arms he leaned.
+As they passed through the crowd, on their way to the fort, the ears of
+the stranger were assailed by loud yells from the bands of Indians, who,
+with looks of intense curiosity and interest, gazed on the passing, and
+to them in some degree inexplicable, scene. Startling as was the fierce
+cry, the officer pursued his course without moving a muscle of his fine
+and manly form, beyond what was necessary to the action in which he was
+engaged. It was a position that demanded all his collectedness and
+courage, and he seemed as though he had previously made up his mind not
+to be deficient in either. Perhaps it was well that he had been
+temporarily deprived of sight, for could he have beheld the numerous
+tomahawks that were raised towards him in pantomimic representation of
+what they would have done had they been permitted, the view would in no
+way have assisted his self-possession. The entrance to the fort once
+gained by the little party, the clamor began to subside, and the
+Indians, by whom they had been followed, returned to the bank of the
+river to satisfy their curiosity with a view of those who had been left
+in the boat, to which, as a security against all possible outrage, a
+sergeant's command had meanwhile been despatched.
+
+It was in the drawing-room of Colonel D'Egville, that the General,
+surrounded by his chief officers, awaited the arrival of the flag of
+truce. Into this the American Colonel, for such was his rank, after
+traversing the area of the fort that lay between, was now ushered, and,
+the bandage being removed, his eye encountered several to whom he was
+personally known, and with these such salutations as became the occasion
+were exchanged.
+
+"The flag you bear, sir," commenced the general, after a few moments of
+pause succeeding these greetings, "relates, I presume, to the prisoners
+so recently fallen into our hands."
+
+"By no means, General," returned the American, "this is the first
+intimation I have had of such fact--my mission is of a wholly different
+nature. I am deputed by the officer commanding the forces of the United
+States to summon the garrison of Amherstburg, with all its naval
+dependencies, to surrender within ten days from this period."
+
+The General smiled. "A similar purpose seems to have actuated us both,"
+he observed. "A shorter limit have I prescribed to the officer by whom I
+have, this very day, sent a message to General Hull; where, may I ask,
+did you pass my flag?"
+
+"I met with none, General, and yet my boat kept as nearly in the middle
+of the stream as possible."
+
+"Then must ye have passed each other on the opposite sides of Turkey
+Island. The officer in charge was moreover accompanied by two of the
+prisoners to whom I have alluded--one a field officer in your own
+regiment."
+
+"May I ask who?" interrupted the American quickly, and slightly
+coloring.
+
+"Major Montgomerie."
+
+"So I suspected. Was the other of my regiment?"
+
+"The other," said the General, "bears no commission, and is simply a
+volunteer in the expedition--one, in short, whose earnest wish to reach
+Detroit, was the principal motive for my offering the Major his liberty
+on parole."
+
+"And may I ask the name of this individual, so unimportant in rank, and
+yet so filled with ardor in the cause, as to be thus anxious to gain the
+theatre of war?"
+
+"One probably not unknown to you, Colonel, as the niece of your brother
+officer--Miss Montgomerie."
+
+"Miss Montgomerie here!" faltered the American, rising and paling as he
+spoke, while he mechanically placed on the table a glass of wine he had
+the instant before raised to his lips--"surely it cannot be."
+
+There was much to excite interest, not only in the changed tone but in
+the altered features of the American, as he thus involuntarily gave
+expression to his surprise. The younger officers winked at each other,
+and smiled their conviction of _une affaire de coeur_--while the senior
+were no less ready to infer that they had now arrived at the true secret
+of the impatience of Miss Montgomerie to reach the place of her
+destination. To the penetrating eye of the General, however, there was
+an expression of pain on the countenance of the officer, which accorded
+ill with the feeling which a lover might be supposed to entertain, who
+had been unexpectedly brought nearer to an object of attachment, and he
+kindly sought to relieve his evident embarrassment by remarking:
+
+"I can readily comprehend your surprise, Colonel. One would scarcely
+have supposed that a female could have had courage to brave the dangers
+attendant on an expedition of this kind, in an open boat; but Miss
+Montgomerie I confess, appears to me to be one whom no danger could
+daunt, and whose resoluteness of purpose, once directed, no secondary
+object could divert from its original aim."
+
+Before the officer could reply, Colonel D'Egville, who had absented
+himself during the latter part of the conversation, returned, and
+addressing the former in terms that proved their acquaintance to have
+been of previous date, invited him to partake of some refreshment that
+had been prepared for him in an adjoining apartment. This the American
+at first faintly declined, on the plea of delay having been prohibited
+by his chief; but, on the general jocosely remarking that, sharing their
+hospitality on the present occasion would be no barrier to breaking a
+lance a week hence, he assented; and, following Colonel D'Egville,
+passed through a short corridor into a smaller apartment, where a
+copious but hurried refreshment had been prepared.
+
+The entry of the officers was greeted by the presence of three
+ladies--Mrs. D'Egville and her daughters--all of whom received him with
+the frank cordiality that bespoke intimacy, while, on the countenance of
+one of the latter, might be detected evidences of an interest that had
+its foundation in something more than the mere esteem which dictated the
+conduct of her mother and sister. If Julia D'Egville was in reality the
+laughing, light hearted, creature represented in the mess room
+conversation of the officers of the garrison, it would have been
+difficult for a stranger to have recognised her in the somewhat serious
+girl who now added her greetings to theirs, but in a manner slightly
+tinctured with embarrassment.
+
+The American, who seemed not to notice it, directed his conversation, as
+he partook of the refreshment, principally to Mrs. D'Egville, to whom he
+spoke various ladies at Detroit, friends of both, who were deep
+deplorers of the war and the non-communication which it occasioned;
+alluded to the many delightful parties that had taken place, yet were
+now interrupted; and to the many warm friendships which had been formed,
+yet might by this event be severed for ever. He concluded by presenting
+a note from a very intimate friend of the family, to which, he said, he
+had been requested to take back a written answer.
+
+A feeling of deep gratification pervaded the benevolent countenance of
+Mrs. D'Egville, as, on perusal, she found that it contained the offer of
+an asylum for herself and daughters in case Amherstburgh should be
+carried by storm.
+
+"Excellent, kind hearted friend!" she exclaimed when she had
+finished--"this indeed does merit an answer. Need of assistance,
+however, there is none, since my noble friend, the General has pledged
+himself to anticipate any attempt to make our soil the theatre of
+war--still, does it give me pleasure to be enabled to reciprocate her
+offer, by promising, in my turn, an asylum against all chances of
+outrage on the part of the wild Indians, attached to our cause"--and she
+left the room.
+
+No sooner did the American find himself alone with the sisters, for
+Colonel D'Egville had previously retired to the General, than discarding
+all reserve, and throwing himself on his knees at the feet of her who
+sat next him, he exclaimed in accents of the most touching pathos:
+
+"Julia, dearest Julia! for this chiefly am I here. I volunteered to be
+the bearer of the summons to the British General, in the hope that some
+kind chance would give you to my view, and now that fortune, propitious
+beyond my utmost expectations, affords me the happiness of speaking to
+you whom I had feared never to behold more, oh, tell me that, whatever
+be the result of this unhappy war, you will not forget me. For me, I
+shall ever cherish you in my heart's core."
+
+The glow which mantled over the cheek of the agitated girl, plainly told
+that this passionate appeal was made to no unwilling ear. Still she
+spoke not.
+
+"Dearest Julia, answer me--the moments of my stay are few, and at each
+instant we are liable to interruption. In one word, therefore, may I
+hope? In less than a week, many who have long been friends will meet as
+enemies. Let me then at least have the consolation to know from your
+lips, that whatever be the event, that dearest of all gifts--your love
+is unchangeably mine."
+
+"I do promise, Ernest," faltered the trembling girl. "My heart is yours
+and yours for ever--but do not unnecessarily expose yourself," and her
+head sank confidingly on the shoulder of her lover.
+
+"Thank you, dearest," and the encircling arm of the impassioned officer
+drew her form closer to his beating heart. "Gertrude, you are witness of
+her vow, and before you, under more auspicious circumstances, will I
+claim its fulfilment. Oh Julia, Julia, this indeed does recompense me
+for many a long hour of anxiety and doubt."
+
+"And hers too have been hours of anxiety and doubt," said the gentle
+Gertrude. "Ever since the war has been spoken of as certain, Julia has
+been no longer the gay girl she was. Her dejection has been subject of
+remark with all, and such is her dislike to any allusion to the past,
+that she never even rallies Captain Cranstoun on his bear-skin adventure
+of last winter on the ice."
+
+"Ah," interrupted the American, "never shall I forget the evening that
+preceded that adventure. It was then, dearest Julia, that I ventured to
+express the feeling with which you had inspired me. It was then I had
+first the delight of hearing from your lips that I need not entirely
+despair. I often, often, think of that night."
+
+"Of course you have not yet received my note, Ernest. Perhaps you will
+deem it inconsiderate in me to have written, but I could not resist the
+desire to afford you what I conceived would be a gratification, by
+communicating intelligence of ourselves."
+
+"Note! what note! and by whom conveyed?"
+
+"Have you not heard," inquired Gertrude, warming into animation, "that
+the General has sent a flag this morning to Detroit, and, under its
+protection, two prisoners captured by my cousin, who is the officer that
+conducts them."
+
+"And to that cousin you have confided the letter?" interrupted the
+Colonel, somewhat eagerly.
+
+"No, not my cousin," said Julia, "but to one I conceived better suited
+to the trust. You must know that my father, with his usual hospitality,
+insisted on Major Montgomerie and his niece, the parties in question,
+taking up their abode with us during the short time they remained."
+
+"And to Miss Montgomerie you gave your letter," hurriedly exclaimed the
+Colonel, starting to his feet, and exhibiting a countenance of extreme
+paleness.
+
+"Good heaven, Ernest! what is the matter? Surely you do not think me
+guilty of imprudence in this affair. I was anxious to write to you,--I
+imagined you would be glad to hear from me, and thought that the niece
+of one of your officers would be the most suitable medium of
+communication. I therefore confessed to her my secret, and requested her
+to take charge of the letter."
+
+"Oh, Julia, you have been indeed imprudent. But what said she--how
+looked she when you confided to her our secret?"
+
+"She made no other remark than to ask how long our attachment had
+existed, and her look and voice were calm, and her cheek underwent no
+variation from the settled paleness observable there since her arrival."
+
+"And in what manner did she receive her trust?" again eagerly demanded
+the Colonel.
+
+"With a solemn assurance that it should be delivered to you with her own
+hand--then, and then only, did a faint smile animate her still but
+beautiful features. Yet why all these questions, Ernest? Or, can it
+really be? Tell me," and the voice of the young girl became imperative,
+"has Miss Montgomerie any claim upon your hand--she admitted to have
+known you?"
+
+"On my honor, none;" impressively returned the Colonel.
+
+"Oh, what a weight you have removed from my heart, Ernest, but wherefore
+you alarm, and wherein consists my imprudence?"
+
+"In this only, dearest Julia, that I had much rather another than she
+had been admitted into your confidence. But as you have acted for the
+best, I cannot blame you. Still I doubt not," and the tones of the
+American were low and desponding, "that, as she has promised, she will
+find means to deliver your note into my own hands--the seal is----?"
+
+"A fancy one--Andromache disarming Hector."
+
+"Rise, for Heaven's sake rise," interrupted Gertrude; "here comes
+mamma."
+
+One fond pressure of her graceful form, and the Colonel had resumed his
+seat. In the next moment Mrs. D'Egville entered, by one door, and
+immediately afterwards her husband by another. The former handed her
+note, and during the remarks which accompanied its delivery, gave the
+little party--for Gertrude was scarcely less agitated than her
+sister--time to recover from their embarrassment. Some casual
+conversation then ensued, when the American, despite of Mrs. D'Egville's
+declaration that he could not have touched a single thing during her
+absence, expressed his anxiety to depart. The same testimonies of
+friendly greeting, which had marked his entrance, were exchanged, and,
+preceded by his kind host, the Colonel once more gained the apartment
+where the General still lingered, awaiting his reappearance.
+
+Nothing remaining to be added to the answer already given to the
+summons, the American, after exchanging salutations with such of the
+English officers as were personally known to him, again submitted
+himself to the operation of blindfolding; after which he was reconducted
+to the beach, where his boat's crew, who had in their turn been supplied
+with refreshments, were ready to receive him. As, on his arrival, the
+loud yellings of the Indians accompanied his departure, but as these had
+been found to be harmless, they were even less heeded than before.
+Within two hours, despite of the strong current, the boat had
+disappeared altogether from their view.
+
+Late in that day, the barge of Gerald Grantham returned from Detroit.
+Ushered into the presence of the General, the young sailor communicated
+the delivery of his charge into the hands of the American Chief, who had
+returned his personal acknowledgments for the courtesy. His answer to
+the summons, however, was that having a force fully adequate to the
+purpose, he was prepared to defend the fort to the last extremity, and
+waiving his own original plan of attack, would await the British General
+on the defensive, when to the God of Battles should be left the decision
+of the contest. To a question on the subject, the young officer added
+that he had seen nothing of the American flag of truce, either in going
+or returning.
+
+That night orders were issued to the heads of the different departments,
+immediately to prepare _material_ for a short siege; and, an assault at
+the termination of the third day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Conformably with the orders of the British General, the siege of the
+American fortress was commenced on the day following that of the mutual
+exchange of flags. The elevated ground above the village of Sandwich,
+immediately opposite to the enemy's fort, was chosen for the erection of
+three batteries, from which a well sustained and well directed fire was
+kept up for several successive days, yet without effecting any
+practicable breach in their defences. One of these batteries, manned
+principally by sailors, was under the direction of Gerald Grantham,
+whose look-out on duty had been in a great degree rendered unnecessary,
+by the advance of the English flotilla up the river, and who had
+consequently been appointed to this more active service.
+
+During the whole of Saturday, the 15th of August, the British guns had
+continued to play upon the fort, vomiting shot and shell as from an
+exhaustless and angry volcano--and several of the latter falling short,
+the town which was of wood had been more than once set on fire. As,
+however, it was by no means the intention of the General to do injury to
+the inhabitants, no obstacle was opposed to the attempts of the enemy to
+get it under, and the flames were as often and as speedily extinguished.
+An advanced hour of night at length put an end to the firing, and the
+artillery men and seamen, extended on their great-coats and pea-jackets,
+in their several embrasures, snatched from fatigue the repose which
+their unceasing exertions of the many previous hours had rendered at
+once a luxury and a want.
+
+The battery commanded by Gerald Grantham was the central and most
+prominent of the three, and it had been remarked by all--and especially
+by the troops stationed in the rear in support of the guns--that his
+firing during the day had been the most efficient, many of his shots
+going point blank into the hostile fortress, and (as could be distinctly
+seen with the telescope) occasioning evident confusion.
+
+The several officers commanding batteries were now met in that of the
+young sailor, and, habited in a garb befitting the rude duty at which
+they had presided, were earnestly engaged in discussing the contents of
+their haversacks, moistened by occasional drafts of rum and water from
+their wooden canteens, and seasoned with frequent reference to the
+events of the past day, and anticipations of what the morrow would bring
+forth. A lantern, so closed as to prevent all possibility of contact
+with the powder that lay strewed about, was placed in the centre of the
+circle, and the dim reflexion from this upon the unwashed hands and
+faces of the party, begrimed as they were with powder and perspiration,
+contributed to give an air of wildness to the whole scene, that found
+its origin in the peculiar circumstances of the moment. Nor was the
+picture at all lessened in ferocity of effect, by the figure of Sambo in
+the back ground, who, dividing his time between the performances of such
+offices as his young master demanded, in the course of the frugal meal
+of the party, and a most assiduous application of his own white and
+shining teeth to a huge piece of venison ham, might, without effort,
+have called up the image of some lawless, yet obedient slave, attending
+on and sharing in the orgies of a company of buccaniers.
+
+At length the meal was ended, and each was preparing to depart, with a
+view to snatch an hour or two of rest in his own battery, when the
+pricked ear and forward-thrown head of the old negro, accompanied by a
+quick, "Hush, Massa Geral," stilled them all into attitudes of
+expectancy. Presently the sound of muffled oars was heard, and then the
+harsh grating, as of a boat's keel upon the sands.
+
+In the next minute the officers were at their posts; but before they
+could succeed in awakening their jaded men, who seemed to sleep the
+sleep of death, the sentinel at the first battery had received, in
+answer to his hurried challenge, the proper countersign, and, as on
+closer inspection it was found that there was only one boat, he knew it
+must be their own, and the alarm which had seized them for the security
+of their trust passed away.
+
+They were not long kept in suspense. One individual alone had ascended
+from the beach, and now stood among them, habited in a dread-nought
+jacket and trousers and round hat. His salutation to each was cordial,
+and he expressed in warm terms the approbation he felt at the
+indefatigable and efficient manner in which the duty assigned to each
+had been conducted.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," continued the Commodore, (for it was he,) "you have
+done famously to-day. Much has been done, but more remains. To-morrow
+you must work double tides. At daylight you must re-open with showers of
+shot and shell, for it is, during the confusion caused by your fire,
+that the General intends crossing his troops and advancing to the
+assault. But this is not all--we have some suspicion the enemy may
+attempt your batteries this very night, with a view of either spiking
+the guns, if they cannot maintain the position, or of turning them, if
+they can, on our advancing columns. Now all the troops destined for the
+assault are assembled ready to effect their landing at daybreak, and
+none can be spared unless the emergency be palpable. What I seek is a
+volunteer to watch the movements of the enemy during the remainder of
+the night--one (and he looked at Grantham,) whose knowledge of the
+country will enable him to approach the opposite coast unseen, and whose
+expedition will enable us to have due warning of any hostile attempt."
+
+"I shall be most happy, sir, to undertake the task, if you consider me
+worthy of it," said Grantham, "but----"
+
+"But what?" interrupted the Commodore, hastily.
+
+"My only difficulty, sir, is the means. Had I my light canoe here, with
+Sambo for my helmsman, I would seek their secret even on their own
+shores."
+
+"Bravo, my gallant fellow," returned the Commodore, again cordially
+shaking the hand of his Lieutenant. "This I expected of you, and have
+come prepared. I have had the precaution to bring your canoe and paddles
+with me--you will find them below in my boat."
+
+"Then is every difficulty at an end," exclaimed the young sailor
+joyously. "And our dress, sir?"
+
+"No disguise whatever, in case of accidents--we must not have you run
+the risk of being hanged for a spy."
+
+Gerald Grantham having secured his cutlass and pistols, now descended
+with the Commodore to the beach, whither Sambo (similarly armed) had
+already preceded him. Under the active and vigorous hands of the latter,
+the canoe had already been removed from the boat, and now rested on the
+sands ready to be shoved off. The final instructions of the Commodore to
+his officer, as to the manner of communicating intelligence of any
+movement on the part of the Americans having been given, the latter
+glided noiselessly from the shore into the stream, while the boat,
+resuming the direction by which it had approached, was impelled down the
+river with as little noise as possible, and hugging the shore for
+greater secrecy, was soon lost both to the eye and to the ear.
+
+It was with a caution rendered necessary by the presence of the vessels
+in the harbor, that Gerald Grantham and his faithful companion, having
+gained the middle of the river, now sought to approach nearer to the
+shore. The night, although not absolutely gloomy, was yet sufficiently
+obscure to aid their enterprize; and notwithstanding they could
+distinctly hear the tread of the American sentinels, as they paced the
+deck of their flotilla, such was the stillness of Sambo's practised
+paddle, that the little canoe glided past them unheard, and, stealing
+along the shore, was enabled to gain the farther extremity of the town,
+where, however, despite of the most scrupulous inspection, not the
+slightest evidence of a collective movement was to be observed.
+Recollecting that most of the American boats used for the transport of
+their army from the Canadian shore, which they had occupied for some
+time, were drawn up on the beach at the opposite end of the town, and
+deeming that if any attempt on the batteries was in contemplation, the
+troops ordered for that duty would naturally embark at a point whence,
+crossing the river considerably above the object of their expedition,
+they might drift down with the current, and affect a landing without
+noise--he determined to direct his course between the merchantmen and
+vessels of war, and pursue his way to the opposite end of the town. The
+enterprize, it is true, was bold, and not by any means without hazard;
+but Grantham's was a spirit that delighted in excitement, and moreover,
+he trusted much to the skill of his pilot, the darkness of the night,
+and the seeming repose of the enemy. Even if seen it was by no means
+certain he should be taken, for his light skiff could worm its way where
+another dared not follow, and as for any shot that might be sent in
+pursuit of them, its aim would, in the obscurity of the night, be
+extremely uncertain.
+
+Devoted as the old negro was to Gerald's will, it was but to acquaint
+him with his intention, to secure a compliance; although in this case,
+it must be admitted, a reluctant one. Cautiously and silently,
+therefore, they moved between the line of vessels, keeping as close as
+they could to the merchantmen, in which there was apparently no guard,
+so that under the shadow of the hulls of these they might escape all
+observation from the more watchful vessels of war without. They had
+cleared all but one, when the head of the canoe suddenly came foul of
+the hawser of the latter, and was by the checked motion brought round,
+with her broadside completely under her stern, in the cabin windows of
+which, much to the annoyance of our adventurer, a light was plainly
+visible. Rising as gently as he could to clear the bow of the light
+skiff, he found his head on a level with the windows, and as his eye
+naturally fell on all within, his attention was arrested sufficiently to
+cause a sign from him to Sambo to remain still. The cabin was spacious,
+and filled everywhere with female forms, who were lying in various
+attitudes of repose, while the whole character of the arrangements was
+such as to induce his belief, that the vessel had been appropriated to
+the reception of the families of the principal inhabitants of the place,
+and this with a view of their being more secure from outrage from the
+Indians on the ensuing day. In the midst of the profound repose in
+which, forgetful of the dangers of the morrow, all appeared to be
+wrapped, there was one striking exception. At a small table in the
+centre of the cabin, sat a figure enveloped in a long and ample dark
+cloak, and covered with a slouched hat. There was nothing to indicate
+sex in the figure, which might have been taken either for a woman, or
+for a youth. It was clear, however, that it wanted in its contour the
+proportions of manhood. At the moment when Gerald's attention was first
+arrested, the figure was occupied in reading a letter, which was
+afterwards sealed with black. The heart of the sailor beat violently, he
+knew not wherefore, but before he could explain his feelings ever to
+himself, he saw the figure deposit the letter, and remove, apparently
+from the bosom of its dress a miniature, on which it gazed intently for
+upwards of a minute. The back being turned towards the windows, he could
+trace no expression on the countenance, but in the manner there was none
+of that emotion, which usually accompanies the contemplation of the
+features of a beloved object. Depositing the picture in the folds of its
+cloak, the figure rose, and with a caution indicating desire not to
+disturb those who slumbered around, moved through the straggling forms
+that lay at its feet, and ascending the stairs, finally disappeared from
+the cabin.
+
+Somewhat startled, the young officer hesitated as to what course he
+should pursue, for it was evident that if the figure, whoever it might
+prove, should come to the stern of the vessel, he and his companion must
+be discovered. For a moment he continued motionless, but with ear and
+eye keenly on the alert. At length he fancied he heard footsteps, as of
+one treading the loose plank that led from the vessel's side to the
+wharf. He pushed the canoe lightly along so as to enable him to get
+clear of her stern, when glancing his eye in that direction, he saw the
+figure, still in the same dress, quit the plank it had been traversing,
+and move rapidly along the wharf towards the centre of the town.
+
+Ruminating on the singularity of what he had observed, our adventurer
+now pursued his course up the river, but still without discovering any
+evidence of hostile preparation. On the contrary, a deep silence
+appeared to pervade every part of the town, the repose of which was the
+more remarkable, as it was generally known that the attack on the fort
+was to be made on the following day. Arrived opposite the point where
+the town terminated, Grantham could distinctly count some twenty or
+thirty large boats drawn up on the beach, while in the fields beyond the
+drowsy guard evidently stationed there for their protection, and visible
+by the dying embers of their watch-fire denoted anything but the
+activity which should have governed an enterprize of the nature
+apprehended. Satisfied that the information conveyed to his superiors
+was incorrect, the young officer dismissed from his mind all further
+anxiety on the subject; yet, impelled by recollections well befitting
+the hour and the circumstances, he could not avoid lingering near a spot
+which tradition had invested with much to excite the imagination and
+feeling. It was familiar to his memory, for he had frequently heard it
+in boyhood, that some dreadful tragedy had in former days been
+perpetrated near this bridge; and he had reason to believe that some of
+the actors in it were those whose blood flowed in his young veins. The
+extreme pain it seemed to give his parents, however, whenever allusion
+was made to the subject, had ever repressed inquiry, and all his
+knowledge of these events was confined to what he had been enabled to
+glean from the aged Canadians. That Sambo, who was a very old servant of
+the family, had more than hear-say acquaintance with the circumstances,
+he was almost certain; for he had frequently remarked, when after having
+had his imagination excited by the oft-told tale, he felt desirous of
+visiting the spot, the negro, obedient in all things else, ever found
+some excuse to avoid accompanying him, nor, within his own recollection,
+had he once approached the scene. Certain vague allusions of late date,
+by the old man, had, moreover, confirmed him in his impression, and he
+now called forcibly to mind an observation made by his faithful
+attendant on the night of their pursuit of the younger Desborough, which
+evidently referred to that period Even on the present occasion, he had
+been struck by the urgency with which he contended for a return to their
+own shore, without pursuing their course to the extreme end of the town;
+nor was his unwillingness to approach the bridge overcome, until Gerald
+told him it was the positive order of the Commodore, that they should
+embrace the whole of the American lines in their inspection, and even
+_then_ it was with a relaxed vigor of arm that he obeyed the instruction
+to proceed.
+
+Determined to sound him as to his knowledge of the fact, Grantham stole
+gently from the bow to the stern of the canoe, and he was about to
+question him, when the other, grasping his arm with an expressive touch,
+pointed to a dark object moving across the road. Gerald turned his head,
+and beheld the same figure that had so recently quitted the cabin of the
+merchantman. Following its movements, he saw it noiselessly enter into
+the grounds of a cottage, opposite an old tannery, where it totally
+disappeared.
+
+A new direction was now given to the curiosity of the sailor. Expressing
+in a whisper to Sambo his determination to follow, he desired him to
+make for the shore near the tannery, beneath the shadow of which he
+might be secure, while he himself advanced, and tracked the movements of
+the mysterious wanderer.
+
+"Oh Massa Geral," urged the old man in the same whisper--his teeth
+chattering with fear--"for Hebben's sake he no go ashore. All dis a
+place berry bad, and dat no a livin' ting what he see yonder. Do Massa
+Geral take poor nigger word, and not go dere affer he ghost."
+
+"Nay, Sambo, it is no ghost, but flesh and blood, for I saw it in the
+brig we were foul of just now; however, be under no alarm. Armed as I
+am, I have nothing to fear from one individual, and if I am seen and
+pursued in my turn, it is but to spring in again, and before any one can
+put off in chase, we shall have nearly reached the opposite shore.--You
+shall remain in the canoe if you please, but I most certainly will see
+where that figure went."
+
+"Berry well, Massa Geral," and the old man spoke piquedly, although
+partly re-assured by the assurance that it was no ghost. "If he take he
+poor nigger wice he do as he like; but I no top in he canoe while he go
+and have him troat cut, or carry off by a debbil--I dam if he go, I go
+too."
+
+This energetic rejoinder being conclusive, and in no wise opposed by his
+master, the old man made for the shore as desired. Both having
+disembarked, a cautious examination was made of the premises, which
+tending to satisfy them that all within slumbered, the canoe was
+secreted under the shadow of the cottage, the adventurers crossed the
+road in the direction taken by the figure--Sambo following close in the
+rear of his master, and looking occasionally behind him, not with the
+air of one who fears a mortal enemy, but of one rather who shrinks from
+collision with a spirit of another world.
+
+The front grounds of the cottage were separated from the high road by a
+fence of open pallisades, in the centre of which was a small gate of the
+same description. It was evidently through this latter that the figure
+had disappeared, and as its entrance had been effected without effort,
+Gerald came to the conclusion, on finding the latter yield to his touch,
+that this was the abode of the midnight wanderer. Perhaps some young
+American officer, whom intrigue or frolic had led forth in disguise on
+an excursion from which he was now returned. His curiosity was therefore
+on the point of yielding to the prudence which dictated an immediate
+relinquishment of the adventure, when he felt his right arm suddenly
+seized in the convulsed and trembling grasp of his attendant. Turning to
+ascertain the cause, he beheld as distinctly as the gloom of the night
+would permit, the features of the old man worked into an expression of
+horror, while trembling in every joint, he pointed to the mound of earth
+at the far extremity of the garden, which was known to contain the ashes
+of those from whom his imagination had been so suddenly diverted by the
+reappearance of the figure. This, owing to the position in which he
+stood, had hitherto escaped the notice of the officer, whose surprise
+may be imagined, when, looking in the direction pointed out to him, he
+beheld the same muffled figure reposing its head, apparently in an
+attitude of profound sorrow, against one of the white tomb-stones that
+rose perpendicularly from the graves.
+
+That Sambo feared nothing which emanated not from the world of spirits,
+Grantham well knew. It therefore became his first care to dismiss from
+the mind of the poor fellow the superstitious alarm that had taken care
+of every faculty. From their proximity to the party, this could only be
+done by energetic signs, the progress of which was however interrupted
+by their mutual attention being diverted by a change in the position of
+the figure, which, throwing itself at its length upon the grave, for a
+moment or two sobbed audibly. Presently afterwards it rose abruptly, and
+wrapping its disguise more closely around it, quitted the mound and
+disappeared in the rear of the house.
+
+The emotion of the figure, in giving evidence of its materiality, had,
+more than all the signs of his master, contributed to allay the
+agitation of the old negro. When therefore Gerald, urged by his
+irrepressible curiosity, in a whisper declared his intention to
+penetrate to the rear of the house, he was enabled to answer.
+
+"For Gorramity's sake, Massa Geral, nebber go dare. Dis a place all
+berry bad for he family. Poor Sambo hair white now but when he black
+like a quirrel he see all a dis a people kill--" (and he pointed to the
+mound) "oh, berry much blood spill here, Massa Geral. It makes a poor
+nigger heart sick to tink of it."
+
+Gerald grasped the shoulder of the old man. "Sambo," he whispered, in
+the same low, but in a determined tone, "I have long thought you
+acquainted with the history of this place, although you have eluded my
+desire for information on the subject. After the admission you have now
+made, however, I expect you will tell me all and everything connected
+with it. Not now--for I am resolved to see who that singular being is,
+who apparently, like myself, feels an interest in these mouldering
+bones. As you perceive it is no ghost, but flesh and blood like
+ourselves, stay here if you will, until I return; but something more
+must I see of this mystery before I quit the spot."
+
+Without waiting for reply, he gently pushed the unlatched gate before
+him. It opened without noise, and quitting the pathway he moved along
+the green sward in the direction in which the figure had disappeared.
+Love for his master, even more than the superstitious awe he felt on
+being left alone, in that memorable spot, at so late an hour, put an end
+to the indecision of the old man. Entering and cautiously closing the
+gate, he followed in the footsteps of his master, and both in the next
+minute were opposite to the mound where the figure had first been
+observed.
+
+As he was about to quit the grass, and enter upon the gravelled walk
+that led to the rear of the cottage, he fancied he distinguished a sound
+within, similar to that of a door cautiously opening. Pausing again to
+listen, he saw a light strongly reflected from an upper window, upon
+what had the appearance of a court yard in the rear, and in that light
+the dark shadow of a human form. This he at once recognised, from its
+peculiar costume to be the mysterious person who had so strongly excited
+his curiosity. For a moment or two all was obscurity, when again, but
+from a more distant window, the same light and figure were again
+reflected. Presently the figure disappeared, but the light still
+remained. Impelled by an uncontrollable desire to behold the features,
+and ascertain, if possible, the object of this strange wanderer, the
+young sailor cast his eye rapidly in search of the means of raising
+himself to a level with the window, when, much to his satisfaction, he
+remarked immediately beneath, a large water butt which was fully
+adequate to the purpose, and near this a rude wooden stool which would
+enable him to gain a footing on its edge, without exertion, or noise. It
+is true there was every reason to believe that what he had seen was, an
+officer belonging to the guard stationed in the adjoining field, who had
+his temporary residence in this building, and was now, after the
+prosecution of some love adventure returning home; but Gerald could not
+reconcile this with the strong emotion he had manifested near the tomb,
+and the startling secrecy with which, even when he had entered, he moved
+along his own apartments. These contradictions were stimulants to the
+gratification of his own curiosity, or interest, or whatever it might
+be; and although he could not conceal from himself that he incurred no
+inconsiderable risk from observation, by the party itself, the desire to
+see into the interior of the apartment and learn something further, rose
+paramount to all consideration for his personal safety. His first care
+now was to disencumber himself of his shoes and cutlass, which he gave
+in charge to Sambo, with directions to the latter to remain stationary
+on the sward, keeping a good look-out to guard against surprise. As by
+this arrangement his master would be kept in tolerable proximity, the
+old negro, whose repugnance to be left alone in that melancholy spot was
+invincible, offered no longer an objection, and Gerald, bracing more
+tightly round his loins, the belt which contained his pistols, proceeded
+cautiously to secure the stool, by the aid of which he speedily found
+his feet resting on the edge of the water butt, and his face level with
+the window. This, owing to the activity of his professional habits, he
+had been enabled to accomplish without perceptible noise.
+
+The scene that met the fixed gaze of the adventurous officer, was one to
+startle and excite in no ordinary degree. The room into which he looked
+was square, with deep recesses on the side where he lingered, formed by
+the projection of a chimney in which, however, owing to the sultry
+season of the year, no traces of recent fire were visible. In the space
+between the chimney and wall forming the innermost recess, was placed a
+rude uncurtained bed, and on this lay extended, and delineated beneath
+the covering, a human form, the upper extremities of which were hidden
+from view by the projecting chimney. The whole attitude of repose of
+this latter indicated the unconsciousness of profound slumber. On a
+small table near the foot, were placed several books and papers, and an
+extinguished candle. Leaning over the bed and holding a small lamp which
+had evidently been brought and lighted since its entrance, stood the
+mysterious figure on whom the interest of Gerald had been so strongly
+excited. It seemed to be gazing intently on the features of the sleeper,
+and more than once, by the convulsed movements of its form, betrayed
+intense agitation. Once it made a motion as if to awaken the person on
+whom it gazed, but suddenly changing its purpose, drew from its dress a
+letter which Gerald recognised to be that so recently prepared in the
+cabin of the brig. Presently both letter and lamp were deposited on the
+bed, and in one upraised hand of the figure gleamed the blade of a knife
+or dagger, while the left grasped and shook, with an evident view to
+arouse, the sleeper. An exclamation of horror, accompanied by a violent
+struggle of its limbs, proclaimed reviving consciousness in the latter.
+A low wild laugh burst in scorn from the lips of the figure, and the
+strongly nerved arm was already descending to strike its assassin blow,
+when suddenly the pistol, which Gerald had almost unconsciously cocked
+and raised to the window, was discharged with a loud explosion. The
+awakened slumberer was now seen to spring from the bed to the floor, and
+in the action the lamp was overturned and extinguished; but all struggle
+appeared to have ceased.
+
+Bewildered beyond measure in his reflection, yet secure in the
+conviction that he had by this desperate step saved the life of a human
+being from the dagger of the assassin, the only object of Gerald now was
+to secure himself from the consequences. Springing from his position he
+was soon at the side of the startled Sambo, who had witnessed his last
+act with inconceivable dismay. Already were the guard in the adjoining
+field, alarmed by the report of the pistol, hurrying toward the house,
+when they reached the little gate, and some even appeared to be making
+for their boats on the beach. With these motives to exertion, neither
+Gerald nor the old negro were likely to be deficient in activity.
+Bending low as they crossed the road, they managed unperceived to reach
+the part of the tannery where their canoe had been secreted, and Sambo
+having hastily launched it, they made directly for the opposite shore,
+unharmed by some fifteen or twenty shots that were fired at them by the
+guard, and drifting down with the current, reached, about an hour before
+dawn, the battery from which they had started.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+At day-break on the morning of Sunday, the 16th of August, the fire from
+the batteries was resumed, and with a fury that must have satisfied the
+Americans, even had they been ignorant of the purpose, it was intended
+to cover some ulterior plan of operation on the part of the British
+General. Their own object appeared rather to make preparation of defence
+against the threatened assault, than to return a cannonade, which,
+having attained its true range, excessively annoyed and occasioned them
+much loss. Meanwhile every precaution had been taken to secure the safe
+transport of the army. The flotilla, considerably superior at the outset
+of the war, to that of the Americans, had worked up the river during the
+night, and, anchored in the middle, lay with their broadsides ready to
+open upon any force that might appear to oppose the landing of the
+troops, while numerous scows, for the transport of a light brigade of
+horse artillery, and all the boats and batteaux that could be collected,
+added to those of the fleet, lay covering the sands, ready to receive
+their destined burdens. At length the embarkation was completed, and the
+signal having been given, the several divisions of boats moved off in
+the order prescribed to them. Never did a more picturesque scene present
+itself to the human eye, than during the half hour occupied in the
+transit of this little army. The sun was just rising gloriously and
+unclouded, as the first division of boats pushed from the shore, and
+every object within the British and American line of operation, tended
+to the production of an effect that was little in unison with the
+anticipated issue of the whole. Not a breeze ruffled the fair face of
+the placid Detroit, through which the heavily laden boats now made their
+slow, but certain way; and a spectator who, in utter ignorance of
+events, might have been suddenly placed on the Canadian bank, would have
+been led to imagine that a fete, not a battle, was intended. Immediately
+above the village of Sandwich, and in full view of the American Fort,
+lay the English flotilla at anchor, their white sails half clewed up,
+their masts decked with gay pendants, and their taffrails with ensigns
+that lay drooping over their sterns in the water, as if too indolent to
+bear up against the coming sultriness of the day. Below these,
+glittering in bright scarlet that glowed not unpleasingly on the silvery
+stream, the sun's rays dancing on their polished muskets and
+accoutrements, glided, like gay actors in an approaching pageant, the
+columns destined for the assault--while further down, and distributed
+far and wide over the expanse of water, were to be seen a multitude of
+canoes filled with Indian warriors, whose war costume could not, in the
+distance, be distinguished from that of the dance--the whole
+contributing, with the air of quietude on both shores, and absence of
+all opposition on the American especially, to inspire feelings of
+joyousness and pleasure, rather than the melancholy consequent on a
+knowledge of the final destination of the whole. Nor would the incessant
+thunder of the cannon in the distance, have in any way diminished this
+impression; for as the volumes of smoke, vomited from the opposing
+batteries, met and wreathed themselves together in the centre of the
+stream, leaving at intervals the gay colors of England and America
+brightly displayed to the view, the impression, to a spectator, would
+have been that of one who witnesses the exchange of military honors
+between two brave and friendly powers, preparing the one to confer, the
+other to receive all the becoming courtesies of a chivalrous
+hospitality. If anything were wanting to complete the illusion, the
+sound of the early mass bell, summoning to the worship of that God whom
+no pageantry of man may dispossess of homage, would amply crown and
+heighten the effect of the whole, while the chanting of the hymn of
+adoration would appear a part of the worship of the Deity, and of the
+pageantry itself.
+
+Vying each with the other who should first gain the land, the exertions
+of the several rowers increased, as the distance to be traversed
+diminished, so that many arrived simultaneously at the beach. Forming in
+close column of sections as they landed, the regular troops occupied the
+road, their right flank resting on the river, while a strong body of
+Indians under Round-head, Split-log, and Walk-in-the-water, scouring the
+open country beyond, completely guarded their left from surprise. Among
+the first to reach the shore, was the gallant General, the planner of
+the enterprise, who with his personal staff, crossed the river in the
+barge of the Commodore, steered by that officer himself. During the
+short period that the columns were delayed for the landing of the
+artillery, necessarily slower in their movements, a short conference
+among the leaders, to whom were added Tecumseh and Colonel D'Egville, as
+to their final operations, took place. Never did the noble Indian appear
+to greater advantage than on this occasion. A neat hunting dress, of
+smoked deer-skin, handsomely ornamented, covered his fine and athletic
+person, while the swarthiness of his cheek and dazzling lustre of his
+eye were admirably set off, not only by the snow-white linen which hung
+loose and open about his throat, but by a full turban, in which waved a
+splendid white ostrich feather, the much prized gift, as we have already
+observed, of Mrs. D'Egville. Firmly seated on his long-tailed grey
+charger, which he managed with a dexterity uncommon to his race, his
+warrior and commanding air might have called up the image of a
+Tamerlane, or Genghis Khan, were it not known that, to the more savage
+qualities of these, he united others that would lend lustre to the most
+civilized potentates. There was, however, that ardor of expression in
+his eye which rumor had ascribed to him, whenever an appeal to arms
+against the deadly foe of his country was about to be made, that could
+not fail to endear him to the soldier hearts of those who stood around,
+and to inspire them with a veneration and esteem, not even surpassed by
+what they entertained for their own immediate leader, who in his turn,
+animated by the inspiriting scene and confident in his own powers,
+presented an appearance so anticipatory of coming success, that the
+least sanguine could not fail to be encouraged by it.
+
+It had been arranged that, on the landing of the troops, the flotilla
+should again weigh anchor, and approach as near as possible to the
+American fort, with a view, in conjunction with the batteries, to a
+cross-fire that would cover the approach of the assaulting columns. The
+Indians, meanwhile, were to disperse themselves throughout the skirts of
+the forest, and, headed by the Chiefs already named, to advance under
+whatever they might find in the shape of hedges, clumps of trees, or
+fields, sufficiently near to maintain a heavy fire from their rifles on
+such force as might appear on the ramparts to oppose the assault--a task
+in which they were to be assisted by the brigade of light guns charged
+with shrapnel and grape. Tecumseh himself, accompanied by Colonel
+D'Egville, was, with the majority of his warriors, to gain the rear of
+the town, there to act as circumstances might require. To this, as an
+inferior post, the Chieftain had at first strongly objected; but when it
+was represented to him that the enemy, with a view to turn the English
+flank on the forest side, would probably detach in that direction a
+strong force, which he would have the exclusive merit of encountering,
+he finally assented; urged to it, as he was, moreover, by the
+consideration that his presence would be effectual in repressing any
+attempt at massacre, or outrage, of the helpless inhabitants, by his
+wild and excited bands.
+
+The guns being at length disembarked and limbered, everything was now in
+readiness for the advance. The horses of the General and his staff had
+crossed in the scows appropriated to the artillery, and his favorite
+charger, being now brought up by his groom, the former mounted with an
+activity and vigor, not surpassed even by the youngest of his
+aides-de-camp, while his fine and martial form, towered above those
+around him, in a manner to excite admiration in all who beheld him.
+Giving his brief instructions to his second in command, he now grasped
+and shook the hand of his dark brother in arms, who, putting spurs to
+his horse, dashed off with Colonel D'Egville into the open country on
+the left, in the direction taken by his warriors, while the General and
+his staff, boldly, and without escort, pursued their way along the high
+road at a brisk trot. The Commodore in his turn, sprang once more into
+his barge, which, impelled by stout hearts and willing hands, was soon
+seen to gain the side of the principal vessel of the little squadron,
+which, rapidly getting under weigh, had already loosened its sails to
+catch the light, yet favorable breeze, now beginning to curl the surface
+of the river.
+
+During all this time, the cannon from our batteries, but faintly
+answered by the Americans, had continued to thunder without
+intermission, and as the columns drew nearer, each succeeding discharge
+came upon the ear with increased and more exciting loudness. Hitherto
+the view had been obstructed by the numerous farm houses and other
+buildings, that skirted the windings of the road, but when at length the
+column emerged into more open ground, the whole scene burst splendidly
+and imposingly upon the sight. Within half a mile, and to the left, rose
+the American ramparts, surmounted by the national flag, suspended from a
+staff planted on the identical spot which had been the scene of the
+fearful exploit of Wacousta in former days. Bristling with cannon, they
+seemed now to threaten with extermination those who should have the
+temerity to approach them, and the men, awed into silence, regarded them
+with a certain air of respect.
+
+Close under the town were anchored the American vessels of war, which,
+however, having taken no part in returning the bombardment, had been
+left unmolested across the river; and in full view of all, was to be
+seen the high ground where the batteries had been erected, and, visible
+at such intervals as the continuous clouds of smoke and flashes of fire
+would permit, the Union Jack of England floating above the whole; while
+in the river and immediately opposite to the point the columns had now
+reached, the English flotilla, which had kept pace with their movements,
+were already taking up a position to commence their raking fire.
+
+It was on reaching this point of the road, that the British force,
+obedient to the command of the General, who, from a farm-house on the
+left, was then examining the American defences, filed off past the house
+into a large field, preparatory to forming into column to attack.
+Scarcely, however, had the General descended to the field to make his
+dispositions, when it was observed that the batteries had suddenly
+discontinued their fire, and on looking to ascertain the cause, a white
+flag was seen waving on the eminence where the heavy guns just alluded
+to had been placed. While all were expressing their surprise at this
+unexpected circumstance, De Courcy, who, by the direction of his
+General, had remained reconnoitring at the top of the house, announced
+that an officer, bearing a smaller white flag, was then descending the
+road, with an evident view to a parley.
+
+"Ah! is it even so?" exclaimed the General with vivacity, as if to
+himself. "Quick! my horse--I must go to meet him. Captain Stanley--De
+Courcy--mount! St. Julian," turning to his second in command, "finish
+what I have begun--let the columns be got ready in the order I have
+directed. We may have need of them yet."
+
+So saying he once more sprang into his saddle, and accompanied by his
+young aides-de-camp, galloped past the line of admiring troops, who
+involuntarily cheered him as he passed; and quitting the field,
+hastened to reach the flag, before the bearer could approach
+sufficiently near to make any correct observation respecting his force.
+
+Nearly twenty minutes of anxious suspense had succeeded the departure of
+the officer, when De Courcy again made his appearance at full speed.
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah!" he shouted, as he approached a group of his more
+immediate companions, who were canvassing the probable termination of
+this pacific demonstration on the part of the enemy--"the fort is our
+own" (then turning to the second in command,) "Colonel St. Julian, it is
+the General's desire that the men pile their arms on the ground they
+occupy, and refresh themselves with whatever their haversacks contain."
+
+"How is this, De Courcy?"--"Surely the Americans do not
+capitulate?"--"Is it to be child's play, after all?"--were among the
+various remarks made to the young aide-de-camp, on his return from the
+delivery of the last order.
+
+"Heaven only knows how, Granville," said the vivacious officer, in reply
+to the first querist; "but certainly it is something very like it, for
+the General, accompanied by Stanley, has entered the town under the
+flag. However, before we discuss the subject further, I vote that we
+enter the farm-house, and discuss wherewith to satisfy our own
+appetites--I saw a devilish pretty girl just now, one who seemed to have
+no sort of objection to a handsome scarlet uniform, whatever her
+predilections for a blue with red facings may formerly have been. She
+looked so good-naturedly on Stanley and myself, that we should have
+ogled her into a breakfast ere this, had not the General sworn he would
+not break his fast until he had planted the colors of England on yon
+fortress, or failed in the attempt. Of course we, as young heroes, could
+not think of eating after that. But come along--nay, Cranstoun, do not
+look as if you were afraid to budge an inch without an order in
+writing.--I have it in suggestion from Colonel St. Julian, that we go in
+and do the best we can."
+
+They now entered and asked for breakfast, when bread, eggs, milk, fruit,
+cider, and whatever the remains of yesterday's meal afforded, were
+successively brought forward by the dark-eyed daughter of the farmer,
+who, as De Courcy had remarked, seemed by no means indisposed towards
+the gay looking invaders of her home. There was a recklessness about the
+carriage of most of these, and even a foppery about some, that was
+likely to be anything but displeasing to a young girl, who, French
+Canadian by birth, although living under the Government of the United
+States, possessed all the natural vivacity of character peculiar to the
+original stock. Notwithstanding the pertinacity with which her aged
+father lingered in the room, the handsome and elegant De Courcy
+contrived more than once to address her in an under tone, and elicit a
+blush that greatly heightened the brilliant expression of her large
+black eyes, and Villiers subsequently declared that he had remarked the
+air of joyousness and triumph that pervaded her features, on the young
+aide-de-camp promising to return to the farm as soon as the place had
+been entered, and leisure afforded him.
+
+"But the particulars of the flag, De Courcy," said Captain Granville, as
+he devoured a hard-boiled turkey egg, which in quantity fully made up
+for what it wanted in quality. "When you have finished flirting with
+that unfortunate girl, come and seat yourself quietly, and tell us what
+passed between the General and the officer who bore it. Why, I thought
+you had a devil of an appetite just now."
+
+"Ah, true!" returned the young man, taking his seat at the rude naked
+table which bore their meal. "I had quite forgotten my appetite--_mais
+ca viendra en mangent, n'est ce pas?_" and he looked at the young girl.
+
+"_Plait il, Monsieur?_"
+
+"Be silent, my daughter, they are not speaking to you," gruffly remarked
+her father.
+
+"The old boy is becoming savage at your attentions," remarked Villiers,
+"you will get the girl into a scrape."
+
+"Bah!" ejaculated De Courcy. "Well, but of the General. Who, think you,
+was the bearer of the flag? No other than that fine-looking fellow,
+Colonel--what's his name, who came to us the other day."
+
+"Indeed, singular enough. What said the General to him on meeting?"
+asked Henry Grantham.
+
+"'Well, Colonel,' said he smiling, 'you see I have kept my word. This is
+the day on which I promised that we should meet again.'"
+
+"What answer did he make?" demanded Villiers.
+
+"'True, General, and most happily have you chosen. But one day sooner,
+and we should have dared your utmost in our stronghold. To-day,' and he
+spoke in a tone of deep mortification, 'we have not resolution left to
+make a show even in vindication of our honor. In a word, I am here to
+conduct you to those who will offer terms derogatory at once to our
+national character, and insulting to our personal courage.'
+
+"The General," pursued De Courcy, "respecting the humiliated manner of
+the American, again bowed, but said nothing. After a moment of pause,
+the latter stated that the Governor and Commander of the fortress were
+waiting to receive and confer with him as to the terms of capitulation.
+All I know further is, that, attended by Stanley, he has accompanied the
+flag into the town, and that, having no immediate occasion for my
+valuable services, he sent me back to give to Colonel St. Julian the
+order you have heard."
+
+The deep roll of the drum summoning to fall in, drew them eagerly to
+their respective divisions. Captain Stanley, the senior aide-de camp,
+was just returned with an order for the several columns to advance and
+take up their ground close under the ramparts of the fort.
+
+It was an interesting and a novel sight, to see the comparatively
+insignificant British columns, flanked by the half dozen light guns
+which constituted their whole artillery, advance across the field, and
+occupy the plain or common surrounding the fort, while the Americans on
+the ramparts appeared to regard with indignation and surprise the mere
+handful of men to whom they were about to be surrendered. Such a
+phenomenon in modern warfare as that of a weak besieging force bearding
+a stronger in their hold, might well excite astonishment; and to an
+army, thrice as numerous as its captors, occupying a fortress well
+provided with cannon, as in this instance, must have been especially
+galling. More than one of the officers, as he looked down from his
+loftier and more advantageous position, showed by the scowl that
+lingered on his brow, how willingly he would have applied the match to
+the nearest gun whose proximity to his enemies promised annihilation to
+their ranks. But the white flag still waved in the distance, affording
+perfect security to those who had confided in their honor, and although
+liberty, and prosperity, and glory were the sacrifice, that honor might
+not be tarnished.
+
+At length the terms of capitulation being finally adjusted De Courcy,
+who with his brother aid-de-camp, had long since rejoined the General,
+came up with instructions for a guard to enter and take possession
+preparatory to the Americans marching out. Detachments from the flank
+companies, under the command of Captain Granville, with whom were
+Middlemore and Henry Grantham, were selected for the duty, and these now
+moved forward, with drums beating and colors flying, towards the
+drawbridge then lowering to admit them.
+
+The area of the fort in no way enlarged, and but slightly changed in
+appearance, since certain of our readers first made acquaintance with it
+in Wacousta, was filled with troops, and otherwise exhibited all the
+confusion incident to preparations for an immediate evacuation. These
+preparations, however, were made with a savageness of mien by the
+irregulars, and a sullen silence by all, that attested how little their
+inclination had been consulted in the decision of their Chief. Many an
+oath was muttered, and many a fierce glance was cast by the angry
+back-woodsmen, upon the little detachment as it pursued its way, not
+without difficulty, through the dense masses that seemed rather to
+oppose than aid their advance to the occupancy of the several posts
+assigned them.
+
+One voice, deepest and most bitter in its half suppressed execration,
+came familiarly on the ear of Henry Grantham, who brought up the rear of
+the detachment. He turned quickly in search of the speaker, but,
+although he felt persuaded it was Desborough who had spoken, coupling
+his own name even with his curses, the ruffian was nowhere to be seen.
+Satisfied that he must be within the Fort, and determined if possible,
+to secure the murderer who had, moreover, the double crime of treason
+and desertion, to be added to his list of offences, the young officer
+moved to the head of the detachment when halted, and communicated what
+he heard to Captain Granville. Entering at once into the views of his
+subaltern, and anxious to make an example of the traitor, yet unwilling
+to act wholly on his own responsibility, Captain Granville dispatched an
+orderly to Colonel St. Julien to receive his instructions. The man soon
+returned with a message to say that Desborough was by all means to be
+detained, and secured, until the General, who was still absent, should
+determine on his final disposal.
+
+Meanwhile the sentinels at the several posts having been relieved, and
+every thing ready for their departure, the American army, leaving their
+arms piled in the area, commenced their evacuation of the Fort, the
+artillery and troops of the line taking the lead. Watchfully alive to
+the order that had been received, Captain Granville and Henry Grantham
+lingered near the gate, regarding, yet with an air of carelessness,
+every countenance among the irregular troops as they issued forth.
+Hitherto their search had been ineffectual, and to their great surprise,
+although the two last of the prisoners were now in the act of passing
+them, there was not the slightest trace of Desborough. It was well known
+that the fort had no other outlet, and any man attempting to escape over
+the ramparts, must have been seen and taken either by the troops or by
+the Indians, who in the far distance completely surrounded them. Captain
+Granville intimated the possibility of Henry Grantham having been
+deceived in the voice, but the latter as pertinaciously declared he
+could not be mistaken, for, independently, of his former knowledge of
+the man, his tones had so peculiarly struck him on the day when he made
+boastful confession of his father's murder, that no time could efface
+them from his memory. This short discussion terminated just as the last
+few files were passing. Immediately in the rear of these were the
+litters, on which were borne such of the wounded as could be removed
+from the hospital without danger. These were some thirty in number, and
+it seemed to both officers as somewhat singular, that the faces of all
+were, in defiance of the heat of the day, covered with the sheets that
+had been spread over each litter. For a moment the suspicion occurred to
+Grantham, that Desborough might be of the number; but when he reflected
+on the impossibility that any of the wounded men could be the same whose
+voice had sounded so recently in the full vigor of health in his ear, he
+abandoned the idea. Most of the wounded, as they passed, indicated by
+low and feeble moaning, the inconvenience they experienced from the
+motion to which they were subjected, and more or less expressed by the
+contortions of their limbs, the extent of their sufferings. An exception
+to this very natural conduct was remarked by Grantham, in the person of
+one occupying nearly a central position in the line, who was carried
+with difficulty by the litter-men. He lay perfectly at his length, and
+without any exhibition whatever of that impatient movement which escaped
+his companions. On the watchful eye of Grantham, this conduct was not
+lost. He had felt a strong inclination from the first, to uncover the
+faces of the wounded men in succession, and had only been restrained
+from so doing by the presence of the American medical officer who
+accompanied them, whom he feared to offend by an interference with his
+charge. Struck as he was however by the remarkable conduct of the
+individual alluded to, and the apparently much greater effort with which
+he was carried, he could not resist the temptation which urged him to
+know more.
+
+"Stay," he exclaimed to the bearers of the litter, as they were in the
+act of passing. The men stopped. "This man, if not dead, is evidently
+either dying or fainting--give him air."
+
+While speaking he advanced a step or two, and now extending his right
+hand endeavored gently to pull down the sheet from the head of the
+invalid but the attempt was vain. Two strong and nervous arms were
+suddenly raised and entwined in the linen, in a manner to resist all his
+efforts.
+
+Grantham glanced an expressive look at Captain Granville. The latter
+nodded his head in a manner to show he was understood, then desiring the
+litter-men to step out of the line and deposit their burden, he said to
+the medical officer with the sarcasm that so often tinged his address.
+
+"I believe, sir, your charge embraces only the wounded of the garrison.
+This dead man can only be an incumbrance to you and it shall be my care
+that his body is properly disposed of."
+
+A signal was made by him to the file of men in his rear, who each
+seizing on the covering of the litter, dragged it forcibly off,
+discovering in the act the robust and healthy form of Desborough.
+
+"You may pass on," continued the officer to the remainder of the party.
+"This fellow, at once a murderer and a traitor, is my prisoner."
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Middlemore, who had all this time been absent on the
+duties connected with his guard, and now approached the scene of this
+little action for the first time; "what! do I see my friend Jeremiah
+Desborough--the prince of traitors, and the most vigorous of wrestlers!
+Verily my poor bones ache at the sight of you. How came you to be
+caught in this trap my old boy? Better have been out duck-shooting with
+the small bores, I reckon."
+
+But Desborough was in no humor to endure this mirth. Finding himself
+discovered, he had risen heavily from the litter to his feet, and now
+moved doggedly towards the guard-house, where the men had orders to
+confine him. His look still wore the character of ferocity, which years
+had stamped there, but with this was mixed an expression that denoted
+more of the cowering villain, whom a sudden reverse of fortune may
+intimidate, than the dauntless adventurer to whom enterprizes of hazard
+are at once a stimulus and a necessity. In short, he was entirely
+crest-fallen.
+
+"Come and see the effect of Gerald's excellent fire," said Middlemore,
+when Desborough had disappeared within the guard-room. "I will show you
+the room pointed out to me by the subaltern whom I relieved, as that in
+which four field officers and three surgeons were killed."
+
+Preceded by their companion, Captain Granville and Grantham entered the
+piazza leading to the officers' rooms, several of which were completely
+pierced with twenty-four pound shot, known at once as coming from the
+centre battery, which alone mounted guns of that calibre. After
+surveying the interior a few moments, they passed into a small passage
+communicating with the room in question. On opening the door, all were
+painfully struck by the sight which presented itself. Numerous
+shot-holes were visible everywhere throughout, while the walls at the
+inner extremity of the apartment were completely bespotted with blood
+and brains, scarcely yet dry anywhere, and in several places dripping to
+the floor. At one corner of the room, and on a mattress, lay the form of
+a wounded man, whom the blue uniform and silver epaulettes, that filled
+a chair near the head, attested for an American officer of rank. At the
+foot of the bed, dressed in black, her long hair floating wildly over
+the shoulders, and with a hand embracing one of those of the sufferer,
+sat a female, apparently wholly absorbed in the contemplation of the
+scene before her. The noise made by the officers on entering had not
+caused the slightest change in her position, nor was it until she heard
+the foot-fall of Captain Granville, as he advanced for the purpose of
+offering his services, that she turned to behold who were the intruders.
+The sight of the British uniform appeared to startle her, for she
+immediately sprang to her feet, as if alarmed at their presence. It was
+impossible they could mistake those features and that face. It was Miss
+Montgomerie. He who lay at her feet, was her venerable uncle. He was one
+of the field officers who had fallen a victim to Gerald's fire, and the
+same ball which had destroyed his companions, had carried away his
+thigh, near the hip bone. The surgeons had given him over, and he had
+requested to be permitted to die where he lay. His wish had been
+attended to, but in the bustle of evacuation, it had been forgotten to
+acquaint the officers commanding the British guard that he was there.
+The last agonies of death had not yet passed away, but there seemed
+little probability that he could survive another hour.
+
+Perceiving the desperate situation of the respectable officer, Captain
+Granville stayed not to question on a subject that spoke so plainly for
+itself. Hastening back into the piazza with his subalterns, he reached
+the area just as the remaining troops, intended for the occupation of
+the fort, were crossing the drawbridge, headed by Colonel St. Julian. To
+this officer he communicated the situation of the sufferer, when an
+order was given for the instant attendance of the head of the medical
+staff. After a careful examination and dressing of the wound, the latter
+pronounced the case not altogether desperate. A great deal of blood had
+been lost, and extreme weakness had been the consequence, but still the
+Surgeon was not without hope that his life might yet be preserved,
+although, of course, he would be a cripple for the remainder of his
+days.
+
+It might have been assumed, that the hope yet held out, of preservation
+of life on any terms, would have been hailed with some manifestation of
+grateful emotion, on the part of Miss Montgomerie; but it was remarked
+and commented on, by those who were present, that this unexpectedly
+favorable report, so far from being received with gratitude and delight,
+seemed to cast a deeper gloom over the spirit of this extraordinary
+girl. The contrast was inexplicable. She had tended him at the moment
+when he was supposed to be dying, with all the anxious solicitude of a
+fond child; and now that there was a prospect of his recovery, there was
+a sadness in her manner that told too plainly the discomfort of her
+heart.
+
+"An unaccountable girl!" said Cranstoun, as he sipped his wine that day
+after dinner, in the mess-room at Detroit. "I always said she was the
+child of the devil."
+
+"Child of the devil in soul, if you will," observed Granville, "but a
+true woman--a beautiful, a superb woman in person at least, did she
+appear this morning, when we first entered the room--did she not,
+Henry?"
+
+"Beautiful indeed," was the reply--"yet, I confess, she more awed than
+pleased me. I could not avoid, even amid that melancholy scene,
+comparing her to a beautiful casket, which, on opening, is found to
+contain not a gem of price, but a subtle poison, contact with which is
+fatal; or to a fair looking fruit, which, when divided, proves to be
+rotten at the core."
+
+"Allegorical, by all that is good, bad, and indifferent," exclaimed
+Villiers. "How devilish severe you are, Henry, upon the pale Venus. It
+is hardly fair in you thus to rate Gerald's intended."
+
+"Gerald's intended! God forbid."
+
+This was uttered with an energy that startled his companions. Perceiving
+that the subject gave him pain, they discontinued allusion to the lady
+in question, further than to inquire how she was to be disposed of, and
+whether she was to remain in attendance on her uncle.
+
+In answer, they were informed, that as the Major could not be removed,
+orders had been given by the General for every due care to be taken of
+him where he now lay, while Miss Montgomerie, yielding to solicitation,
+had been induced to retire into the family of the American General in
+the town, there to remain until it should be found convenient to have
+the whole party conveyed to the next American post on the frontier.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+It is difficult to imagine that the English General could in any way
+have anticipated so easy a conquest. He had no reason to undervalue the
+resolution of the enemy, and yet he appears to have been fully sanguine
+of the success of his undertaking. Possibly he counted much on his own
+decision and judgment, which, added to the confidence reposed in him by
+all ranks and branches of the expedition, he might have felt fully
+adequate to the overthrow of the mere difficulty arising from
+inferiority of numbers. Whatever his motive, or however founded his
+expectations of success, the service he performed was eminent, since he
+not merely relieved Amherstburgh, the key of Upper Canada, from all
+immediate danger, but at a single blow annihilated the American power
+throughout that extensive frontier. That this bold measure, powerfully
+contrasted as it was with his own previous vacillation of purpose, had
+greatly tended to intimidate the American General, and to render him
+distrustful of his own resources, there can be little doubt. The
+destructive fire from the well-served breaching batteries, was moreover
+instanced as an influencing cause of the capitulation; and there can be
+no question, that a humane consideration for the defenceless town,
+surrounded by hordes of Indians, had much to do with the decision of the
+American General.
+
+In justice to many officers of rank, and to the garrison generally, it
+must be admitted that the decision of their leader, if credence might be
+given to their looks and language, was anything but satisfactory to
+them, and it must be confessed that it must have been mortifying in the
+extreme, to have yielded without a blow a fortress so well provided with
+the means of defence. What the result would have been had the British
+columns mounted to the assault, it is impossible to say. That they would
+have done their duty is beyond all question, but there is no reason to
+believe the Americans, under a suitable commander, would have failed in
+theirs. Superiority of numbers and position was on the one side; a
+daring Chief, an ardent desire of distinction, and the impossibility of
+retreat without humiliation, on the other.
+
+In alluding thus to the capitulation of Detroit, we beg not to be
+understood as either reflecting on the American character, or doubting
+their courage. Question of personal bravery there was none, since no
+appeal was made to arms; but the absence of sanguinary event left in
+high relief the daring of the British commander, whose promptitude and
+genius alone secured to him so important yet bloodless a conquest. Had
+he evinced the slightest indecision, or lost a moment in preparing for
+action, the American General would have had time to rally, and believing
+him to be not more enterprising than his predecessors, would have
+recovered from his panic and assumed an attitude at once, more worthy of
+his trust, commensurate with his means of defence, and in keeping with
+his former reputation. The quick apprehension of his opponent
+immediately caught the weakness, while his ready action grappled
+intuitively with the advantage it presented. The batteries, as our
+narrative has shown, were opened without delay--the flotilla worked up
+the river within sight of the fortress--and the troops and Indians
+effected their landing in full view of the enemy. In fact, everything
+was conducted in a manner to show a determination of the most active and
+undoubted description. With what result has been seen.
+
+It was in the evening of the day of surrender, that the little English
+squadron, freighted with the prisoners taken in Detroit, dropped slowly
+past Amherstburgh, into Lake Erie. By an article in the capitulation, it
+had been stipulated, that the irregular troops should be suffered to
+return to their homes, under the condition that they should not again
+serve during the war, while those of the line were to be conducted to
+the Lower Province, there to remain until duly exchanged. The appearance
+as captives of those who had, only a few days before, been comfortably
+established on the Sandwich shore, and had caused the country to feel
+already some of the horrors of invasion--naturally enough drew forth
+most of the inhabitants to witness the sight; and as the Sunday stroll
+of the little population of Amherstburgh led in the direction of
+Elliot's point, where the lake began, the banks were soon alive with
+men, women and children, clad in holiday apparel, moving quickly to keep
+up with the gliding vessels, and apparently, although not offensively
+exulting in the triumph of that flag, beneath which the dense masses of
+their enemies were now departing from their rescued territory.
+
+Among those whom the passing barks had drawn in unusual numbers to the
+river's side, were the daughters of Colonel D'Egville, whose almost
+daily practice it was to take the air in that direction, where there was
+so much of the sublime beauty of American scenery to arrest the
+attention. Something more, however, than that vague curiosity which
+actuated the mass, seemed to have drawn the sisters to the bank, and one
+who had watched them narrowly must have observed, that their interest
+was not divided among the many barks that glided onward to the lake, but
+was almost exclusively attracted by one, which now lay to, with her
+light bows breasting the current like a swan, and apparently waiting
+either for a boat that had been dispatched to the shore, or with an
+intention to send one. This vessel was filled in every part with troops
+wearing the blue uniform of the American regular army, while those in
+advance were freighted with the irregulars and backwoodsmen.
+
+"Is not this, Julia, the vessel to which the Commodore promised to
+promote Gerald, in reward of his gallant conduct last week?" asked the
+timid Gertrude, with a sigh, as they stood stationary for a few moments,
+watching the issue of the manoeuvre just alluded to.
+
+"It is, Gertrude," was the answer of one whose fixed eye and abstracted
+thought, betokened an interest in the same vessel, of a nature wholly
+different from that of her questioner.
+
+"How very odd, then, he does not come on shore to us. I am sure he must
+see us, and it would not take him two minutes to let us know he is
+unhurt, and to shake hands with us. It is very unkind of him I think."
+
+Struck by the peculiar tone in which the last sentence had been uttered
+Julia D'Egville turned her eyes full upon those of her sister. The
+latter could not stand the inquiring gaze, but sought the ground, while
+a conscious blush confirmed the suspicion.
+
+"Dearest Gertrude," she said, as she drew the clasped arm of her sister
+more fondly within her own; "I see how it is; but does he love you in
+return. Has he ever told you so, or hinted it. Tell me, my dear girl."
+
+"Never," faltered the sensitive Gertrude, and she hung her head, to
+conceal the tear that trembled in her eye.
+
+Her sister sighed deeply, and pressed the arm she held more closely
+within her own. "My own own sister, for worlds I would not pain you; but
+if you would be happy, you must not yield to this preference for our
+cousin. Did you not remark how completely he seemed captivated by Miss
+Montgomerie? Depend upon it, his affections are centered in her."
+
+Gertrude made no reply, but tears trickled down her cheeks, as they both
+slowly resumed their walk along the beach. Presently the splash of oars
+was heard, and turning quickly to discover the cause, Julia saw a boat
+leave the vessel, at which they had just been looking, and pull
+immediately towards them. In the stern stood an officer in American
+uniform, whom the eyes of love were not slow to distinguish, even in the
+growing dusk of the evening.
+
+"It is Ernest," exclaimed the excited girl, forgetting for a moment her
+sister in herself. "I thought he would not have departed without seeking
+to see me."
+
+A few strokes of the oars were sufficient to bring the boat to the
+shore. The American stepped out, and leaving the boat to follow the
+direction of the vessel, now drifting fast with the current towards the
+outlet, which the remainder of the flotilla had already passed, pursued
+his course along the sands in earnest conversation with the sisters, or
+rather with one of them, for poor Gertrude, after the first salutation,
+seemed to have lost all inclination to speak.
+
+"Fate, dearest Julia," said the officer despondingly, "has decreed our
+interview earlier than I had expected. However, under all circumstances,
+I may esteem myself happy to have seen you at all. I am indebted for
+this favor to the officer commanding yonder vessel, in which our
+regiment is embarked, for the satisfaction, melancholy as it is, of
+being enabled to bid you a temporary farewell."
+
+"Then are we both indebted to one of my own family for the happiness;
+for that it is a happiness, Ernest, I can answer from the depression of
+my spirits just now, when I feared you were about to depart without
+seeing me at all. The officer in command of your vessel is, or ought to
+be, a cousin of our own."
+
+"Indeeed!--then is he doubly entitled to my regard. But, Julia, let the
+brief time that is given us be devoted to the arrangement of plans for
+the future. I will not for a moment doubt your faith, after what
+occurred at our last interview; but shall I be certain of finding you
+here, when later we return to wash away the stain this day's proceedings
+have thrown upon our national honor. Forgive me, if I appear to mix up
+political feelings, with private grief, but it cannot be denied, (and he
+smiled faintly through the mortification evidently called up by the
+recollection), that to have one's honor attainted, and to lose one's
+mistress in the same day, are heavier taxes on human patience, than it
+can be expected a soldier should quietly bear."
+
+"And when I am yours at a later period, I suppose you will expect me to
+be as interested in the national honor, as you are," replied Julia,
+anxious to rally him on a subject she felt, could not but be painful to
+a man of high feelings, as she fully believed the Colonel to be. "How
+are we to reconcile such clashing interests? How am I so far to overcome
+my natural love for the country which gave me birth, so to rejoice in
+its subjugation by yours; and yet, that seems to be the eventual object
+at which you hint. Your plan, if I understand right, is to return here
+with an overwhelming army; overrun the province, and make me your
+property by right of conquest, while all connected with me, by blood, or
+friendship, are to be borne into captivity. If we marry, sir, we must
+draw lots which of us shall adopt a new country."
+
+"Nay, dearest Julia, this pleasantry is unseasonable. I certainly do
+intend, provided I am exchanged in time to return here with the army,
+which I doubt not will be instantly dispatched to restore our blighted
+fame, and then I shall claim you as my own. Will you then hesitate to
+become mine? Even as the daughter forsakes the home of her father
+without regret, to pass her days with him who is to her father, mother,
+all the charities of life, in short--so should she forsake her native
+land adopting in preference that to which her husband is attached by
+every tie of honor, and of duty. However, let us hope that ere long, the
+folly of this war will be seen, and that the result of such perception,
+will be a peace founded on such permanent bases, that each shall be
+bound, by an equal tie of regard, to the home of the other."
+
+"Let us hope so," eagerly replied Julia. "But what has become of our
+friend, Miss Montgomerie, in all the confusion of this day. Or am I
+right in supposing that she and her uncle are of the number of those
+embarked in my cousin's vessel?"
+
+The name of the interesting American, coupled as it was, with that of
+one infinitely more dear to her, caused Gertrude for the first time, to
+look up in the face of the officer, in expectation of his reply. She was
+struck by the sudden paleness that came over his features again, as on
+the former occasion, when allusion was made to her at his recent visit
+to Amherstburgh. He saw that his emotion was remarked, and sought to
+hide it under an appearance of unconcern, as he replied:
+
+"Neither Miss Montgomerie nor her uncle are embarked. The latter, I
+regret to say, has been one of the few victims who have fallen."
+
+"What! dead--that excellent kind old man--dead," demanded the sisters
+nearly in the same breath?
+
+"No; not dead--but I fear with little hope of life. He was desperately
+wounded soon after daybreak this morning, and when I saw him half an
+hour afterwards, he had been given over by the surgeons."
+
+"Poor Major Montgomerie," sighed Gertrude; "I felt when he was here the
+other day, that I could have loved him almost as my own father. How
+broken-hearted his niece must be at his loss!"
+
+A sneer of bitterness passed over the fine features of the American as
+he replied with emphasis:
+
+"Nay, dear Gertrude, your sympathies are but ill bestowed. Miss
+Montgomerie's heart will scarcely sustain the injury you seem to
+apprehend."
+
+"What mean you, Ernest?" demanded Julia, with eagerness. "How is it that
+you judge thus harshly of her character. How, in short, do you pretend
+to enter into her most secret feelings, and yet deny all but a general
+knowledge of her? What can you possibly know of her heart?"
+
+"I merely draw my inferences from surmise," replied the Colonel, after a
+few moments of pause. "The fact is, I have the vanity to imagine myself
+a correct reader of character, and my reading of Miss Montgomerie's has
+not been the happiest."
+
+Julia's look betrayed incredulity. "There is evidently some mystery in
+all this," she rejoined; "but I will not seek to discover more than you
+choose at present to impart. Later I may hope to possess more of your
+confidence. One question more, however, and I have done. Have you seen
+her since your return to Detroit, and did she give you my letter?"
+
+The Colonel made no answer, but produced from his pocket a note, which
+Julia at once recognised as her own.
+
+"Then," said Gertrude, "there was not so much danger after all, in
+intrusting it. You seemed to be in a sad way, when you first heard that
+it had been given to her."
+
+"I would have pledged myself for its safe deliverance," added her
+sister; "for the promise was too solemnly given to be broken."
+
+"And solemnly has it been kept," gravely returned the American. "But
+hark! already are they hailing the boat, and we must part."
+
+The time occupied in conversation had brought them down to the extreme
+point where the river terminated and the lake commenced. Beyond this lay
+a sand bar, which it was necessary to clear before the increasing dusk
+of the evening rendered it hazardous. All the other vessels had already
+passed it, and were spreading their white sails before the breeze, which
+here, unbroken by the island, impelled them rapidly onward. A few
+strokes of the oar, and the boat once more touched the beach. Low and
+fervent adieus were exchanged, and the American, resuming his station in
+the stern, was soon seen to ascend the deck he had so recently quitted.
+For a short time the sisters continued to watch the movements of the
+vessel, as she in turn having passed, spread all her canvass to the
+wind, until the fast fading twilight warning them to depart, they
+retraced their steps along the sands to the town. Both were silent and
+pensive; and while all around them found subject for rejoicing in the
+public events of the day, they retired at an early hour, to indulge at
+leisure in the several painful retrospections which related more
+particularly to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+If the few weeks preceding the fall of Detroit had been characterised by
+much bustle and excitement, those which immediately succeeded were no
+less remarkable for their utter inactivity and repose. With the
+surrender of the fortress vanished every vestige of hostility in that
+remote territory, enabling the sinews of watchfulness to undergo a
+relaxation, nor longer requiring the sacrifice of private interests to
+the public good. Scarcely had the American prisoners been despatched to
+their several destinations, when General Brock, whose activity and
+decision were the subject of universal remark, quitted his new conquest,
+and again hastened to resume the command on the Niagara frontier, which
+he had only left to accomplish what had been so happily achieved. The
+Indians, too, finding their services no longer in immediate demand,
+dispersed over the country or gave themselves up to the amusement of the
+chase, ready, however, to come forward whenever they should be
+re-summoned to the conflict; while the Canadians, who had abandoned
+their homes to assist in the operations of the war, returned once more
+to the cultivation of that soil they had so recently looked upon as
+wrested from them for ever. Throughout the whole line of Detroit, on
+either shore, the utmost quietude prevailed; and although many of the
+inhabitants of the conquered town looked with an eye of national
+jealousy on the English flag that waved in security above the fort, they
+submitted uncomplainingly to the change, indulging only in secret, yet
+without bitterness, in the hope of a not far distant reaction of
+fortune, when their own National Stars should once more be in the
+ascendant.
+
+The garrison left at Detroit consisted merely of two companies--those of
+Captains Granville and Molineux, which included among their officers
+Middlemore, Villiers and Henry Grantham. After the first excitement
+produced in the minds of the townspeople by their change of rulers had
+passed away, these young men, desirous of society, sought to renew their
+intimacy with such of the more respectable families as they had been in
+the habit of associating with prior to hostilities; but although in most
+instances they were successful, their reception was so different from
+what it had formerly been, that they were glad to withdraw themselves
+within the rude resources of their own walls. It happened, however,
+about this period, that Colonel D'Egville had received a command to
+transfer the head of his department from Amherstburg to Detroit, and,
+with a view to his own residence on the spot, the large and commodious
+mansion of the late Governor was selected for the abode of his family.
+With the daughters of that officer the D'Egvilles had long been
+intimate, and as the former were to continue under the same roof until
+their final departure from Detroit, it was with a mutual satisfaction
+the friends found themselves thus closely reunited. Added to this party
+were Major Montgomerie (already fast recovering from the effects of his
+wound,) and his niece--both of whom only awaited the entire restoration
+of the former, to embark immediately for the nearest American port.
+
+At Colonel D'Egville's it will therefore be supposed the officers passed
+nearly all their leisure hours; Molineux and Villiers flirting with the
+fair American sisters, until they had nearly been held fast by the
+chains with which they dallied, and Middlemore uttering his execrable
+puns with a coolness of premeditation that excited the laughter of the
+fair part of his auditors, while his companions, on the contrary,
+expressed their unmitigated abhorrence in a variety of ways. As for the
+somewhat staid Captain Granville, he sought to carry his homage to the
+feet of Miss Montgomerie, but the severe and repellant manner in which
+she received all his advances, and the look which almost petrified where
+it fell, not only awed him effectually into distance, but drew down upon
+him the sarcastic felicitations of his watchful brother officers. There
+was one, however, on whose attentions her disapprobation fell not, and
+Henry Grantham, who played the part of an anxious observer, remarked
+with pain that _he_ had been fascinated by her beauty, in a manner which
+showed her conquest to be complete.
+
+The cousins of Gerald Grantham had been in error in supposing him to be
+the officer in command of the vessel on board which the lover of Julia
+had embarked. His transfer from the gun-boat had taken place, but in
+consideration of the fatigue he had undergone during the three
+successive days in which he had been employed at the batteries, the
+Commodore had directed another officer to take command of the vessel in
+question, and charge himself with the custody of the prisoners on board.
+Finding himself at liberty until the return of the flotilla from this
+duty, the first care of Gerald was to establish himself in lodgings in
+Detroit, whence he daily sallied forth to the apartments in the
+Governor's house occupied by the unfortunate Major Montgomerie, in whose
+situation he felt an interest so much the more deep and lively as he
+knew his confinement to have been in some degree the work of his own
+hands. All the attention and kindness could effect was experienced by
+the respectable Major, who, in return, found himself more and more
+attached to his youthful and generous captor. These constant visits to
+the uncle naturally brought our hero more immediately into the society
+of the niece, but although he had never been able to banish from his
+memory the recollection of one look which she had bestowed upon him on a
+former occasion, in almost every interview of the sort _now_, she
+preserved the same cold distance and reserve which was peculiar to her.
+
+A week had elapsed in this manner, when it chanced that as they both sat
+one evening, about dusk, near the couch of the invalid, the latter,
+after complaining of extreme weakness and unusual suffering, expressed
+his anxiety at the possibility of his niece being left alone and
+unprotected in a strange country.
+
+It was with a beating pulse and a glowing cheek that Gerald looked up to
+observe the effect of this observation on his companion. He was
+surprised, nay, hurt, to remark that an expression of almost
+contemptuous loathing sat upon her pale but beautiful countenance. He
+closed his eyes for a moment in bitterness of disappointment--and when
+they again opened and fell upon that countenance, he scarcely could
+believe the evidence of his senses. Every feature had undergone a
+change. With her face half turned, as if to avoid the observation of her
+uncle, she now exhibited a cheek flushed with the expression of
+passionate excitement, while from her eye beamed that same unfathomable
+expression which had carried intoxication once before to the inmost soul
+of the youth. Almost wild with his feelings, it was with difficulty he
+restrained the impulse that would have urged him to her feet; but even
+while he hesitated, her countenance had again undergone a change, and
+she sat cold and reserved and colorless as before.
+
+That look sealed that night the destiny of Gerald Grantham. The coldness
+of the general demeanor of Matilda was forgotten in the ardor of
+character which had escaped from beneath the evident and habitual
+disguise; and the enthusiastic sailor could think of nothing but the
+witchery of that look. To his surprise and joy, the following day, and
+ever afterwards, he found that the manner of the American, although
+reserved as usual towards others, had undergone a complete change
+towards himself. Whenever he appeared alone a smile was his welcome, and
+if others were present she always contrived to indemnify him for a
+coldness he now knew to be assumed, by conveying unobserved one of those
+seductive glances the power of which she seemed so fully to understand.
+
+Such was the state of things when the D'Egvilles arrived. Exposed to the
+observations of more than one anxious friend, it was not likely that a
+youth of Gerald's open nature could be long in concealing his
+prepossession; and as Matilda, although usually guarded in her general
+manner, was observed sometimes to fix her eyes upon him with the
+expression of one immersed in deep and speculative thought, the
+suspicion acquired a character of greater certainty.
+
+To Harry Grantham, who doated upon his brother, this attachment was a
+source of infinite disquiet; for, from the very commencement, Miss
+Montgomerie had unfavorably impressed him. Why he knew not; yet,
+impelled by a feeling he was unable to analyze, he deeply lamented that
+they had ever become acquainted, infatuated as Gerald appeared by her
+attractions. There was another too, who saw with regret the attachment
+of Gerald to his fair prisoner. It was Gertrude D'Egville; but her
+uncomplaining voice spoke not, even to her beloved sister, of the
+anguish she endured--she loved her cousin, but he knew it not; and
+although she felt that she was fast consuming with the disappointment
+that preyed upon her peace, she had obtained of her sister the promise
+that her secret should never reach the ear of its object.
+
+In this manner passed the months of August and September. October had
+just commenced, and with it that beautiful but brief season which is
+well known to America as the Indian summer. Anxious to set out on his
+return to that home to which his mutilation must confine him for the
+future, Major Montgomerie, now sufficiently recovered to admit of his
+travelling by water, expressed a desire to avail himself of the
+loveliness of the weather, and embark forthwith on his return.
+
+By the officers whom the hospitality of Colonel D'Egville almost daily
+assembled beneath his roof, this announcement was received with dismay,
+and especially by Molineux and Villiers, who had so suffered themselves
+to be fascinated by the amiable daughters of General H----, as to have
+found it necessary to hold a consultation (decided however in the
+negative) whether they should or should not tempt them to remain, by
+making an offer of their hands. It was also observed that these young
+ladies, who at first had been all anxiety to rejoin their parent,
+evinced no particular satisfaction in the intimation of speedy departure
+thus given to them. Miss Montgomerie, on the contrary, whose anxiety
+throughout to quit Detroit had been no less remarkable than her former
+impatience to reach it, manifested a pleasure that amounted almost to
+exultation; and yet it was observed that, by a strange apparent
+contradiction, her preference for Gerald from that moment became more
+and more divested of disguise.
+
+There are few spots in the world, perhaps, that unite so many
+inducements to the formation of those sociable little _reunions_ which
+come under the denomination of pic-nics as the small islands adorning
+most of the American rivers. Owing to the difficulty of procuring summer
+carriages, and in some degree to the rudeness of the soil, in the Upper
+Province especially, boats are in much more general use; and excursions
+on the water are as common to that class "whose only toil is pleasure,"
+as cockney trips to Richmond, or to any other of the thousand and one
+places of resort which have sprung into existence within twenty miles of
+the metropolis of England. Not confined, however, to picking daisies for
+their sweethearts, as these cockneys do, or carving their vulgar names
+on every magnificent tree that spreads its gorgeous arms to afford them
+the temporary shelter of a home, the men generally devote themselves,
+for a period of the day, to manlier exercises. The woods abounding with
+game, and the rivers with fish of the most delicate flavor--the address
+of the hunter and the fisher, is equally called into action; since upon
+their exertions principally depend the party for the fish and fowl
+portion of their rural dinner. Guns and rods are, therefore, as
+indispensable a part of the freightage, as the dried venison and bear
+hams, huge turkies, pastries, &c. which, together with wines, spirits,
+and cider, _ad libitum_, form the mass of alimentary matter. Here is to
+be heard neither the impertinent coxcomb of the European self-styled
+exclusive, nor the unmeaning twaddle of the daughter of false fashion,
+spoiled by the example of the said exclusive, and almost be come a
+dowager in silliness, before she has attained the first years of
+womanhood. No lack-a-daisical voice, the sex of which it is difficult to
+distinguish, is attempted to be raised in depreciation of the party to
+which it had been esteemed too great a happiness to be invited the
+evening before. The sneer of contempt--the laugh of derision--is nowhere
+to be heard; neither is the pallid brow and sunken cheek, the fruit of
+late hours and forced excitement, to be seen. Content is in each
+heart--the glow of health upon each face. All appear eager to be happy,
+pleased with each other, and at ease with themselves. Not that theirs is
+the enjoyment of the mere holiday mind, which grasps with undiscerning
+avidity at whatever offers to its gratification, but that of those in
+whom education, acting on innate good breeding, has imposed a due sense
+of the courtesies of life, and on whom fashion has not superseded the
+kindlier emotions of nature.
+
+Several of these pic-nics had taken place among the party at Detroit,
+confined, with one or two exceptions, to the officers of the garrison,
+and the family of Colonel D'Egville, with their American inmates; and it
+was proposed by the former, that a final one should be given a few days
+prior to the embarkation in Gerald Grantham's new command, which lay
+waiting in the river for the purpose--the Major remaining as hitherto at
+home, under the guardianship of the benevolent Mrs. D'Egville, whose
+habits of retirement disinclined her to out-door amusement.
+
+Hitherto their excursions had been principally directed to some of the
+smaller islands, which abound in the river nearer Amherstburgh, and
+where game being found in abundance, the skill of the officers had more
+immediate opportunity for display; but on this excursion, at the casual
+suggestion of Miss Montgomerie, Hog Island was selected as the scene of
+their day's amusement. Thither, therefore, the boat which contained the
+party now proceeded, the ladies costumed in a manner to thread the mazes
+of the wood, and the gentlemen in equally appropriate gear, as
+sportsmen, their guns and fishing rods being by no means omitted in the
+catalogue of orders entrusted to their servants. In the stern of the
+boat--the trustworthy coxswain on this occasion--sat old Sambo, whose
+skill in the conduct of a helm was acknowledged to be little inferior to
+his dexterity in the use of a paddle, and whose authoritative voice, as
+he issued his commands in broken English to the boatmen, added, in no
+small degree, to the exhilaration of the party.
+
+To reach Hog Island, it was necessary to pass by the tannery and cottage
+already described, which, latter, it will be remembered, had been the
+scene of a singular adventure to our hero and his servant on the night
+of their reconnoitering the coast, in obedience to the order of the
+Commodore. By the extraordinary and almost romantic incidents of that
+night, the imagination of Gerald had been deeply impressed, and on
+retiring to his rude couch within the battery he had fully made up his
+mind to explore further into the mysterious affair, with as little delay
+as possible after the expected fall of the American fortress. In the
+hurry, confusion, and excitement, of that event however, his original
+intention was forgotten; or, rather so far delayed, that it was not
+until the third or fourth day of his establishment in the town, that it
+occurred to him to institute inquiry. He had accordingly repaired
+thither, but finding the house carefully shut up, and totally
+uninhabited, had contented himself with questioning the tanner and his
+family, in regard to its late inmates, reserving to a future opportunity
+the attempt to make himself personally acquainted with all that it
+contained. From this man he learnt, that, the house had once been the
+property of an aged Canadian, at whose death (supposed to have been
+occasioned by violence,) it had passed into the hands of an American,
+who led a roving and adventurous life, being frequently away for months
+together, and then returning with a canoe, but never continuing for more
+than a night or two. That latterly it had been wholly deserted by its
+owner, in consequence of which it had been taken possession of, and used
+as quarters by the officers of the American guard, stationed at this
+part of the town, for the protection of the boats, and as a check upon
+the incursions of the Indians. In all this statement, there was every
+appearance of truth, but in no part of it did Gerald find wherewith to
+elucidate what he himself had witnessed. He described the costume, and
+questioned of the mysterious figure, but the only reply he obtained from
+the independent tanner, when he admitted to him that he had been so near
+a visitor on that occasion, and had seen what he described, was an
+expressed regret that he had not been "wide awake when any Brittainer
+ventured to set foot upon his grounds, otherwise, tarnation seize him
+with all due respect, if he wouldn't a stuck an ounce o' lead in his
+liver as quickly as he would tan a hide," a patriotic sentiment in which
+it may be supposed our hero in no way coincided. With the tanner's
+assurance, however, that no living thing was there at this moment,
+Gerald was fain to content himself for the present, fully resolving to
+return at another time with Sambo, and effect a forcible entrance into a
+place, with which were connected such striking recollections. He had,
+however, been too much interested and occupied elsewhere, to find time
+to devote to the purpose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+As the boat, which contained the party, pulled by six of the best
+oars-men among the soldiers of the garrison, and steered, as we have
+shown, by the dexterous Sambo, now glided past the spot, the
+recollections of the tradition connected with the bridge drew from
+several of the party expressions of sympathy and feigned terror, as
+their several humors dictated. Remarking that Miss Montgomerie's
+attention appeared to be deeply excited by what she heard, while she
+gazed earnestly upon the dwelling in the back ground, Gerald Grantham
+thought to interest her yet more, and amuse and startle the rest of the
+party, by detailing his extraordinary, and hitherto unrevealed
+adventure, on a recent occasion. To this strange tale, as may naturally
+be supposed, some of his companions listened with an air of almost
+incredulity, nor indeed would they rest satisfied until Sambo, who kept
+his eyes turned steadily away from the shore, and to whom appeal was
+frequently made by his master, confirmed his statement in every
+particular; and with such marks of revived horror in his looks, as
+convinced them, Gerald was not playing upon their facility of belief.
+The more incredulous his brother officers, the more animated had become
+the sailor in his description, and, on arriving at that part of his
+narrative which detailed the reappearance and reflection of the
+mysterious figure in the upper room, upon the court below, every one
+became insensibly fixed in mute attention. From the moment of his
+commencing, Miss Montgomerie had withdrawn her gaze from the land, and
+fixing it upon her lover, manifested all the interest he could desire.
+Her feelings were evidently touched by what she heard, for she grew
+paler as Gerald proceeded, while her breathing was suspended, as if
+fearful to lose a single syllable he uttered. At each more exciting
+crisis of the narrative, she betrayed a corresponding intensity of
+attention, until at length, when the officer described his mounting on
+the water butt, and obtaining a full view of all within the room, she
+looked as still and rigid as if she had been metamorphosed into a
+statue. This eagerness of attention, shared as it was, although not to
+the same extent perhaps, by the rest of Gerald's auditory, was only
+remarkable in Miss Montgomerie, in as much as she was one of too much
+mental preoccupation to feel or betray interest in anything, and it
+might have been the risk encountered by her lover, and the share he had
+borne in the mysterious occurrence, that now caused her to lapse from
+her wonted inaccessibility to impressions of the sort. As the
+climax of the narrative approached, her interest became deeper, and her
+absorption more profound. An involuntary shudder passed over her form,
+and a slight contraction of the nerves of her face was perceptible, when
+Gerald described to his attentive and shocked auditory, the raising of
+the arm of the assassin; and her emotion at length assumed such a
+character of nervousness, that when he exultingly told of the rapid
+discharge of his own pistol, as having been the only means of averting
+the fate of the doomed, she could not refrain from rising suddenly in
+the boat, and putting her hand to her side, with the shrinking movement
+of one who had been suddenly wounded.
+
+While in the act of rising she had drawn the cloak, with which, like the
+other ladies, she was provided, more closely over her shoulders--Sambo
+seemed to have caught some new idea from this action, for furtively
+touching Henry Grantham, who sat immediately before him, and on the
+right of Miss Montgomerie, he leaned forward and whispered a few
+sentences in his ear.
+
+Meanwhile Miss Montgomerie was not a little rallied on the extreme
+susceptibility which had led her as it were to identify herself with the
+scene. Gerald remarked that on recovering her presence of mind, she at
+first looked as if she fancied herself the subject of sarcasm, and would
+have resented the liberty; but finding there was nothing painted in the
+manner of those who addressed her, finished by joining, yet with some
+appearance of constraint, in the laugh against herself.
+
+"I confess," she said coloring, "that the strange incident which Mr.
+Grantham has related, and which he has so well described, has caused me
+to be guilty of a ridiculous emotion. I am not usually startled into the
+expression of strong feeling, but there was so much to excite and
+surprise in his catastrophe that I could not avoid in some measure
+identifying myself with the scene."
+
+"Nay, Miss Montgomerie," remarked Julia D'Egville, "there can be no
+reason why such emotion should be either disavowed or termed ridiculous.
+For my part, I own that I cannot sufficiently express my horror of the
+wretch who could thus deliberately attempt the life of another. How
+lucky was it, Gerald, that you arrived at that critical moment; but have
+you no idea--not the slightest--of the person of the assassin or of his
+intended victim?"
+
+"Not the slightest--the disguise of the person was too effectual to be
+penetrated, and the face I had not once an opportunity of beholding.
+
+"Yet," observed Miss Montgomerie, "from your previous description of the
+figure, it is by no means a matter of certainty that it was not a woman
+you pursued, instead of a man--or, was there anything to betray the
+vacillation of purpose which would naturally attend one of our sex in an
+enterprise of the kind."
+
+"What, a woman engage in so unnatural a deed!" remarked Henry
+Grantham--"surely, Miss Montgomerie," for he always spoke rather _at_
+than _to_ her--"cannot seek to maintain a supposition so opposed to all
+probability--neither will she be so unjust towards herself as to admit
+the existence of such monstrous guilt in the heart of another of her
+sex."
+
+"Impossible!" said Gerald. "Whatever might have been my impression when
+I first saw the figure in the merchantman--that is to say, if I had then
+a doubt in regard to the sex, it was entirely removed, when later I
+beheld the unfaltering energy with which it entered upon its murderous
+purpose. The hand of woman never could have been armed with such fierce
+and unflinching determination as that hand."
+
+"The emergency of the occasion, it would seem, did not much interfere
+with your study of character," observed Miss Montgomerie, with a faint
+smile--"but you say you fired--was it with intent to kill the killer?"
+
+"I scarcely know with what intent myself; but if I can rightly
+understand my own impulse, it was more with a view to divert him from
+his deadly object, than to slay--and this impression acquires strength
+from the fact of my having missed him--I am almost sorry now that I
+did."
+
+"Perhaps," said Miss Montgomerie, "you might have slain one worthier
+than him you sought to save. As one of your oldest poets
+sings--whatever is is right----"
+
+"What!" exclaimed the younger Grantham with emphasis, "Can Miss
+Montgomerie then form any idea of the persons who figured in that
+scene?"
+
+Most of the party looked at the questioner with surprise. Gerald frowned
+and for the first time in his life entertained a feeling of anger
+against his brother. In no way moved or piqued by the demand, Miss
+Montgomerie calmly replied:
+
+"I can see no just reason for such inference, Mr. Grantham; I merely
+stated a case of possibility, without anything which can refer to the
+merit of either of the parties."
+
+Henry Grantham felt that he was rebuked--but although he could not avoid
+something like an apologetical explanation of his remark, he was not the
+more favorably disposed towards her who had forced it from him. In this
+feeling he was confirmed by the annoyance he felt at having been visited
+by the anger of the brother to whom he was so attached. Arrived at Hog
+Island, and equipped with their guns and fishing rods, the gentlemen
+dispersed in quest of game, some threading the mazes of the wood in
+quest of the various birds that frequent the vicinity, others seeking
+those points of the island where the dense foliage affords a shade to
+the numerous delicately-flavored fish which, luxuriating in the still
+deep water, seek relief from the heat of summer. To these latter
+sportsmen the ladies of the party principally attached themselves,
+quitting them only at intervals to collect pebbles on the sands, or to
+saunter about the wood, in search of the wild flowers or fruits that
+abounded along its skirt, while the servants busied themselves in
+erecting the marquee and making preparation for dinner.
+
+Among those who went in pursuit of game were the Granthams, who, like
+most Canadians, were not only excellent shots, but much given to a sport
+in which they had had considerable practice in early boyhood. For a
+short time they had continued with their companions; but as the wood
+became thicker and their object consequently more attainable by
+dispersion, they took a course parallel with the point at which the
+fishers had assembled, while their companions continued to move in an
+opposite direction. There was an unusual reserve in the manner of the
+brothers as they now wound through the intricacies of the wood. Each
+appeared to feel that the other had given him cause for displeasure, and
+each--unwilling to introduce the subject most at heart--availed himself
+with avidity rather of the several opportunities which the starting of
+the game afforded for conversation of a general nature. They had gone on
+in this manner for some time, and having been tolerably successful in
+their sport, were meditating their return to the party on the beach,
+when the ear of Gerald was arrested by the drumming of a partridge at a
+short distance. Glancing his quick eye in the direction whence the sound
+came, he beheld a remarkably fine bird, which, while continuing to beat
+its wings violently against the fallen tree on which it was perched, had
+its neck outstretched and its gaze intently fixed on some object below.
+Tempted by the size and beauty of the bird, Gerald fired and it fell to
+the earth. He advanced, stooped, and was in the act of picking it up,
+when a sharp and well known rattle was heard to issue from beneath the
+log. The warning was sufficient to save him, had he consented even for
+an instant to forego his prize; but, accustomed to meet with these
+reptiles on almost every excursion of the kind, and never having
+sustained any injury from them, he persevered in disengaging the
+partridge from some briers with which, in falling, it had got entangled.
+Before he could again raise himself, an enormous rattlesnake had darted
+upon him, and stung with rage perhaps at being deprived of its victim,
+had severely bitten him above the left wrist. The instantaneous pang
+that darted throughout the whole limb caused Gerald to utter an
+exclamation; and dropping the bird, he sank, almost fainting, on the log
+whence his enemy had attacked him.
+
+The cry of agony reached Henry Grantham as he was carelessly awaiting
+his brother's return and at once forgetting their temporary
+estrangement, and full of eager love and apprehension--he flew to
+ascertain the nature of the injury. To his surprise and horror he
+remarked that, although not a minute had elapsed since the fangs of the
+reptile had penetrated into the flesh, the arm was already considerably
+inflamed and exhibiting then a dark and discolored hue. That a remedy
+was at hand he knew but what it was, and how to be applied he was not
+aware, the Indians alone being in the possession of the secret. Deeming
+that Sambo might have some knowledge of the kind, he now made the woods
+echo with the sound of his name, in a manner that could not fail to
+startle and alarm the whole of the scattered party. Soon afterwards the
+rustling of forms was heard in various directions, as they forced
+themselves through the underwood, and the first who came in sight was
+Miss Montgomerie, preceded by the old negro. The lamentation of the
+latter was intense, and when on approaching his young master, he
+discovered the true nature of his accident and confessed his ignorance
+of all remedy, he burst into tears, and throwing himself upon the earth
+tore his grey woollen hair away, regardless of all entreaty on the part
+of Gerald to moderate his grief. Miss Montgomerie now came forward, and
+never did sounds of melody fall so harmoniously on the ear, as did her
+voice on that of the younger Grantham as she pledged herself to the
+cure, on their instant return to the spot where the marquee had been
+erected. With this promise she again disappeared, and several others of
+the party having now joined them, Gerald, duly supported, once more
+slowly retraced his way to the same point.
+
+"Damn him pattridge," muttered Sambo, who lingered a moment or two in
+the rear to harness himself with the apparatus of which his master had
+disencumbered his person. "Damn him pattridge," and he kicked the
+lifeless bird indignantly with his foot, "you all he cause he dis; what
+he hell he do here?"
+
+This tirade however against the pattridge did not by any means prevent
+the utterer from eventually consigning it to its proper destination in
+the game bag as the noblest specimen of the day's sport, and thus
+burthened he issued from the wood, nearly at the same moment with the
+wounded Gerald and his friends.
+
+The consternation of all parties on witnessing the disaster of the
+sailor, whose arm had already swollen to a fearful size, while the wound
+itself began to assume an appearance of mortification, was strongly
+contrasted with the calm silence of Miss Montgomerie, who was busily
+employed in stirring certain herbs which she was boiling over the fire
+that had been kindled in the distance for the preparation of the dinner.
+The sleeve of the sufferer's shooting jacket had been ripped to the
+shoulder by his brother and as he now sat on a pile of cloaks within the
+marquee, the rapid discoloration of the white skin, could be distinctly
+traced, marking as it did the progress of the deadly poison towards the
+vital portion of the system. In this trying emergency all eyes were
+turned with anxiety on the slightest movement of her who had undertaken
+the cure, and none more eagerly than those of Henry Grantham and
+Gertrude D'Egville, the latter of whom, gentle even as she was, could
+not but acknowledge a pang of regret that to another, and that other a
+favored rival--should be the task of alleviating the anguish and
+preserving the life of the only man she had ever loved.
+
+At length Miss Montgomerie came forward; and never was a beneficent
+angel more welcomed than did Henry Grantham welcome her, whom an hour
+since he had looked upon with aversion, when with a countenance of
+unwonted paleness but confident of success, she advanced towards the
+opening of the marquee, to which interest in the sufferer had drawn even
+the domestics. All made way for her approach. Kneeling at the side of
+Gerald, and depositing the vessel in which she had mixed her
+preparation, she took the wounded arm in her own fair hands with the
+view, it was supposed, of holding it while another applied the remedy.
+Scarcely however had she secured it in a firm grasp when, to the
+surprise and consternation of all around, she applied her own lips to
+the wound and continued them there in despite of the efforts of Gerald
+to withdraw his arm, nor was it until there was already a visible
+reduction in the size, and change in the color of the limb that she
+removed them. This done she arose and retired to the skirt of the wood
+whence she again returned in less than a minute. Even in the short time
+that had elapsed, the arm of the sufferer had experienced an almost
+miraculous change. The inflammation had greatly subsided, while the
+discoloration had retired to the immediate vicinity of the wound, which
+in its turn however had assumed a more virulent appearance. From this it
+was evident that the suction had been the means of recalling, to the
+neighborhood of the injury, such portions of the poison as had expanded,
+concentrating all in one mass immediately beneath its surface, and
+thereby affording fuller exposure to the action of the final remedy.
+This--consisting of certain herbs of a dark color, and spread at her
+direction by the trembling hands of Gertrude, on her white
+handkerchief--Miss Montgomerie now proceeded to apply, covering a
+considerable portion around the orifice of the two small wounds,
+inflicted by the fangs of the serpent, with the dense mass of the
+vegetable preparation. The relief produced by this was effectual, and in
+less than an hour, so completely had the poison been extracted, and the
+strength of the arm restored, that Gerald was enabled not merely to
+resume his shooting jacket, but to partake, although sparingly of the
+meal which followed.
+
+It may be presumed that the bold action of Miss Montgomerie passed not
+without the applause it so highly merited, yet even while applauding,
+there were some of the party, and particularly Henry Grantham, who
+regarded it with feelings not wholly untinctured with the unpleasant.
+Her countenance and figure, as she stood in the midst of the forest,
+preparing the embrocation, so well harmonizing with the scene and
+occupation; the avidity with which she sucked the open wound of the
+sufferer, and the fearless manner in which she imbibed that which was
+considered death to others; all this, combined with a general demeanor
+in which predominated a reserve deeply shaded with mystery, threw over
+the actor and the action an air of the preternatural, occasioning more
+of surprise and awe than prepossession. Such, especially, as we have
+said, was the impression momentarily, produced on Henry Grantham; but
+when he beheld his brother's eye and cheek once more beaming with
+returning strength and health, he saw in her but the generous preserver
+of that brother's life to whom his own boundless debt of gratitude was
+due. It was at this moment that, in the course of conversation on the
+subject, Captain Molineux inquired of Miss Montgomerie, what antidote
+she possessed against the influence of the poison. Every eye was turned
+upon her as she vaguely answered, a smile of peculiar meaning playing
+over her lips, that "Captain Molineux must be satisfied with knowing she
+bore a charmed life." Then again it was that the young soldier's
+feelings underwent another reaction, and as he caught the words and look
+which accompanied them, he scarcely could persuade himself she was not
+the almost vampire and sorceress that his excited imagination had
+represented.
+
+Not the least deeply interested in the events of the morning, was the
+old negro. During their meal, at the service of which he assisted, his
+eyes scarcely quitted her whom he appeared to regard with a mingled
+feeling of awe and adoration; nay, such was his abstraction that, in
+attempting to place a dish of game on the rude table at which the party
+sat, he lodged the whole of the contents in the lap of Middlemore, a
+clumsiness that drew from the latter an exclamation of horror, followed
+however the instant afterwards by Sambo's apology.
+
+"I beg a pardon, Massa Middlemore," he exclaimed, "I let him fall he
+gravey in he lap."
+
+"Then will you by some means contrive to lap it up?" returned the
+officer quaintly.
+
+Sambo applied his napkin and the dinner proceeded without other
+occurrence. Owing to an apprehension that the night air might tend to
+renew the inflammation of the wounded arm, the boat was early in
+readiness for the return of the party, whose day of pleasure had been in
+some manner turned into a day of mourning, so that long before sun set,
+they had again reached their respective homes at Detroit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+A few days after the adventure detailed in our last chapter, the
+American party, consisting of Major and Miss Montgomerie, and the
+daughters of the Governor, with their attendants, embarked in the
+schooner, to the command of which Gerald had been promoted. The
+destination of the whole was the American port of Buffalo, situate at
+the further extremity of the lake, nearly opposite to the fort of Erie;
+and thither our hero, perfectly recovered from the effects of his
+accident, received instructions to repair without loss of time, land his
+charge, and immediately rejoin the flotilla at Amherstburg.
+
+However pleasing the first, the latter part of the order was by no means
+so strictly in consonance with the views and feelings of the new
+commander, as might have been expected from a young and enterprising
+spirit; but he justified his absence of zeal to himself, in the fact
+that there was no positive service to perform; no duty in which he could
+have an opportunity of signalizing himself, or rendering a benefit to
+his country.
+
+If, however, the limited period allotted for the execution of his duty
+was a source of much disappointment to Gerald, such was not the effect
+produced by it on his brother, to whom it gave promise of a speedy
+termination of an attachment which he had all along regarded with
+disapprobation, and a concern amounting almost to dread. We have seen
+that Henry Grantham, on the occasion of his brother's disaster at the
+pic-nic, had been wound up into an enthusiasm of gratitude, which had
+nearly weaned him from his original aversion; but this feeling had not
+outlived the day on which the occurrence took place. Nay, on the very
+next morning, he had had a long private conversation with Gerald in
+regard to Miss Montgomerie, which, ending as it did, in a partial
+coolness, had tended to make him dislike the person who had caused it
+still more. It was, therefore, not without secret delight that he
+overheard the order for the instant return of the schooner, which,
+although conveyed by the Commodore in the mildest manner, was yet so
+firm and decided as to admit neither of doubt nor dispute. While the
+dangerous American continued a resident at Detroit, there was every
+reason to fear that the attachment of his infatuated brother, fed by
+opportunity, would lead him to the commission of some irrevocable act of
+imprudence; whereas, on the contrary, when she had departed, there was
+every probability that continued absence, added to the stirring
+incidents of war which might be expected shortly to ensue, would prove
+effectual in restoring the tone of Gerald's mind. There was,
+consequently, much to please him in the order for departure. Miss
+Montgomerie once landed within the American lines, and his brother
+returned to his duty, the anxious soldier had no doubt that the feelings
+of the latter would resume their wonted channel and that, in his desire
+to render himself worthy of glory, to whom he had been originally
+devoted, he would forget, at least after a season, all that was
+connected with love.
+
+It was a beautiful autumnal morning when the schooner weighed anchor
+from Detroit. Several of the officers of the garrison had accompanied
+the ladies on board, and having made fast their sailing boat to the
+stern, loitered on deck with the intention of descending the river a few
+miles, and then beating up against the current. The whole party were
+thus assembled, conversing together and watching the movements of the
+sailors, when a boat, in which were several armed men encircling a huge,
+raw-boned individual, habited in the fashion of an American
+backwoodsman, approached the vessel. This was no other than the traitor
+Desborough, who, it will be recollected, was detained and confined in
+prison at the surrender of Detroit. He had been put upon his trial for
+the murder of Major Grantham, but had been acquitted through want of
+evidence to convict, his own original admission being negatived by a
+subsequent declaration that he had only made it through a spirit of
+bravado and revenge. Still, as the charges of desertion and treason had
+been substantiated against him, he was, by order of the commandant of
+Amherstburgh, destined for Fort Erie, in the schooner conveying the
+American party to Buffalo, with a view to his being sent on to the Lower
+Province, there to be disposed of as the General Commanding in Chief
+should deem fit.
+
+The mien of the settler, as he now stepped over the vessel's side,
+partook of the mingled cunning and ferocity by which he had formerly
+been distinguished. While preparations were being made for his reception
+and security below deck, he bent his sinister yet bold glance on each of
+the little group in succession, as if he would have read in their
+countenances the probable fate that awaited himself. The last who fell
+under his scrutiny was Miss Montgomerie, on whom his eye had scarcely
+rested when the insolent indifference of his manner seemed to give place
+at once to a new feeling. There was intelligence enough in the glance of
+both to show that an insensible interest had been created, and yet
+neither gave the slightest indication by word of what was passing in the
+mind.
+
+"Well, Mister Jeremiah Desborough," said Middlemore, first breaking the
+silence, and in the taunting mode of address he usually adopted towards
+the settler, "I reckon as how you'll shoot no wild ducks this season, on
+the Sandusky river--not likely to be much troubled with your small bores
+now."
+
+The ruffian gazed at him a moment in silence, evidently ransacking his
+brain for something sufficiently insolent to offer in return. At length
+he drew his hat slouchingly over one side of his head, folded his arms
+across his chest, and squirting a torrent of tobacco juice from his
+capacious jaws, exclaimed in his drawling voice:
+
+"I guess, Mister Officer, as how you're mighty cute upon a fallen
+man--but tarnation seize me if I don't expect you'll find some one cuter
+still afore long. The sogers all say," he continued, with a low cunning
+laugh, "as how you're a bit of a wit, and fond of a play upon words
+like. If so, I'll jist try you a little at your own game, and tell you
+that I had a thousand to one rather be troubled with my small bores,
+than with such a confounded great bore as you are; and now, you may pit
+that down as something good in your pun book when you please, and ax me
+no more questions."
+
+Long and fitful was the laughter which burst from Villiers and Molineux
+at this bitter retort upon their companion, which they vowed should be
+repeated at the mess-table of either garrison, whenever he again
+attempted one of his execrables.
+
+Desborough took courage at the license conveyed by this pleasantry, and
+pursued, winking familiarly to Captain Molineux, while he, at the same
+time, nodded to Middlemore.
+
+"Mighty little time, I calculate, had he to think of aggravatin', when I
+gripped him down at Hartley's pint that day. If it hadn't been for that
+old heathen scoundrel, Girtie, my poor boy Phil, as the Injuns killed,
+and me, I reckon, would have sent him and young Grantham to crack their
+puns upon the fishes of the lake. How scared they were, sure_ly_."
+
+"Silence, fellow!" thundered Gerald Grantham, who now came up from the
+hold, whither he had been to examine the fastenings prepared for his
+prisoner. "How dare you open your lips here?"--then pointing towards the
+steps he had just quitted--"descend, sir!"
+
+Never did human countenance exhibit marks of greater rage than
+Desborough's at that moment. His eyes seemed about to start from their
+sockets--the large veins of his neck and brow swelled almost to
+bursting, and while his lips were compressed with violence, his nervous
+fingers played, as with convulsive anxiety to clutch themselves around
+the throat of the officer--every thing, in short, marked the effort it
+cost him to restrain himself within such bounds as his natural cunning
+and prudence dictated. Still, he neither spoke nor moved.
+
+"Descend, sir, instantly!" repeated Gerald, "or, by Heaven, I will have
+you thrown in without further ceremony--descend this moment!"
+
+The settler advanced, placed one foot upon the ladder, then turned his
+eye steadfastly upon the officer. Every one present shuddered to behold
+its expression--it was that of fierce, inextinguishable hatred.
+
+"By hell, you will pay me one day or t'other for this, I reckon," he
+uttered in a hoarse and fearful whisper--"every dog has his day--it will
+be Jeremiah Desborough's turn next."
+
+"What! do you presume to threaten, villain?" vociferated Gerald, now
+excited beyond all bounds: "here, men, gag me this fellow--tie him neck
+and heels, and throw him into the hold, as you would a bag of ballast."
+
+Several men, with Sambo at their head, advanced for the purpose of
+executing the command of their officer, when the eldest daughter of the
+Governor, who had witnessed the whole scene, suddenly approached the
+latter, and interceded warmly for a repeal of the punishment. Miss
+Montgomerie also, who had been a silent observer, glanced significantly
+towards the settler. What her look implied no one was quick enough to
+detect; but its effect on the culprit was evident--for, without uttering
+another syllable, or waiting to be again directed, he moved slowly and
+sullenly down the steps that led to his place of confinement.
+
+Whatever the impressions produced upon the minds of the several
+spectators by this incident, they were not expressed. No comment was
+made, nor was further allusion made to the settler. Other topics of
+conversation were introduced, and it was not until the officers, having
+bid them a final and cordial adieu, had again taken to their boats on
+their way back to Detroit, that the ladies quitted the deck for the
+cabin which had been prepared for them.
+
+The short voyage down the lake was performed without incident. From the
+moment of the departure of the officers, an air of dulness and
+abstraction, originating in a great degree in the unpleasantness of
+separation--anticipated and past--pervaded the little party. Sensitive
+and amiable as were the daughters of the American Governor, it was not
+to be supposed that they parted without regret from men in whose society
+they had recently passed so many agreeable hours, and for two of whom
+they had insensibly formed preferences. Not however that that parting
+was to be considered final, for both Molineux and Villiers had promised
+to avail themselves of the first days of peace, to procure leave of
+absence, and revisit them in their native country. The feeling of
+disappointment acknowledged by the sisters, was much more perceptible in
+Gerald Grantham and Miss Montgomerie, both of whom became more
+thoughtful and abstracted as the period of separation drew nearer.
+
+It was about ten o'clock on the evening immediately preceding that on
+which they expected to gain their destination, that, as Gerald leaned
+ruminating over the side of the schooner, then going at the slow rate of
+two knots an hour, he fancied he heard voices, in a subdued tone,
+ascending apparently from the quarter of the vessel in which Desborough
+was confined. He listened attentively for a few moments, but even the
+slight gurgling of the water, as it was thrown from the prow, prevented
+further recognition. Deeming it possible that the sounds might not
+proceed from the place of confinement of the settler, but from the
+cabin, which it adjoined, and with which it communicated, he was for a
+time undecided whether or not he should disturb the party already
+retired to rest by descending and passing into the room occupied by his
+prisoner. Anxiety to satisfy himself that the latter was secure,
+determined him, and he had already planted a foot on the
+companion-ladder, when his further descent was arrested by Miss
+Montgomerie, who appeared emerging from the opening, bonneted and
+cloaked, as with a view of continuing on deck.
+
+"What! you, dearest Matilda?" he asked, delightedly, "I thought you had
+long since retired to rest."
+
+"To rest, Gerald!--can you, then, imagine mine is a soul to slumber,
+when I know that to-morrow we part--perhaps for ever?"
+
+"No, by Heaven, not for ever!" energetically returned the sailor,
+seizing and carrying the white hand that pressed his own to his
+lips--"be but faithful to me, my own Matilda--love me but with one half
+the ardor with which my soul glows for you, and the moment duty can be
+sacrificed to affection, you may expect again to see me."
+
+"Duty!" repeated the American, with something like reproach in her tone,
+"must the happiness of her you profess so ardently to love, be
+sacrificed to a mere cold sense of duty? But you are right--you have
+_your_ duty to perform, and I have _mine_. To-morrow we separate, and
+for ever!"
+
+"No, Matilda--not for ever, unless, indeed, such be your determination.
+_You_ may find the task to forget an easy one--_I_ never can.
+Hope--heart--life--happiness---all are centered in you. Were it not that
+honor demands my service to my country, I would fly with you to-morrow,
+delighted to encounter every difficulty fortune might oppose, if, by
+successfully combating these, I should establish a deeper claim on your
+affection. Oh, Matilda!" continued the impassioned youth, "never did I
+feel more than at this moment, how devotedly I could be your slave for
+ever."
+
+At the commencement of this conversation, Miss Montgomerie had gently
+led her lover towards the outer gangway of the vessel, over which they
+both now leaned. As Gerald made the last passionate avowal of his
+tenderness, a ray of triumphant expression, clearly visible in the light
+of the setting moon, passed over the features of the American.
+
+"Gerald," she implored earnestly, "oh, repeat me that avowal! Again tell
+me that you will be the devoted of your Matilda in _all_ things--Gerald,
+swear most solemnly that you will--my every hope of happiness depends
+upon it."
+
+How could he refuse, to such a pleader, the repetition of his
+spontaneous vow? Already were his lips opened to swear, before High
+Heaven, that, in all things earthly he would obey her will, when he was
+interrupted by a well-known voice hastily exclaiming:
+
+"Who a debbel dat dare?"
+
+Scarcely had these words been uttered, when they were followed
+apparently by a blow, then a bound, and then the falling of a human body
+upon the deck. Gently disengaging his companion, who had clung to him
+with an air of alarm, Gerald turned to discover the cause of the
+interruption. To his surprise, he beheld Sambo, whose post of duty was
+at the helm, lying extended on the deck, while at the same moment a
+sudden plunge was heard, as of a heavy body falling overboard. The first
+impulse of the officer was to seize the helm, with a view to right the
+vessel, already swerving from her course, the second, to awaken the
+crew, who were buried in sleep on the forecastle. These, with the
+habitual promptitude of their nature, speedily obeyed his call, and a
+light being brought, Gerald, confiding the helm to one of his best men,
+proceeded to examine the condition of Sambo.
+
+It was evident that the aged negro had been stunned, but whether
+seriously injured it was impossible to decide. No external wound was
+visible, and yet his breathing was that of one who had received some
+severe bodily harm. In a few minutes, however, he recovered his
+recollection, and the first words he uttered, as he gazed wildly around,
+and addressed his master, were sufficient to explain the whole affair:
+
+"Damn him debbel, Massa Geral, he get safe off, him billain."
+
+"Ha, Desborough! it is then so? Quick, put the helm about--two of the
+lightest and most active into my canoe, and follow in pursuit. The
+fellow is making for the shore, no doubt. Now then, my lads," as two of
+the crew sprang into the canoe that had been instantly lowered, "fifty
+dollars between you, recollect, if you bring him back."
+
+Although there needed no greater spur to exertion, than a desire both to
+please their officer and to acquit themselves of a duty, the sum offered
+was not without its due weight. In an instant the canoe was seen
+scudding along the surface of the water towards the shore, and at
+intervals, as the anxious Gerald listened, he fancied he could
+distinguish the exertions of the fugitive swimmer from those made by the
+paddles of his pursuers. For a time all was silent, when, at length, a
+deriding laugh came over the surface of the lake, that too plainly told
+the settler had reached the shore, and was beyond all chance of capture.
+In the bitterness of his disappointment, and heedless of the pleasure
+his change of purpose had procured him, Gerald could not help cursing
+his folly, in having suffered himself to be diverted from his original
+intention of descending to the prisoner's place of confinement. Had this
+been done, all might have been well. He had now no doubt that the voices
+had proceeded from thence, and he was resolved, as soon as the absent
+men came on board, to institute a strict inquiry into the affair.
+
+No sooner, therefore, had the canoe returned, than all hands were
+summoned and questioned, under a threat of severe punishment to whoever
+should be found prevaricating as to the manner of the prisoner's escape.
+Each positively denied having in any way violated the order which
+enjoined that no communication should take place between the prisoner
+and the crew, to whom indeed all access was denied, with the exception
+of Sambo, entrusted with the duty of carrying the former his meals. The
+denial of the men was so straight-forward and clear, that Gerald knew
+not what to believe; and yet it was evident that the sounds he had heard
+proceeded from human voices. Determined to satisfy himself, his first
+care was to descend between the decks, preceded by his boatswain, with a
+lantern. At the sternmost extremity of the little vessel there was a
+small room used for stores, but which, empty on this trip, had been
+converted into a cell for Desborough. This was usually entered from the
+cabin; but in order to avoid inconvenience to the ladies, a door had
+been effected in the bulk-heads, the key of which was kept by Sambo. On
+inspection, this door was found hermetically closed, so that it became
+evident, if the key had not been purloined from its keeper, the escape
+of Desborough must have been accomplished through the cabin. Moreover,
+there was no opening of any description to be found, through which a
+knife might be passed to enable him to sever the bonds which confined
+his feet. Close to the partition were swung the hammocks of two men, who
+had been somewhat dilatory in obeying the summons on deck, and between
+whom it was not impossible the conversation, which Gerald had detected,
+had been carried on. On re-ascending, he again questioned these men; but
+they most solemnly assured him they had not spoken either together or to
+others within the last two hours, having fallen fast asleep on being
+relieved from their watch. Search was now made in the pockets of Sambo,
+whose injury had been found to be a violent blow given on the back of
+the head, and whose recovery from stupefaction was yet imperfect. The
+key being found, all suspicion of participation was removed from the
+crew, who could have only communicated from their own quarter of the
+vessel, and they were accordingly dismissed; one half, comprising the
+first watch, to their hammocks--the remainder to their original station
+on the forecastle.
+
+The next care of the young Commander was to inspect the cabin, and
+institute a strict scrutiny as to the manner in which the escape had
+been effected. The door that opened into the prison, stood between the
+companion ladder and the recess occupied by the daughters of the
+Governor. To his surprise, Gerald found it locked, and the key that
+usually remained in a niche near the door, removed. On turning to search
+for it, he also noticed, for the first time, that the lamp, suspended
+from a beam in the centre of the cabin, had been extinguished. Struck by
+these remarkable circumstances, a suspicion, which he would have given
+much not to have entertained, forced itself upon his mind. As a first
+measure, and that there might be no doubt whatever on the subject, he
+broke open the door. Of course it was untenanted. Upon a small table lay
+the remains of the settler's last meal, but neither knife nor fork,
+both which articles had been interdicted, were to be found. At the foot
+of the chair on which he had evidently been seated for the purpose of
+freeing himself, lay the heavy cords that had bound his ankles. These
+had been severed in two places, and, as was discovered on close
+examination, by the application of some sharp and delicate cutting
+instrument. Nowhere, however, was this visible. It was evident to Gerald
+that assistance had been afforded from some one within the cabin, and
+who that some one was, he scarcely doubted. With this impression, fully
+formed, he re-entered from the prison, and standing near the curtained
+berth occupied by the daughters of the Governor, questioned as to
+whether they were aware that his prisoner Desborough had escaped. Both
+expressed surprise in so natural a manner, that Gerald knew not what to
+think; but when they added that they had not heard the slightest
+noise--nor had spoken themselves, nor heard others speak, professing
+moreover ignorance that the lamp even had been extinguished, he felt
+suspicion converted into certainty.
+
+It was impossible, he conceived, that a door which stood only two paces
+from the bed could be locked and unlocked without their hearing
+it--neither was it probable that Desborough would have thought of thus
+needlessly securing the place of his late detention. Such an idea might
+occur to the aider, but not to the fugitive himself, to whom every
+moment must be of the highest importance. Who then could have assisted
+him? Not Major Montgomerie, for he slept in the after part of the
+cabin--not Miss Montgomerie, for she was upon deck--moreover, had not
+one of these, he had so much reason to suspect, interceded for the
+fellow only on the preceding day.
+
+Such was the reasoning of Gerald, as he passed rapidly in review the
+several probabilities--but, although annoyed beyond measure at the
+escape of the villain, and incapable of believing other than that the
+daughters of the Governor had connived at it, his was too gallant by
+nature to make such a charge, even by implication, against them.
+Although extremely angry, he made no comment whatever on the subject,
+but contenting himself with wishing his charge a less than usually
+cordial good night, left them to their repose, and once more quitted the
+cabin.
+
+During the whole of this examination, Miss Montgomerie had continued on
+deck. Gerald found her leaning over the gangway at which he had left
+her, gazing intently on the water, through which the schooner was now
+gliding at an increased rate. From the moment of his being compelled to
+quit her side to inquire into the cause of Sambo's exclamation and
+rapidly succeeding fall, he had not had an opportunity of again
+approaching her. Feeling that some apology was due, he hastened to make
+one; but, vexed and irritated as he was at the escape of the settler,
+his disappointment imparted to his manner a degree of restraint, and
+there was less of ardor in his address than he had latterly been in the
+habit of exhibiting. Miss Montgomerie remarked it, and sighed.
+
+"I have been reflecting," she said, "on the little dependence that is to
+be placed upon the most flattering illusions of human existence--and
+here are you come to afford me a painful and veritable illustration of
+my theory."
+
+"How, dearest Matilda! what mean you?" asked the officer, again warmed
+into tenderness by the presence of the fascinating being.
+
+"Can you ask, Gerald?" and her voice assumed a tone of melancholy
+reproach--"recall but your manner--your language--your devotedness of
+soul not an hour since--compare these with your present coolness, and
+then wonder that I should have reason for regret."
+
+"Now, Matilda, that coldness arose not from any change in my feelings
+towards yourself--I was piqued, disappointed, even angry, at the
+extraordinary escape of my prisoner, and could not sufficiently play the
+hypocrite to disguise my annoyance."
+
+"Yet, what had I to do with the man's escape that his offence should be
+visited upon me?" she demanded quickly.
+
+"Can you not find some excuse for my vexation, knowing, as you do, that
+the wretch was a vile assassin--a man whose hands have been imbrued in
+the blood of my own father?"
+
+"Was he not acquitted of the charge?"
+
+"He was--but only from lack of evidence to convict; yet, although
+acquitted by the law, not surer is fate than that he is an assassin."
+
+"You hold assassins in great horror," remarked the American
+thoughtfully, "you are right--it is but natural."
+
+"In horror, said you?--aye, in such loathing that language can supply no
+term to express it."
+
+"And yet you once attempted an assassination yourself. Nay do not start,
+and look the image of astonishment. Have you not told me that you fired
+into the hut, on the night of your mysterious adventure? What right had
+you, if we argue the question on its real merit, to attempt the life of
+a being who had never injured you?"
+
+"What right, Matilda?--every right, human and divine. I sought but to
+save a victim from the hands of a midnight murderer."
+
+"And, to effect this, scrupled not to become a midnight murderer
+yourself?"
+
+"And is it thus you interpret my conduct, Matilda?"--the voice of Gerald
+spoke bitter reproach--"can you compare the act of that man with mine,
+and hold me no more blameless than him?"
+
+"Nay, I did not say I blamed you," she returned, gaily, "but the fact
+is, you had left me so long to ruminate here alone, that I have fallen
+into a mood argumentative, or philosophical--whichsoever you may be
+pleased to term it--and I am willing to maintain my proposition, that
+you might by possibility have been more guilty than the culprit at whom
+you aimed, had your shot destroyed him."
+
+The light tone in which Matilda spoke dispelled the seriousness which
+had begun to shadow the brow of the young commander. "And pray how do
+you make this good?" he asked.
+
+"Suppose, for instance, the slumberer you preserved had been a being of
+crime, through whom the hopes, the happiness, the peace of mind, and
+above all, the fair fame of the other, had been cruelly and irrevocably
+blasted. Let us imagine that he had destroyed some dear friend or
+relative of him with whose vengeance you beheld him threatened."
+
+"Could that be----"
+
+"Or," interrupted the American in the same careless tone, "that he had
+betrayed a wife."
+
+"Such a man----"
+
+"Or, what is worse, infinitely worse, sought to put the finishing stroke
+to his villainy, by affixing to the name and conduct of his victim
+every ignominy and disgrace which can attach to insulted humanity."
+
+"Matilda," eagerly exclaimed the youth, advancing close to her, and
+gazing into her dark eyes, "you are drawing a picture."
+
+"No, Gerald," she replied calmly, "I am merely supposing a case. Could
+you find no excuse for a man acting under a sense of so much
+injury?--would you still call him an assassin, if, with such
+provocation, he sought to destroy the hated life of one who had thus
+injured him?"
+
+Gerald paused, apparently bewildered.
+
+"Tell me, dearest Gerald," and her fair and beautiful hand caught and
+pressed his--"would you still bestow upon one so injured the degrading
+epithet of assassin?"
+
+"Assassin? most undoubtedly I would. But why this question, Matilda?"
+
+The features of the American assumed a changed expression; she dropped
+the hand she had taken the instant before, and said, disappointedly:
+
+"I find, then, my philosophy is totally at fault."
+
+"Wherein, Matilda?" anxiously asked Gerald.
+
+"In this, that I have not been able to make you a convert to my
+opinions."
+
+"And these are--?" again questioned Gerald, his every pulse throbbing
+with intense emotion.
+
+"Not to pronounce too harshly on the conduct of others, seeing that we
+ourselves may stand in much need of lenity of judgment. There might have
+existed motives for the action of him whom you designate as an assassin,
+quite as powerful as those which led to _your_ interference, and quite
+as easily justified to himself."
+
+"But, dearest Matilda-----"
+
+"Nay. I have done--I close at once my argument and my philosophy. The
+humor is past, and I shall no longer attempt to make the worse appear
+the better cause. I dare say you thought me in earnest," she added, with
+slight sarcasm, "but a philosophical disquisition between two lovers on
+the eve of parting for ever, was too novel and piquant a seduction to be
+resisted."
+
+That "parting for ever" was sufficient to drive all philosophy utterly
+away from our hero.
+
+"For ever, did you say, Matilda?--no, not for ever; yet, how coldly do
+you allude to a separation which, although I trust it will be only
+temporary, is to me a source of the deepest vexation. You did not
+manifest this indifference in the early part of our conversation this
+evening."
+
+"And if there be a change," emphatically yet tenderly returned the
+beautiful American, "am _I_ the only one changed? Is your manner _now_
+what it was _then_? Do you already forget at _what_ a moment that
+conversation was interrupted?"
+
+Gerald did not forget; and again, as they leaned over the vessel's side,
+his arm was passed around the waist of his companion.
+
+The hour, the scene, the very rippling of the water--all contributed
+to lend a character of excitement to the feelings of the youth. Filled
+with tenderness and admiration for the fascinating being who reposed
+thus confidingly on his shoulder, he scarcely dared to move, lest in so
+doing he should destroy the fabric of his happiness.
+
+"First watch there, hilloa! rouse up, and be d----d to you, it's two
+o'clock."
+
+Both Gerald and Matilda, although long and silently watching the
+progress of the vessel, had forgotten there was any such being as a
+steersman to direct her.
+
+"Good Heaven! can it be so late?" whispered the American, gliding from
+her lover; "if my uncle be awake, he will certainly chide me for my
+imprudence. Good night, dear Gerald," and drawing her cloak more closely
+around her shoulders, she quickly crossed the deck, and descended to the
+cabin.
+
+"What the devil's this?" said the relieving steersman, as, rubbing his
+heavy eyes with one hand, he stooped and raised with the other something
+from the deck, against which he had kicked in his advance to take the
+helm--"why, I'm blest if it arn't the apron off old Sally here. Have you
+been fingering Sally's apron, Bill?"
+
+"Not I, faith!" growled the party addressed. "I've enough to do to steer
+the craft, without thinking o' meddling with Sall's apron at this time
+o' night."
+
+"I should like to know who it is that has hexposed the old gal to the
+night hair in this here manner," still muttered the other, holding up
+the object in question to his closer scrutiny; "it was only this morning
+I gave her a pair of bran new apron strings, and helped to dress her
+myself. If she doesn't hang fire after this, I'm a Dutchman--that's
+all."
+
+"What signifies jawing, Tom Fluke? I suppose she got unkivered in the
+scurry after the Yankee; but bear a hand, and kiver her, unless you wish
+a fellow to stay here all night."
+
+Old Sal, our hearers must know, was no other than the long twenty-four
+pounder formerly belonging to Gerald's gun-boat, which, now removed to
+his new command, lay amid-ships, and mounted on a pivot, constituted the
+whole battery of the schooner. The apron was the leaden covering
+protecting the touch-hole, which, having unaccountably fallen off, had
+encountered the heavy foot of Tom Fluke, in his advance along the deck.
+
+The apron was at length replaced. Tom Fluke took the helm, and his
+companion departed, as he said, to have a comfortable snooze.
+
+Gerald, who had been an amused listener of the preceding dialogue, soon
+followed, first inquiring into the condition of his faithful Sambo, who,
+on examination, was found to have been stunned by the violence of the
+blow he had received. This, Gerald doubted not, had been given with the
+view of better facilitating Desborough's escape, by throwing the
+schooner out of her course, and occasioning a consequent confusion among
+the crew, which might have the effect of distracting their attention for
+a time from himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+The following evening, an armed schooner was lying at anchor in the road
+stead of Buffalo, at the southern extremity of Lake Erie, and within a
+mile of the American shore. It was past midnight--and although the lake
+was calm and unbroken as the face of a mirror, a dense fog had arisen
+which prevented objects at the head of the vessel from being seen from
+the stern. Two men only were visible upon the after-deck; the one lay
+reclining upon an arm chest, muffled up in a dread-nought pea jacket,
+the other paced up and down hurriedly, and with an air of
+pre-occupation. At intervals he would stop and lean over the gangway,
+apparently endeavoring to pierce through the fog and catch a glimpse of
+the adjacent shore, and, on these occasions, a profound sigh would burst
+from his chest.
+
+"Sambo," he at length exclaimed, addressing the man in the pea-jacket
+for the first time. "I shall retire to my cabin, but fail not to call me
+an hour before daybreak. Our friends being all landed, there can be
+nothing further to detain us here, we will therefore make the best of
+our way back to Amherstburg in the morning."
+
+"Yes, Massa Geral," returned the negro, yawning and half raising his
+brawny form from his rude couch with one hand, while he rubbed his heavy
+eyes with the knuckles of the other.
+
+"How is your head to-night?" inquired the officer in a kind tone.
+
+"Berry well, Massa Geral--but berry sleepy."
+
+"Then sleep, Sambo; but do not fail to awaken me in time: we shall weigh
+anchor the very first thing in the morning, provided the fog does not
+continue. By the bye, you superintended the landing of the baggage--was
+everything sent ashore?"
+
+"All, Massa Geral, I see him all pack in he wagon, for he Bubbalo
+town--all, except dis here I find in Miss Mungummery cabin under he
+pillow."
+
+As he spoke, the negro quitted his half recumbent position, and drew
+from his breast a small clasped pocket book, on a steel entablature
+adorning the cover of which, were the initials of the young lady just
+named.
+
+"How is it Sambo, that you had not spoken of this? The pocket book
+contains papers that may be of importance; and yet there is now no means
+of forwarding it unless I delay the schooner."
+
+"I only find him hab an hour ago, Massa Geral, when I go to make he beds
+and put he cabin to rights," said the old man, in a tone that showed he
+felt and was pained by the reproof of his young master. "Dis here too,"
+producing a small ivory handled penknife, "I find same time in he
+Gubbanor daters' bed."
+
+Gerald extended his hand to receive it, "A penknife in the bed of the
+Governor's daughters!" he repeated with surprise. Ruminating a moment he
+added to himself, "By heavens, it must be so--it is then as I expected.
+Would that I had had this proof of their participation before they
+quitted the schooner. Very well, Sambo, no blame can attach to you--go
+to sleep my good fellow, but not beyond the time I have given you."
+
+"Tankee, Massa Geral," and drawing the collar of his pea jacket close
+under his ears, the negro again extended himself at his full length upon
+the arm chest.
+
+In the fulness of his indignation at the young ladies' duplicity, he now
+came to the resolution of staying the departure of the schooner yet a
+few hours, that he might have an opportunity of going ashore himself,
+presenting this undoubted evidence of their guilt, and taxing them
+boldly with the purpose to which it had been appropriated. Perhaps there
+was another secret motive which induced this determination, and that
+was, the opportunity it would afford him of again seeing his beloved
+Matilda, and delivering her pocket book with his own hand.
+
+This resolution taken, without deeming it necessary to countermand his
+order to Sambo, he placed the knife in a pocket in the breast of his
+uniform, where he had already deposited the souvenir; and having retired
+to his own cabin, was about to undress himself, when he fancied he could
+distinguish through one of the stern windows of the schooner, sounds
+similar to those of muffled oars. While he yet listened breathlessly to
+satisfy himself whether he had not been deceived, a dark form came
+hurriedly, yet noiselessly, down the steps of the cabin. Gerald turned,
+and discovered Sambo, who now perfectly awake, indicated by his manner,
+he was the bearer of some alarming intelligence. His report confirmed
+the suspicion already entertained by himself, and at that moment he
+fancied he heard the same subdued sounds but multiplied in several
+distinct points. A vague sense of danger came over the mind of the
+officer, and although his crew consisted of a mere handful of men, he at
+once resolved to defend himself to the last, against whatever force
+might be led to the attack. While Sambo hastened to arouse the men, he
+girded his cutlass and pistols around his loins, and taking down two
+huge blunderbusses from a beam in the ceiling of the cabin, loaded them
+heavily with musket balls. Thus armed he sprang once more upon deck.
+
+The alarm was soon given, and the preparation became general, but
+neither among the watch, who slumbered in the forecastle, nor those who
+had turned into their hammocks, was there the slightest indication of
+confusion. These latter "tumbled up," with no other addition to the
+shirts in which they had left their cots, than their trousers, a light
+state of costume to which those who were "boxed up" in their pea jackets
+and great coats on the forecastle, soon reduced themselves also--not but
+that the fog admitted of much warmer raiment, but that their activity
+might be unimpeded--handkerchiefed heads and tucked up sleeves, with the
+habiliments which we have named, being the most approved fighting dress
+in the navy.
+
+Meanwhile, although nothing could be distinguished through the fog, the
+sounds which had originally attracted the notice of the officer and his
+trusty servant, increased, despite of the caution evidently used, to
+such a degree as to be now audible to all on board. What most excited
+the astonishment of the crew, and the suspicion of Gerald, was the
+exactness of the course taken by the advancing hosts, in which not the
+slightest deviation was perceptible. It was evident that they were
+guided by some one who had well studied the distance and bearing of the
+schooner from the shore, and as it was impossible to hope that even the
+fog would afford them concealment from the approaching enemy, all that
+was left them was to make the best defence they could. One other
+alternative remained it is true, and this was to cut their cable and
+allow themselves to drop down silently out of the course by which the
+boats were advancing, but as this step involved the possibility of
+running ashore on the American coast, when the same danger of captivity
+would await them, Gerald, after an instant's consideration, rejected
+the idea, preferring the worthier and more chivalrous dependence on his
+own and crew's exertions.
+
+From the moment of the general arming, the long gun, which we have
+already shown to constitute the sole defence of the schooner, was
+brought nearer to the inshore gangway, and being mounted on an
+elevation, with its formidable muzzle overtopping and projecting above
+the low bulwarks, could in an instant be brought to bear on whatever
+point it might be found advisable to vomit forth its mass of wrath,
+consisting of grape, cannister and chain shot. On this gun, indeed, the
+general expectation much depended; for the crew, composed of sixteen men
+only, exclusive of petty officers, could hope to make but a poor
+resistance, despite all the resolution they might bring into the
+contest, against a squadron of well-armed boats, unless some very
+considerable diminution in the numbers and efforts of these latter
+should be made by "Old Sally," before they actually came to close
+quarters. The weakness of the crew was in a great degree attributable to
+the schooner having been employed as a cartel--a fact which must
+moreover explain the want of caution, on this occasion, on the part of
+Gerald, whose reputation for vigilance, in all matters of duty, was
+universally acknowledged. It had not occurred to him that the instant he
+landed his prisoners, his vessel ceased to be a cartel, and therefore a
+fit subject for the enterprise of his enemies, or the probability is,
+that in the hour in which he had landed them, he would again have
+weighed anchor, and made the best of his way back to Amherstburg.
+
+"Stand by your gun, men--steady," whispered the officer, as the noise of
+many oars immediately abreast, and at a distance of not more than twenty
+yards, announced that the main effort of their enemies was about to be
+made in that quarter. "Depress a little--there, you have her--now into
+them--fire."
+
+Fiz-z-z-z, and a small pyramid of light rose from the breech of the gun,
+which sufficed, during the moment it lasted, to discover three boats
+filled with armed men, advancing immediately opposite, while two others
+could be seen diverging, apparently one towards the quarter, the other
+towards the bows of the devoted little vessel. The crew bent their gaze
+eagerly over her side to witness the havoc they expected to ensue among
+their enemies. To their surprise and mortification there was no report.
+The advancing boats gave three deriding cheers.
+
+"D----n my eyes, if I didn't say she would miss fire, from having her
+breech unkivered last night," shouted the man who held the match, and
+who was no other than Tom Fluke. "Quick, here--give us a picker!"
+
+A picker was handed to him, by one who also held the powder-horn for
+priming.
+
+"It's no use," he pursued, throwing away the wire and springing to the
+dock. "She's a spike in the touch-hole, and the devil himself wouldn't
+get it out now."
+
+"A spike!--what mean you?" eagerly demanded Gerald.
+
+"It's too true, Mr. Grantham," said the boatswain, who had flown to
+examine the touch-hole, "there is a great piece of steel in it, and for
+all the world like a woman's bodkin, or some such sort of thing."
+
+"Ah! it all comes o' that wench that was here on deck last night,"
+muttered the helmsman, who had succeeded Sambo on duty the preceding
+night. "I thought I see her fiddlin' about the gun when the chase was
+made after the Yankee, although I didn't think to say nothin' about it
+when you axed Tom Fluke about Sal's apron."
+
+Whatever conjecture might have arisen with others, there was no time to
+think of, much less to discuss it--the boats were already within a few
+yards of the vessel.
+
+"Steady, men--silence!" commanded Gerald, in a low tone. "Since she has
+failed us, we must depend upon ourselves. Down beneath the bulwarks and
+move not one of you until they begin to board; then let each man single
+his enemy and fire; the cutlass must do the rest."
+
+The order was obeyed. Each moment brought the crisis of action nearer:
+the rowers had discontinued their oars, but the bows of the several
+boats could be heard obeying the impetus already given them, and
+dividing the water close to the vessel.
+
+"Now then, Sambo," whispered the officer. At that moment a torch was
+raised high over the head of the negro and his master. Its rays fell
+upon the first of the three boats, the crews of which were seen standing
+up with arms outstretched to grapple with the schooner. Another instant,
+and they would have touched. The negro dropped his light.
+
+Gerald pulled the trigger of his blunderbuss, aimed into the very centre
+of the boat. Shrieks, curses and plashings as of bodies falling in the
+water, succeeded; and in the confusion occasioned by the murderous fire,
+the first boat evidently fell off.
+
+"Again, Sambo," whispered the officer. A second time the torch streamed
+suddenly in air, and the contents of the yet undischarged blunderbuss
+spread confusion, dismay and death, into the second boat.
+
+"Old Sal herself couldn't have done better: pity he hadn't a hundred of
+them," growled Tom Fluke, who, although concealed behind the bulwarks,
+had availed himself of a crevice near him, to watch the effect produced
+by the formidable weapons.
+
+There was a momentary indecision among the enemy, after the second
+destructive fire; it was but momentary. Again they advanced, and closing
+with the vessel, evinced a determination of purpose, that, left little
+doubt as to the result. A few sprang into the chains and rigging, while
+others sought to enter by her bows; but the main effort seemed to be
+made at her gangway, at which Gerald had stationed himself with ten of
+his best men, the rest being detached to make the best defence they
+could, against those who sought to enter in the manner above described.
+
+Notwithstanding the great disparity of numbers, the little crew of the
+schooner had for some time a considerable advantage over their enemies.
+At the first onset of these latter, their pistols had been discharged,
+but in so random a manner as to have done no injury--whereas the
+assailed, scrupulously obeying the order of their commander, fired not a
+shot until they found themselves face to face with an enemy; the
+consequence of which was that every pistol-ball killed an American, or
+otherwise placed him _hors du combat_. Still, in spite of their loss,
+the latter was more than adequate to the capture, unless a miracle
+should interpose to prevent it; and, exasperated as they were by the
+fall of their comrades, their efforts became at each moment more
+resolute and successful. A deadly contest had been maintained in the
+gangway, from which, however, Gerald was compelled to retire, although
+bravely supported by his handful of followers. His force now consisted
+merely of five men remaining of his own party, and three of those who
+had been detached, who, all that were left alive, had been compelled to
+fall back on their commander. How long he would have continued the
+hopeless and desperate struggle in this manner is doubtful, had not a
+fresh enemy appeared in his rear. These were the crews of two other
+boats, who, having boarded without difficulty, now came up to the
+assistance of their comrades. So completely taken by surprise was Gerald
+in this quarter, that the first intimation he had of his danger was, in
+the violent seizure of his sword arm from behind, and a general rush
+upon and disarming of the remainder of his followers. On turning to
+behold his enemy, he saw with concern the triumphant face of Desborough.
+
+"Every dog has his day, I guess," huskily chuckled the settler, as by
+the glare of several torches which had been suddenly lighted, he was now
+seen casting looks of savage vengeance, and holding his formidable knife
+threateningly over the head of the officer whom he had grappled. "I
+reckon as how I told you it would be Jeremiah Desborough's turn next."
+
+"Silence, fellow--loose your hold," shouted one, whose authoritative
+voice and manner announced him for an officer, apparently the leader of
+the boarding party.
+
+"I regret much, sir," pursued the American commander, seriously, and
+turning to Gerald, "that your obstinate defence should have been carried
+to the length it has. We were given to understand that ours would not be
+an easy conquest, yet little deemed it would have been purchased with
+the lives of so many of our force. Still, even while we deplore our
+loss, have we hearts to estimate the valor of our foe. I cannot give you
+freedom, since the gift is not at my disposal; but at least I may spare
+you the pain of surrendering a blade you have so nobly wielded. Retain
+your sword, sir."
+
+Gerald's was not a nature to remain untouched by such an act of
+chivalrous courtesy, and he expressed, in brief but pointed terms, his
+sense of the compliment.
+
+Five minutes afterwards Gerald, who had exchanged his trusty cutlass for
+the sword he had been so flatteringly permitted to retain, found himself
+in the leading boat of the little return squadron, and seated at the
+side of his generous captor.
+
+"I think you said," he observed, "that you had been informed the
+conquest of the schooner would not be an easy one. Would it be seeking
+too much to know who was your informant."
+
+The American officer shook his head. "I fear I am not at liberty exactly
+to name--but thus much I may venture to state, that the person who has
+so rightly estimated your gallantry, is one not wholly unknown to you."
+
+"This is ambiguous. One question more--were you prepared to expect the
+failure of the schooner's principal means of defence, her long gun?"
+
+"If you recollect the cheer that burst from my fellows at the moment
+when the harmless flash was seen ascending, you will require no further
+elucidation on that head," replied the American evasively.
+
+This was sufficient for Gerald. He folded his arms, sank his head upon
+his chest, and continued to muse deeply. Soon afterwards the boat
+touched the beach, where many of the citizens were assembled to hear
+tidings of the enterprize and congratulate the victors. Thence he was
+conducted to the neat little inn, which was the only accommodation the
+small town, or rather village of Buffalo, at that time afforded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+At the termination of the memorable war of the Revolution--that war,
+which, on the one hand, severed the ties that bound the Colonies in
+interest and affection with the parent land, and on the other, seemed,
+as by way of indemnification, to have riveted the Canadas in closer love
+to their adopted mother--hundreds of families who had remained staunch
+in their allegiance quitted the American soil, to which they had been
+unwillingly transferred, and hastened to close, on one side of the vast
+chain of waters that separated the descendants of France from the
+descendants of England, the evening of an existence, whose morning and
+noon had been passed on the other. Among the number of these was Major
+Grantham, who, at the close of the Revolution, had espoused a daughter
+(the only remaining child) of Frederick and Madeline De Haldimar, whose
+many vicissitudes of suffering prior to their marriage, have been fully
+detailed in Wacousta. When, at that period, the different garrisons on
+the frontier were given up to the American troops, the several British
+regiments crossed over into Canada, and, after a short term of service
+in that country, were successively relieved by fresh corps from England.
+One of the earliest recalled of these was the regiment of Colonel
+Frederick De Haldimar. Local interests, however, attaching his
+son-in-law to Upper Canada, the latter had, on the reduction of his
+corps, a provincial regiment, well known throughout the war of the
+Revolution, for its strength, activity, and good service finally fixed
+himself at Amherstburg.
+
+In the domestic relations of life Major Grantham was exemplary, although
+perhaps his rigid notions of right had obtained for him more of the
+respect than of the love of those who came within their influence, and
+yet no mean portion of both. Tenderly attached to his wife, whom he had
+lost when Gerald was yet in his twelfth year, he had not ceased to
+deplore her loss; and this perhaps had contributed to nourish a
+reservedness of disposition, which, without at all aiming at, or
+purposing, such effect, insensibly tended to the production of a
+corresponding reserve on the part of his children, that increased with
+their years. Indeed, on their mother all the tenderness of their young
+hearts had been lavished, and, when they suddenly saw themselves
+deprived of her who loved and had been loved by them, with doting
+fondness, they felt as if a void had been left in their affections which
+the less tender evidences of paternal love were but insufficient wholly
+to supply. Still--although not to the same extent--did they love their
+father also; and what was wanted in intensity of feeling was more than
+made up by the deep, the exalted respect, they entertained for his
+principles and conduct. It was with pride they beheld him, not merely
+the deservedly idolized of the low, but the respected of the high--the
+example of one class, and the revered of another; one whose high
+position in the social circle had been attained, less by his striking
+exterior advantages than the inward worth that governed every action of
+his life, and whose moral character, as completely _sans tache_ as his
+fulfilment of the social duties was proverbially _sans reproche_, could
+not fail, in a certain degree, to reflect the respect it commanded upon
+themselves.
+
+As we have before observed, however, all the fervor of their affection
+had been centered in their mother, and that was indeed a melancholy
+night in which the youths had been summoned to watch the passing away of
+her gentle spirit for ever from their love. Isabella De Haldimar had,
+from her earliest infancy, been remarkable for her quiet and
+contemplative character; and bred amid scenes that brought at every
+retrospect recollections of some acted horror, it is not surprising that
+the bias given by nature should have been developed and strengthened by
+the events that had surrounded her. Not dissimilar in disposition, as
+she was not unlike in form, to her mother, she was by that mother
+carefully endowed with those gentler attributes of goodness, which,
+taking root within a soil so eminently disposed to their reception,
+could not fail to render her in after life a model of excellence, both
+as a mother and a wife. Notwithstanding, however, this moulding of her
+pliant and well-directed mind, there was about her a melancholy, which,
+while it gave promise of the devoted affection of the mother, offered
+but little prospect of cheerfulness, in an union with one, who, reserved
+himself, could not be expected to temper that melancholy by the
+introduction of a gaiety that was not natural to him. And yet it was for
+this very melancholy, tender and fascinating in her, that Major Grantham
+had sought the hand of Isabella De Haldimar; and it was for the very
+austerity and reserve of his general manner, more than from the manly
+beauty of his tall dark person, that he too had become the object of her
+secret choice long before he had proposed for her.
+
+The austerity which Major Grantham carried with him into public life
+was, if not wholly laid aside, at least considerably softened, in the
+presence of his wife, and when, later, the birth of two sons crowned
+their union, there was nothing left her to desire which it was in the
+power of circumstances to bestow. Mrs. De Haldimar had not taken into
+account the effect likely to be produced by a separation from
+herself--the final severing, as it were, of every tie of blood. Of the
+four children who had composed the family of Colonel Frederick De
+Haldimar, the two oldest (officers in his own corps) had perished in the
+war: the fourth, a daughter, had died young, of a decline: and the loss
+of the former especially, who had grown up with her from childhood to
+youth, was deeply felt by the sensitive Isabella. With the dreadful
+scenes perpetrated at Detroit--scenes in which their family had been the
+principal sufferers--the boys had been familiarized by the soldiers of
+their father's regiment, who often took them to the several points most
+worthy of remark from the incidents connected with them; and, pointing
+out the spots on which their uncle Charles and their aunt Clara had
+fallen victims to the terrible hatred of Wacousta for their grandfather,
+detailed the horrors of those days with a rude fidelity of coloring that
+brought dismay and indignation to the hearts of their wondering and
+youthful auditors. On these occasions Isabella became the depository of
+all they had gleaned. To her they confided, under the same pledge of
+secrecy that had been exacted from themselves, every circumstance of
+horror connected with those days; nor were they satisfied, until they
+had shown her those scenes with which so many dreadful recollections
+were associated.
+
+Thus was the melancholy of Isabella fed by the very silence in which she
+was compelled to indulge. Often was her pillow wetted with tears, as she
+passed in review the several fearful incidents connected with the tale
+in which her brothers had so deeply interested her, and she would have
+given worlds at those moments, had they been hers to bestow, to recal to
+life and animation the beloved but unfortunate uncle and aunt, to whose
+fate, her brothers assured her, even their veteran friends never alluded
+without sorrow. Often, too, did she dwell on the share her own fond
+mother had borne in those transactions, and the anguish which must have
+pierced her heart when first apprized of the loss of her, whom she had
+even _then_ loved with all a mother's love. Nay, more than once, while
+gazing on the face of the former, her inmost soul given up to the
+recollection of all she had endured, first at Michillimackinac, and
+afterwards at Detroit, had she unconsciously suffered the tears to
+course down her cheeks without an effort to restrain them. Ignorant of
+the cause, Mrs. De Haldimar only ascribed this emotion to the natural
+melancholy of her daughter's character, and then she would gently chide
+her, and seek, by a variety of means, to divert her thoughts into some
+lively channel; but she had little success in the attempt to eradicate
+reflections already rooted in so congenial a soil.
+
+Her sister died very young, and she scarcely felt her loss; but when,
+subsequently, the vicissitudes of a military life had deprived her for
+ever of her beloved brothers, her melancholy increased. It was however
+the silent, tearless melancholy, that knows not the paroxysm of
+outrageous grief. The quiet resignation of her character formed an
+obstacle to the inroads of all vivacious sorrow; yet was her health not
+the less effectually undermined by the slow action of her innate
+feeling, unfortunately too much fostered by outward influences. By her
+marriage and the birth of her sons, whom she loved with all a mother's
+fondness, her mental malady had been materially diminished, and indeed
+in a great degree superseded, but unhappily, previous to these events,
+it had seriously effected her constitution, and produced a morbid
+susceptibility of mind and person, that exposed her to be overwhelmed by
+the occurrence of any of those afflictions which otherwise she might,
+with ordinary fortitude, have endured. When therefore intelligence from
+England announced that her parents had both perished in a hurricane on
+their route to the West Indies, whither the regiment of Colonel De
+Haldimar had been ordered, the shock was too great for her, mentally and
+physically enfeebled as she had been, to sustain, and she sank gradually
+under this final infliction of Providence.
+
+Major Grantham beheld with dismay the effect of this blow upon his
+beloved wife. Fell consumption had now marked her for her own, and so
+rapid was the progress of the disease acting on a temperament already
+too much predisposed to its influence, that, in despite of all human
+preventives, the sensitive Isabella, before six months had elapsed, was
+summoned to a better world.
+
+We will pass over the deep grief which preyed upon the hearts of the
+unfortunate brothers for weeks after they had been compelled to
+acknowledge the stern truth that they were indeed motherless.
+
+It was soon after this event, that the first seeds of disunion began to
+spring up between England and the United States, the inevitable results
+of which it was anticipated, would be the involving of Canada in the
+struggle; and, notwithstanding the explosion did not take place for
+several years afterwards, preparations were made on either shore, to an
+extent that kept the spirit of enterprise on the alert.
+
+Inheriting the martial spirit of their family, the inclinations of the
+young Granthams led them to the service; and, as their father could have
+no reasonable objection to oppose to a choice which promised not merely
+to secure his sons in an eligible profession, but to render them in some
+degree of benefit to their country, he consented to their views.
+Gerald's preference leading him to the navy, he was placed on that
+establishment as a midshipman; while Henry, several years later,
+obtained, through the influence of their father's old friend General
+Brock, an ensigncy in the King's Regiment.
+
+Meanwhile, Major Grantham, whose reserve appeared to have increased
+since the death of his wife, seemed to seek, in the active discharge of
+his magisterial duties, a relief from the recollection of the loss he
+had sustained; and it was about this period that, in consequence of many
+of the American settlers in Canada, having, in anticipation of a rupture
+between the two countries, secretly withdrawn themselves to the opposite
+shore, his exaction of the duties of British subjects from those who
+remained, became more vigorous than ever.
+
+We have already shown Desborough to have been the most unruly and
+disorderly of the worthless set; and as no opportunity was omitted of
+compelling him to renew his oath of allegiance, (while his general
+conduct was strictly watched), the hatred of the man for the stern
+magistrate was daily matured, until at length it grew into an
+inextinguishable desire for revenge.
+
+The chief, and almost only recreation, in which Major Grantham indulged,
+was that of fowling. An excellent shot himself, he had been in some
+degree the instructor of his sons; and, although, owing to the wooded
+nature of the country, the facilities afforded to the enjoyment of his
+favorite pursuit in the orthodox manner of a true English sportsman,
+were few, still, as game was everywhere abundant, he had continued to
+turn to account the advantages that were actually offered. Both Gerald
+and Henry had been his earlier companions in the sport, but, of late
+years and especially since the death of their mother, he had been in the
+habit of going out alone.
+
+It was one morning in that season of the year when the migratory pigeons
+pursue their course towards what are termed the "burnt woods," on which
+they feed, and in such numbers as to cover the surface of the heavens,
+as with a dense and darkening cloud, that Major Grantham sallied forth
+at early dawn, with his favorite dog and gun, and, as was his custom,
+towards Hartley's point. Disdaining, as unworthy of his skill, the
+myriads of pigeons that everywhere presented themselves, he passed from
+the skirt of the forest towards an extensive swamp, in the rear of
+Hartley's, which, abounding in golden plover and snipe, usually afforded
+him a plentiful supply. On this occasion he was singularly successful,
+and, having bagged as many birds as he could conveniently carry, was in
+the act of ramming down his last charge, when the report of a shot came
+unexpectedly from the forest. In the next instant he was sensible he was
+wounded, and, placing his hand to his back, felt it wet with blood. As
+there was at the moment several large wild ducks within a few yards of
+the spot where he stood, and between himself and the person who had
+fired, he at once concluded that he had been the victim of an accident,
+and, feeling the necessity of assistance, he called loudly on the unseen
+sportsman to come forward to his aid; but, although his demand was
+several times repeated, no answer was returned, and no one appeared.
+With some difficulty he contrived, after disembarrassing himself of his
+game-bag, to reach the farm at Hartley's, where every assistance was
+afforded him, and, a waggon having been procured, he was conducted to
+his home, when, on examination the wound was pronounced to be mortal.
+
+On the third day from this event Major Grantham breathed his last,
+bequeathing the guardianship of his sons to Colonel D'Egville, who had
+married his sister. At this epoch, Gerald was absent with his vessel on
+a cruise, but Henry received his parting blessing upon both, accompanied
+by a solemn injunction, that they should never be guilty of any act
+which could sully the memory, either of their mother or himself. This
+Henry promised, in the name of both, most religiously to observe; and,
+when Gerald returned, and to his utter dismay beheld the lifeless form
+of the parent, whom he had quitted only a few days before in all the
+vigor of health, he not only renewed the pledge given by his brother,
+but with the vivacity of character habitual to him, called down the
+vengeance of Heaven upon his head, should he ever be found to swerve
+from those principles of honor, which had been so sedulously inculcated
+in him.
+
+Meanwhile, there was nothing to throw even the faintest light on the
+actual cause of Major Grantham's death. On the first probing and
+dressing of the wound, the murderous lead had been extracted, and, as it
+was discovered to be a rifle ball it was taken for granted that some
+Indian, engaged in the chase, had, in the eagerness of pursuit, missed
+an intermediate object at which he had taken aim and lodged the ball
+accidentally in the body of the old gentleman; and that, terrified at
+discovery of the mischief he had done, and perhaps apprehending
+punishment, he had hastily fled from the spot, to avoid detection. This
+opinion, unanimously entertained by the townspeople, was shared by the
+brothers, who knowing the unbounded love and respect of all for their
+parent, dreamt not for one moment that his death could have been the
+result of premeditation. It was left for Desborough to avow, at a later
+period, that he had been the murderer; and with what startling effect on
+him, to whom the admission was exultingly made, we have already seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+Autumn had passed away, and winter, the stern invigorating winter of
+beautiful America had already covered the earth with enduring snows, and
+the waters with bridges of seemingly eternal ice, and yet no effort had
+been made by the Americans to repossess themselves of the country they
+had so recently lost. The several garrisons of Detroit and Malden,
+reposing under the laurels they had so easily won, made holiday of their
+conquest; and, secure in the distance that separated them from the more
+populous districts of the Union, seemed to have taken it for granted
+that they had played their final part in the active operations of the
+war, and would be suffered to remain in undisturbed possession. But the
+storm was already brewing in the far distance which, advancing
+progressively like the waves of the coming tempest, was destined first
+to shake them in their security, and finally to overwhelm them in its
+vortex. With the natural enterprise of their character, the Americans
+had no sooner ascertained the fall of Detroit, than means slow but
+certain, were taken for the recovery of a post, with which, their
+national glory was in no slight decree identified. The country whence
+they drew their resources for the occasion, were the new states of Ohio
+and Kentucky, and one who had previously travelled through those immense
+tracts of forests, where the dwelling of the backwoodsman is met with at
+long intervals, would have marvelled at the zeal and promptitude with
+which these adventurous people, abandoning their homes, and disregarding
+their personal interests, flocked to the several rallying points. Armed
+and accoutred at their own expense, with the unerring rifle that
+provided them with game, and the faithful hatchet that had brought down
+the dark forest into ready subjection to their will, their claim upon
+the public was for the mere sustenance they required on service. It is
+true that this partial independence of the Government whom they served
+rather in the character of volunteers, than of conscripts, was in a
+great measure fatal to their discipline; but in the peculiar warfare of
+the country, absence of discipline was rather an advantage than a
+demerit, since when checked, or thrown into confusion, they looked not
+for a remedy in the resumption of order, but in the exercise each of his
+own individual exertions, facilitated as he was by his general knowledge
+of localities, and his confidence in his own personal resources.
+
+But although new armies were speedily organized--if organized may be
+termed those who brought with them into the contest much courage and
+devotedness, yet little discipline--the Americans, in this instance,
+proceeded with a caution that proved their respect for the British
+garrison, strongly supported as it was by a numerous force of Indians.
+Within two months after the capitulation of Detroit, a considerable
+army, Ohioans and Kentuckians, with some regular infantry, had been
+pushed forward as with a view to feel their way; but these having been
+checked by the sudden appearance of a detachment from Fort Malden, had
+limited their advance to the Miami River, on the banks of which, and on
+the ruins of one of the old English forts of Pontiac's days, they had
+constructed new fortifications, and otherwise strongly entrenched
+themselves. It was a mistake, however, to imagine that the enemy would
+be content with establishing himself here. The new fort merely served as
+a nucleus for the concentration of such resources of men and warlike
+equipment, as were necessary to the subjection, firstly of Detroit, and
+afterwards of Fort Malden. Deprived of the means of transport, the
+shallow bed of the Miami aiding them but little, it was a matter of no
+mean difficulty with the Americans to convey, through several hundred
+miles of forest, the heavy guns they required for battering, and as it
+was only at intervals this could be effected--the most patient endurance
+and unrelaxing perseverance being necessary to the end. From the
+inactivity of this force, or rather the confinement of its operations to
+objects of defence, the English garrison had calculated on undisturbed
+security, at least throughout the winter, if not for a longer period;
+but, although it was not until this latter season was far advanced that
+the enemy broke up from his entrenchments on the Miami, and pushed
+himself forward for the attainment of his final view, the error of
+imputing inactivity to him was discovered at a moment when it was least
+expected.
+
+It was during a public ball given at Amherstburg, on the 18th of
+January, 1813, that the first intelligence was brought of the advance of
+a strong American force, whose object it was supposed was to push
+rapidly on to Detroit, leaving Amherstburg behind to be disposed of
+later. The officer who brought this intelligence was the fat Lieutenant
+Raymond, who, commanding an outpost at the distance of some leagues, had
+been surprised, and after a resistance very creditable under the
+circumstances, driven in by the American advanced guard with a loss of
+nearly half his command.
+
+Thus was the same consternation produced in the ball-room at
+Amherstburg, that at a later period occurred in a similar place of
+amusement at Brussels; and although not followed by the same momentous
+public results, producing the same host of fluttering fears and
+anxieties in the bosoms of the female votaries of Terpsichore. We
+believe, however, that there existed some dissimilarity in the several
+modes of communication--the Duke of Wellington receiving his, with some
+appearance of regard on the part of the communicator for the nerves of
+the ladies, while to Colonel St. Julian, commanding at Amherstburg, and
+engaged at that moment at the whist-table, the news was imparted in
+stentorian tones, which were audible to every one in the adjoining
+ball-room.
+
+But even if his voice had not been heard, the appearance of Lieutenant
+Raymond would have justified the apprehension of any reasonable person,
+for, in the importance of the moment, he had not deemed it necessary to
+make any change in the dress in which he had been surprised and driven
+back. Let the reader figure to himself a remarkably fat, ruddy faced
+man, of middling age, dressed in a pair of tightly fitting, dread-naught
+trowsers, and a shell jacket that had once been scarlet, but now, from
+use and exposure, rather resembled the color of brickdust; boots from
+which all polish had been taken by the grease employed to render them
+snow-proof; a brace of pistols thrust into the black waist belt that
+encircled his huge circumference, and from which depended a sword, whose
+steel scabbard showed the rust of the rudest bivouac. Let him, moreover,
+figure to himself that ruddy, carbuncled face, and nearly as ruddy brow,
+suffused with perspiration, although in a desperately cold winter's
+night, and the unwashed hands, and mouth, and lips black from the
+frequent biting of the ends of cartridges, while ever and anon the
+puffed cheeks, in the effort to procure air and relieve the panting
+chest, recal the idea of a Bacchus, after one of his most lengthened
+orgies--let him figure all this, and if he will add short, curling,
+wiry, damp hair, surmounting a head as round as a turnip, a snubby, red,
+_retrousse_ nose, and light grey eyes; he will have a tolerable idea of
+the startling figure that thus abruptly made its appearance in the
+person of Lieutenant Raymond, first among the dancers, and bustlingly
+thence into the adjoining card-room.
+
+At the moment of his entrance, every eye had been turned upon this
+strange apparition, while an almost instinctive sense of the cause of
+his presence pervaded every breast. Indeed it was impossible to behold
+him arrayed in the bivouac garb in which we have described him,
+contrasted as it was with the elegant ball dresses of his brother
+officers and not attribute his presence to some extraordinary motive;
+and as almost every one in the room was aware of his having been absent
+on detachment, his mission had been half divined even before he had
+opened his lips to Colonel St. Julian, for whom, on entering, he had
+hurriedly inquired.
+
+But when the latter officer was seen soon afterwards to rise from and
+leave the card-table, and, after communicating hurriedly with the
+several heads of departments, quit altogether the scene of festivity,
+there could be no longer a doubt; and, as in all cases of the sort, the
+danger was magnified, as it flew from lip to lip, even as the tiny
+snow-ball becomes a mountain by the accession it receives in its rolling
+course. Suddenly the dance was discontinued, and indeed in time, for the
+fingers of the non-combatant musicians, sharing in the general
+nervousness, had already given notice, by numerous falsettos, of their
+inability to proceed much longer. Bonnets, cloaks, muffs, tippets,
+shawls, snow-shoes, and all the paraphernalia of a female winter
+equipment peculiar to the country, were brought unceremoniously in, and
+thrown _en masse_ upon the deserted benches of the ball-room. Then was
+there a scramble among the fair dancers, who, having secured their
+respective property, quitted the house; not, however, without a secret
+fear, on the part of many, that the first object they should encounter,
+on sallying forth, would be a corps of American sharpshooters. To the
+confusion within was added the clamor without, arising from swearing
+drivers, neighing horses, jingling bells, and jostling sledges. Finally,
+the only remaining ladies of the party were the D'Egvilles, whose sledge
+had not yet arrived: with these lingered Captain Molineux, Middlemore,
+and Henry Grantham, all of whom, having obtained leave of absence for
+the occasion, had accompanied them from Detroit. The two former, who had
+just terminated one of the old fashioned cotillions, then peculiar to
+the Canadas, stood leaning over the chairs of their partners, indulging
+in no very charitable comments on the unfortunate Raymond, to whose
+inopportune presence at that unseasonable hour they ascribed a host of
+most important momentary evils; as, for example, the early breaking up
+of the pleasantest ball of the season, the loss of an excellent
+anticipated supper that had been prepared for a later hour, and,
+although last not least, the necessity it imposed upon them of an
+immediate return, that bitter cold night, to Detroit. Near the blazing
+wood fire, at their side, stood Henry Grantham, and Captain St. Clair of
+the Engineers. The former with his thoughts evidently far away from the
+passing scene, the latter joining in the criticisms on Raymond.
+
+A few moments afterwards Colonel D'Egville entered the room, now
+deserted save by the little coterie near the fire-place. Like Lieutenant
+Raymond's, his dress was more suited to the bivouac than the ball-room,
+and his countenance otherwise bore traces of fatigue.
+
+His daughters flew to meet him. The officers also grouped around,
+desirous to hear what tidings he brought of the enemy, to corroborate
+the statement of Raymond. To the great mortification of the latter, it
+was now found that he and his little detachment had had all the running
+to themselves, and that, while they fancied the whole of the American
+army to be close at their heels, the latter had been so kept in check by
+the force of Indians, under Colonel D'Egville in person, as to be
+compelled to retire upon the point whence the original attack had been
+made. They had not followed the broken English outpost more than a mile,
+and yet, so convinced of close pursuit had been the latter, that for the
+space of six leagues they had scarce relaxed in their retreat. The
+information now brought by Colonel D'Egville was, that the Americans had
+not advanced a single foot beyond the outpost in question, but, on the
+contrary, had commenced constructing a stockade and throwing up
+entrenchments. He added, moreover, that he had just dispatched an
+express to Sandwich, to General Proctor, communicating the intelligence,
+and suggesting the propriety of an attack before they could advance
+farther, and favor any movement on the part of the inhabitants of
+Detroit. As this counter-movement on our part would require every man
+that could be spared from the latter fortress, Colonel D'Egville seemed
+to think that before the officers could reach it, its garrison would be
+already on the way to join the expedition, which would doubtless be
+ordered to move from Amherstburg; and as the same impression appeared to
+exist in the mind of Colonel St. Julian, whom he had only just parted
+from to proceed in search of his daughters, the latter had taken it upon
+himself to determine that they should remain where they were until the
+answer, communicating the final decision of General Proctor, should
+arrive.
+
+If the young officers were delighted at the idea of escaping the horror
+of an eighteen miles drive, on one of the bitterest nights of the
+season, supperless, and at the moment of issuing from a comfortable
+ball-room, their annoyance at (what they termed) the pusillanimity of
+Raymond, who had come thus unnecessarily in, to the utter annihilation
+of their evening's amusement--was in equal proportion. For this, on
+their way home, they revenged themselves by every sort of persiflage
+their humor could adapt to the occasion, until in the end they
+completely succeeded in destroying the good humor of Raymond, who
+eventually quitted them under feelings of mortified pride, which excited
+all the generous sympathy of the younger Grantham, while it created in
+his breast a sentiment of almost wrath against his inconsiderate
+companions. Even these latter were at length sensible that they had gone
+too far, and, as their better feelings returned, they sought to assure
+the offended object of their pleasantry that what they had uttered was
+merely in jest; but finding he received these disclaimers in moody
+silence, they renewed their attack, nor discontinued it until they
+separated for their mutual quarters for the night.
+
+The following dawn broke in, decked with all the sad and sober grey
+peculiar to an American sky in the depth of winter, and, with the first
+rising of the almost rayless sun, commenced numerous warlike
+preparations, that gave promise to the inhabitants of some approaching
+crisis. The event justified their expectation; the suggestion of Colonel
+D'Egville had been adopted, and the same express which carried to
+General Proctor the information of the advance of the enemy, and the
+expulsion of Lieutenant Raymond from his post, was pushed on to Detroit,
+with an order for every man who could be spared from that fortress, to
+be marched without a moment's delay to Malden. At noon the detachment
+had arrived, and the General making his appearance soon after, the
+expedition, composed of the strength of the two garrisons, with a few
+light guns, and a considerable body of Indians, under the Chief
+Round-head, were pushed rapidly across the lake, and the same night
+occupied the only road by which the enemy could advance.
+
+It was a picturesque sight to those who lingered on the banks of the
+Detroit, to watch the movement of that mass of guns, ammunition, cars
+and sledges, preceding the regular march of the troops, as the whole
+crossed the firm but rumbling ice, at the head of the now deserted
+Island of Bois Blanc. Nor was this at all lessened in effect by the
+wild and irregular movements of the Indians, who, advancing by twos and
+threes, but more often singly, and bounding nimbly yet tortuously, along
+the vast white field with which the outline of their swarthy forms
+contrasted, called up at the outset, the idea of a legion of devils.
+
+It was during one of the coldest mornings in January, that this little
+army bivouaced on the banks of a small rivulet, distant little more than
+a league from the position which had been taken up by the Americans. So
+unexpected and rapid had been the advance of the expedition, that not
+the slightest suspicion appeared to be entertained by the Americans even
+of its departure; and from information brought at a late hour by the
+Indian scouts, who had been dispatched at nightfall to observe their
+motions, it was gathered that, so far from apprehending or being
+prepared for an attack, all was quiet in their camp, in which the
+customary night-fires were then burning. Thus favored by the false
+security of their enemies, the British force, after partaking of their
+rude but substantial meal, and preparing their arms, laid themselves
+down to rest in their accoutrements and great coats; their heads
+reclining on whatever elevation, however small, presented itself, and
+their feet half buried in the embers of the fires they had with
+difficulty kindled on the frozen ground, from which the snow had been
+removed--all sanguine of success, and all more or less endeavoring to
+snatch, amid the nipping frost to which their upper persons were
+exposed, a few hours of sleep prior to the final advance, which was to
+take place an hour before dawn.
+
+In the midst of the general desolateness of aspect which encompassed
+all, there were few privations endured by the men that were not equally
+shared by their officers. A solitary and deserted log hut was the only
+thing in the shape of a human habitation within the bivouac, and this
+had been secured as the headquarters of the General and his staff--all
+besides had no other canopy than the clear starry heavens, or, here and
+there, the leafless and unsheltering branches of some forest tree--and
+yet, around one large and blazing fire, which continued to be fed at
+intervals by masses of half-decayed wood, that, divested of their snow,
+lay simmering and drying before it, was frequently to be heard the
+joyous yet suppressed laugh, and piquant sally, as of men whose spirits
+no temporary hardship or concern for the eventful future could
+effectually suppress.
+
+During the whole of the march, Raymond had evinced a seriousness of
+demeanor by no means common to him, and although he had made one of the
+party in the general bivouac, he had scarcely opened his lips, except to
+reply to the most direct questions. A renewed attack at first drew from
+him no comment, although it was evident he felt greatly pained; but when
+he had finished smoking his cigar, he raised himself, not without
+difficulty, from the ground, and began with a seriousness of manner
+that, being unusual, not a little surprised them, "Gentlemen, you have
+long been pleased to select me as your butt."
+
+"Of course," hastily interrupted Captain Molineux, hazarding his pun,
+"we naturally select you for what you most resemble."
+
+"Captain Molineux--gentlemen!" resumed Raymond, with greater emphasis.
+
+"He is getting warm on the subject," observed Middlemore. "Have a care,
+Molineux, that the butt does not _churn_ until in the end it becomes the
+_butter_."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" vociferated St. Clair, "good, excellent, the best you ever
+made, Middlemore."
+
+"Gentlemen!" persevered Raymond, in a tone, and with a gesture, of
+impatience, "this trifling will be deeply regretted by you all
+to-morrow; I repeat," he pursued, when he found he had at length
+succeeded in procuring silence, "you have long been pleased to select me
+as your butt, and while this was confined to my personal appearance,
+painful as I have sometimes found your humor, I could still endure it;
+but when I perceive those whom I have looked upon as friends and
+brothers, casting imputations upon my courage, I may be excused for
+feeling offended. You have succeeded in wounding my heart, and some of
+you will regret the hour when you did so. Another, perhaps, would adopt
+a different course, but I am not disposed to return evil for evil. I
+wish to believe, that in all your taunts upon this subject you have
+merely indulged your bantering humor--but not the less have you pained
+an honest heart. To-morrow will prove that you have grievously wronged
+me, and I am mistaken if you will not deeply regret it."
+
+So saying, he hurried away across the snow towards a distant fire, which
+lighted the ruder bivouac of the adjutant and quartermaster, and was
+there seen to seat himself with the air of one who has composed himself
+for the night.
+
+"What a silly fellow, to take the thing so seriously!" said Molineux,
+half vexed at himself, half moved by the reproachful tone of Raymond's
+address.
+
+"For God's sake, Grantham, call him back. Tell him we are ready to make
+any--every atonement for our offence," urged St. Clair.
+
+"And I will promise never to utter another pun at his expense as long as
+I live," added Middlemore.
+
+But before Henry Grantham, who had been a pained and silent witness of
+the scene, and who had already risen with a view to follow the wounded
+Raymond, could take a single step on his mission of peace, the low roll
+of the drum, summoning to fall in, warned them that the hour of action
+had already arrived, and each, quitting his fire, hastened to the more
+immediate and pressing duties of assembling his men, and carefully
+examining into the state of their appointments.
+
+In ten minutes from the beating of the _reveille_--considerably shorn of
+its wonted proportions, as the occasion demanded--the bivouac had been
+abandoned, and the little army again upon their march. What remained to
+be traversed of the space that separated them from the enemy, was an
+alternation of plain and open forest, but so completely in
+juxtaposition, that the head of the column had time to clear one wood
+and enter a second before its rear could disengage itself from the
+first. The effect of this, by the dim and peculiar light reflected from
+the snow across which they moved, was picturesque in the extreme, nor
+was the interest diminished by the utter silence that had pervaded every
+part of the little army, the measured tramp of whose march, mingled with
+the hollow and unavoidable rumbling of the light guns, being the only
+sounds to be heard amid that mass of living matter. The Indians, with
+the exception of a party of scouts, had been the last to quit their rude
+encampment, and as they now, in their eagerness to get to the front,
+glided stealthily by in the deep snows on either side of the more beaten
+track by which the troops advanced, and utterly without sound in their
+foot-fall they might rather have been compared to spirits of the wilds,
+than to human beings.
+
+The regiment having been told off into divisions, it so happened that
+Raymond and Henry Grantham, although belonging to different companies,
+now found themselves near each other. The latter had been most anxious
+to approach his really good-hearted companion, with a view to soothe his
+wounded feelings, and to convey, in the fullest and most convincing
+terms, the utter disclaimer of his inconsiderate brother officers, to
+reflect seriously on his conduct in the recent retreat--or, indeed, to
+intend their observations for anything beyond a mere pleasantry. As,
+however, the strictest order had been commanded to be observed in the
+march, and Raymond and he happened to be at opposite extremities of the
+division, this had been for some time impracticable. A temporary halt
+having occurred, just as the head of the column came within sight of the
+enemy's fires, Grantham quitted his station on the flank, and hastened
+to the head of his division, where he found Raymond with his arms folded
+across his chest, and apparently absorbed in deep thought. He tapped him
+lightly on the shoulder, and inquired in a tone of much kindness the
+subject of his musing.
+
+Touched by the manner in which he was addressed, Raymond dropped his
+arms and grasping the hand of the youth, observed in his usual voice;
+"Ah, is it you Henry--Egad, my dear boy, I was just thinking of you--and
+how very kind you have always been; never quizzing me as those
+thoughtless fellows have done--and certainly never insinuating anything
+against my courage--that was too bad, Henry, too bad, I could have
+forgiven anything but that."
+
+"Nay, nay, Raymond," answered his companion, soothingly; "believe me,
+neither Molineux, nor Middlemore, nor St. Clair meant anything beyond a
+jest. I can assure you they did not, for when you quitted us they asked
+me to go in search of you, but the assembly then commencing to beat, I
+was compelled to hasten to my company, nor have I had an opportunity of
+seeing you until now."
+
+"Very well, Henry, I forgive them, for it is not in my nature to keep
+anger long; but tell them that they should not wantonly wound the
+feelings of an unoffending comrade. As I told them, they may regret
+their unkindness to me before another sun has set. If so, I wish them no
+other punishment."
+
+"What mean you, my dear Raymond?"
+
+"Egad! I scarcely know myself, but something tells me very forcibly my
+hour is come."
+
+"Nonsense, this is but the effect of the depression, produced by fatigue
+and over excitement, added to the recent annoyance of your feelings."
+
+"Whatever it proceed from, I had made up my mind to it before we set
+out. Henry, my kind good Henry, I have neither friend nor relative on
+earth--no one to inherit the little property I possess. In the event of
+my falling, you will find the key of my desk in the breast pocket of my
+coat. A paper in that desk appoints you my executor. Will you accept the
+trust?"
+
+"Most sacredly, Raymond, will I fulfil every instruction it contains
+should I myself survive; but I cannot, will not, bring myself to
+anticipate your fall."
+
+"Move on, move on," passed quickly in a whisper from front to rear of
+the column.
+
+"God bless you, Henry," exclaimed Raymond, again pressing the hand of
+the youth--"remember the key."
+
+"We shall talk of that to-night," was the light reply. "Meanwhile, dear
+Raymond, God bless you," and again Grantham fell back to his place in
+the rear of the division.
+
+Five minutes later, and the troops were finally brought up in front of
+the enemy. A long line of fires marked the extent of the encampment,
+from which even then, the "all's well" of the sentinels could be
+occasionally heard. Except these, all profoundly slept, nor was there
+anything to indicate they had the slightest suspicion of an enemy being
+within twenty miles of them.
+
+"What glorious cannon work we shall have presently," whispered Villiers
+to Molineux, as they were brought together by their stations at the
+adjacent extremities of their respective division. "Only mark how the
+fellows sleep."
+
+"The devil take the cannon," muttered Villiers, "the bayonet for me, but
+you are right, for see, there go the guns to the front--hark there is a
+shot; the sentinels have discovered us at last; and now they are
+starting from before their fires, and hastening to snatch their arms."
+
+Whist, whist, whist, flew three balls successively between their heads.
+
+"Ha, here they begin to talk to us in earnest, and now to our duty."
+
+The next moment all was roar, and bustle, and confusion, and death.
+
+The sun was in the meridian; all sounds of combat had ceased. From the
+field, in which the troops had commenced the action, numerous sledges
+were seen departing, laden with the dead--the wounded having previously
+been sent off. One of these sledges remained stationary at some distance
+within the line, where the ravages of death were marked by pools of
+blood upon the snow, and at this point were grouped several individuals,
+assembled round a body which was about to be conveyed away.
+
+"By Heavens, I would give the world never to have said an unkind word to
+him," observed one, whose arm suspended from a sling, attested he had
+not come scatheless out of the action. It was St. Clair, whose great
+ambition it had always been to have his name borne among the list of
+wounded--provided there were no broken bones in the question.
+
+"As brave as he was honest-hearted," added a second, "you say, Grantham,
+that he forgave us all our nonsense."
+
+"He did, Molineux. He declared he could not bear resentment against you
+long. But still, I fear, he could not so easily forget. He observed to
+me, jestingly, just before deploying into line, that he felt his time
+was come, but there can be no doubt, from what we all witnessed, that he
+was determined from the outset to court his death."
+
+Captain Molineux turned away, apparently much affected--Middlemore spoke
+not, but it was evident he also was deeply pained. Each seemed to feel
+that he had been in some degree accessory to the catastrophe, but the
+past could not be recalled. The body, covered with blood, exuding from
+several wounds, was now placed on the sledge which was drawn off to join
+several others just departed, and the lingering officers hastened to
+overtake their several companies.
+
+When the action was at the hottest, one of the small guns in front (all
+of which had been fearfully exposed), was left without a single
+artilleryman. Availing themselves of this circumstance, the enemy, who
+were unprovided with artillery of any description, made a movement as if
+to possess themselves of, and turn it against the attacking force, then
+closing rapidly to dispute the possession of the breast work which
+covered their riflemen. Colonel St. Julian seeing this movement, called
+out for volunteers to rescue the gun from its perilous situation.
+Scarcely had the words passed his lips when an individual moved forward
+from the line, in the direction indicated. It was Lieutenant
+Raymond--Exposed to the fire, both of friends and foes, the unfortunate
+officer advanced calmly and unconcernedly, in the presence of the whole
+line, and before the Americans could succeed in even crossing their
+defences, had seized the gun by the drag rope, and withdrawn it under
+cover of the English fire. But this gallant act of self-devotedness, was
+not without its terrible price. Pierced by many balls, which the
+American riflemen had immediately directed at him, he fell dying within
+ten feet of the British line, brandishing his sword and faintly shouting
+a "huzza," that was answered by his companions with the fierce spirit of
+men stung to new exertion, and determined to avenge his fall.
+
+Thus perished the fat, the plain, the carbuncled, but really
+gallant-hearted Raymond--whose intrinsic worth was never estimated until
+he had ceased to exist. His fall, and all connected therewith, forms a
+sort of episode in our story, yet is it one not altogether without its
+moral. A private monument, on which was inscribed all that may soothe
+and flatter after death, was erected to his memory by those very
+officers whose persiflage, attacking in this instance even his honor as
+a soldier, had driven him to seek the fate he found. Of this there could
+be no question; for, brave as he unquestionably was, Raymond would not
+have acted as if courting death throughout, had he not fully made up his
+mind either to gain great distinction or to die under the eyes of those
+who had, he conceived, so greatly injured him. It is but justice to add
+that, for three days from his death, Middlemore did not utter a single
+pun, neither did St. Clair or Molineux indulge in a satirical
+observation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+The spring of 1813 had passed nearly away, yet without producing any
+renewed effort on the part of the Americans. From information obtained
+from the Indian scouts, it however appeared that, far from being
+discouraged by their recent disaster, they had moved forward a third
+army to the Miami, where they had strongly entrenched themselves, until
+fitting opportunity should be found to renew their attempt to recover
+the lost district. It was also ascertained that, with a perseverance and
+industry peculiar to themselves, they had been occupied throughout the
+rigorous winter in preparing a fleet of sufficient force to compete with
+that of the British; and that, abandoning the plan hitherto pursued by
+his predecessors, the American leader of this third army of invasion
+purposed transporting his troops across the lake, instead of running the
+risk of being harassed and cut up in an advance by land. To effect this,
+it was of course necessary to have the command of the lake, and there
+were all the sinews of exertion called into full exercise, to obtain the
+desired ascendancy.
+
+To defeat this intention became now the chief object of the British
+General. With the close of winter had ceased the hunting pursuits of the
+warriors, so that each day brought with it a considerable accession to
+the strength of this wild people, vast numbers of whom had betaken
+themselves to their hunting grounds, shortly after the capture of
+Detroit. The chiefs of these several nations were now summoned to a
+Council, in the course of which it was decided that a formidable
+expedition, accompanied by a heavy train of battering artillery, should
+embark in batteaux, with a view to the reduction of the American post
+established on the Miami--a nucleus around which was fast gathering a
+spirit of activity that threatened danger, if not annihilation, to the
+English influence in the North Western districts. In the event of the
+accomplishment of this design, Detroit and Amherstburg would necessarily
+be released from all apprehension, since, even admitting the Americans
+could acquire a superiority of naval force on the lake, such superiority
+could only be essentially injurious to us, as a means of affording
+transport to, and covering the operations of an invading army. If,
+however, that already on the Miami could be defeated, and their fortress
+razed, it was not probable that a fourth could be equipped and pushed
+forward, with a view to offensive operations, in sufficient time to
+accomplish anything decisive before the winter should set in. Tecumseh,
+who had just returned from collecting new bodies of warriors, warmly
+approved the project, and undertook to bring two thousand men into the
+field, as his quota of the expedition, the departure of which was
+decided for the seventh day from the Council.
+
+The day on which that Council was held, was characterized by one of
+those sudden outbursts of elemental war, so common to the Canadas in
+early summer, and which, in awful grandeur of desolation, are frequently
+scarcely inferior to the hurricanes of the tropics. The morning had been
+oppressively sultry, and there was that general and heavy lethargy of
+nature that usually precedes a violent reaction. About noon a small,
+dark speck was visible in the hitherto cloudless horizon, and this
+presently grew in size until the whole western sky was one dense mass of
+threatening black, which eventually spread itself over the entire
+surface of the heavens leaving not a hand's breadth anywhere visible.
+Presently, amid the sultry stillness that prevailed, there came a slight
+breeze over the face of the waters, and then, as if some vast battering
+train had suddenly opened its hundred mouths of terror, vomiting forth
+showers of grape and other missiles, come astounding thunder-claps, and
+forked lightnings, and rain, and hail, and whistling wind--all in such
+terrible union, yet such fearful disorder, that man, the last to take
+warning, or feel awed by the anger of the common parent, Nature, bent
+his head in lowliness and silence to her voice, and awaited tremblingly
+the passing away of her wrath.
+
+Henry Grantham, whose turn of duty had again brought him to Amherstburg,
+was in the mess-room of the garrison when the storm was at the fiercest.
+Notwithstanding the excitement of the council-scene, at which he had
+been present, he had experienced an unusual depression throughout the
+day, originating partly in the languid state of the atmosphere, but
+infinitely more in the anxiety under which he labored in regard to his
+brother, of whom no other intelligence had been received, since his
+departure with his prisoners for Buffalo, than what vague rumor, coupled
+with the fact of the continued absence of the schooner, afforded. That
+the vessel had been captured by the enemy there could be no doubt; but,
+knowing as he did, the gallant spirit of Gerald, there was reason to
+imagine that he had not yielded to his enemies, before every means of
+resistance had been exhausted: and if so, what might not have been the
+effect of his obstinacy, if such a term could be applied to unshaken
+intrepidity, on men exasperated by opposition and eager for revenge. In
+the outset he had admitted his gentle cousin Gertrude to his confidence,
+as one most suited, by her docility, to soothe without appearing to
+remark on his alarm, but when, little suspecting the true motive of her
+agitation, he saw her evince an emotion surpassing his own, and
+admitting and giving way to fears beyond any he would openly avow, he
+grew impatient and disappointed, and preferring rather to hear the
+tocsin of alarm sounded from his own heart than from the lips of
+another, he suddenly, and much to the surprise of the affectionate girl,
+discontinued all allusion to the subject. But Henry's anxiety was not
+the less poignant from being confined within his own breast, and
+although it gratified him to find that flattering mention was frequently
+made of his brother at the mess-table, coupled with regret for his
+absence, it was reserved for his hours of privacy and abstraction to
+dwell upon the fears which daily became more harassing and perplexing.
+
+On the present occasion, even while his brother officers had thought nor
+ear but for the terrible tempest that raged without, and at one moment
+threatened to bury them beneath its trembling roof, the mind of Henry
+was full of his absent brother, whom, more than ever, he now seemed to
+regret, from the association of the howling tempest with the wild
+element on which he had last beheld him; and so complete at last had
+become the ascendancy of his melancholy, that when the storm had been in
+some degree stilled, and the rain abated, he took an early leave of his
+companions, with a view to indulge in privacy the gloomy feelings by
+which he felt himself oppressed.
+
+In passing through the gate of the fort, on his way into the town, his
+attention was arrested by several groups of persons, consisting of
+soldiers, Indians, and inhabitants, who, notwithstanding the inclemency
+of the hour, were gathered on the high bank in front of the _demi-lune_
+battery, eagerly bending their gaze upon the river. Half curious to know
+what could have attracted them in such weather from shelter, Henry
+advanced and mingled in the crowd, which gave way at his approach.
+Although the fury of the tempest had spent itself, there was still wind
+enough to render it a matter of necessary precaution that the bystander
+should secure a firm footing on the bank, while the water, violently
+agitated and covered with foam, resembled rather a pigmy sea than an
+inland river--so unusual and so vast were its waves. The current,
+moreover, increased in strength by the sudden swelling of the waters,
+dashed furiously down, giving its direction to the leaping billows that
+rode impatiently upon its surface; and at the point of intersection by
+the island of Bois Blanc, formed so violent an eddy within twenty feet
+of the land, as to produce the effect of a whirlpool, while again,
+between the island and the Canadian shore, the current, always rapid and
+of great force, flew boiling down its channel, and with a violence
+almost quadrupled.
+
+Amid this uproar of the usually placid river, there was but one bark
+found bold enough to venture upon her angered bosom, and this, although
+but an epitome of those that have subdued the world of waters, and
+chained them in subservience to the will of man, now danced gallantly,
+almost terrifically, from billow to billow, and, with the feathery
+lightness of her peculiar class, seemed borne onward, less by the
+leaping waves themselves than by the white and driving spray that
+fringed their summits. This bark--a canoe evidently of the smallest
+description--had been watched in its progress, from afar, by the groups
+assembled on the bank, who had gathered at each other's call, to witness
+and marvel at the gallant daring of those who had committed it to the
+boiling element. Two persons composed her crew--the one seated in the
+stern, and carefully guiding the bark so as to enable her to breast the
+threatening waves, which, in quick succession, rose as if to accomplish
+her overthrow--the other standing at her bows, the outline of his upper
+figure designed against the snow-white sail, and, with his arms folded
+across his chest, apparently gazing without fear on the danger which
+surrounded him. It was evident, from their manner of conducting the
+bark, that the adventurers were not Indians, and yet there was nothing
+to indicate to what class of the white family they belonged. Both were
+closely wrapped in short, dark-colored pea coats, and their heads were
+surmounted with glazed hats--a species of costume that more than
+anything else proved their familiarity with the element whose brawling
+they appeared to brave with an indifference bordering on madness.
+
+Such was the position of the parties at the moment when Henry Grantham
+gained the bank. Hitherto the canoe, in the broad reach that divided the
+island from the American mainland, had had merely the turbulence of the
+short heavy waves, and a comparatively modified current, to contend
+against. Overwhelming even as these difficulties would have proved to
+men less gifted with the power of opposing and vanquishing them, they
+were but light in comparison with what was to be overcome. The canoe was
+now fast gaining the head of the island, and pursuing a direct course
+for the whirlpool already described. The only means of avoiding this was
+by closely hugging the shore between which and the violent eddy without,
+the water, broken in its impetuosity by the covering headland, presented
+a more even and less agitated surface. This headland once doubled, the
+safety of the adventurers was ensured, since, although the tremendous
+current which swept through the inner channel must have borne them
+considerably downwards, still the canoe would have accomplished the
+transit below the town in perfect safety. The fact of this opportunity
+being neglected, led at once to the inference that the adventurers were
+total strangers, and distinct voices were now raised by those on the
+bank, to warn them of their danger--but whether it was that they heard
+not, or understood not, the warning was unnoticed. Once indeed it seemed
+as if he who so ably conducted the course of the bark, had comprehended
+and would have followed, the suggestion so earnestly given, for his tiny
+sail was seen to flutter for the first time in the wind, as with the
+intention to alter his course. But an impatient gesture from his
+companion in the bow, who was seen to turn suddenly round and utter
+something, (which was however inaudible to those on shore,) again
+brought the head of the fragile vessel to her original course, and
+onward she went, leaping and bounding, apparently with the design to
+clear the whirlpool at a higher point of the river.
+
+Nothing short of a miracle could now possibly enable the adventurers to
+escape being drawn into the boiling vortex; and, during the moments that
+succeeded, every heart beat high with fearful expectation as to the
+result. At length the canoe came with a sudden plunge into the very
+centre of the current, which all the skill of the steersman was
+insufficient to enable him to clear. Her bow yawed, her little sail
+fluttered--and away she flew, broadside foremost, down the stream, with
+as little power of resistance as a feather or a straw. Scarcely had the
+eye time to follow her in this peculiar descent, when she was in the
+very heart of the raging eddy. For a moment she reeled like a top, then
+rolled two or three times over, and finally disappeared altogether.
+Various expressions of horror broke from the several groups of whites
+and Indians, all of whom had anticipated the catastrophe without the
+power of actively interposing. Beyond the advice that was given, not a
+word was uttered, but every eye continued fixed on the whirlpool, as
+though momentarily expecting to see something issue from its bosom.
+After the lapse of a minute, a dark object suddenly presented itself
+some twenty yards below, between the island and town. It was the canoe
+which, bottom upwards and deprived of its little mast and sail, had
+again risen to the surface, and was floating rapidly down with the
+current. Presently afterwards two heads were seen nearly at the point
+where the canoe had again emerged. They were the unfortunate
+adventurers, one of whom appeared to be supporting his companion with
+one arm, whilst with the other he dashed away the waters that bore them
+impetuously along. The hats of both had fallen off, and as he who
+exerted himself so strenuously, rose once or twice in the vigor of his
+efforts above the element with which he contended, he seemed to present
+the grisly, woolly hair, and the sable countenance of an aged negro. A
+vague surmise of the truth now flashed upon the mind of the excited
+officer; but when, presently afterwards, he saw the powerful form once
+more raised, and in a voice that made itself distinctly heard above the
+howling of the wind, exclaim, "Help a dare!" there was no longer a
+doubt, and he rushed towards the dock-yard, to gain which the exertions
+of the negro were now directed.
+
+On reaching it, he found both Gerald and his faithful attendant just
+touching the shore. Aroused by the cry for help which Sambo had pealed
+forth, several of the workmen had quitted the shelter of the
+block-houses in which they were lodged, and hastened to the rescue of
+him whom they immediately afterwards saw struggling furiously to free
+himself and companion from the violent current. Stepping to the
+extremity on some loose timber which lay secured to the shore, yet
+floating in the river--they threw out poles, one of which Sambo seized
+like an enraged mastiff in his teeth, and still supporting the body, and
+repelling the water with his disengaged arm, in this manner succeeded in
+gaining the land. The crews of the little fleet, which lay armed a
+hundred yards lower down, had also witnessed the rapid descent of two
+apparently drowning men, and ropes had everywhere been thrown out from
+the vessels. As for lowering a boat, it was out of the question; for no
+boat could have resisted the violence of the current, even for some
+hours after the storm had wholly ceased.
+
+It may be easily conceived with what mingled emotions the generous
+Henry, whose anxiety had been so long excited in regard to his brother's
+fate, now beheld that brother suddenly restored to him. Filled with an
+affection that was rendered the more intense by the very fact of the
+danger from which he had just seen him rescued, he, regardless of those
+around and in defiance of his wet and dripping clothes, sprang eagerly
+to his embrace, but Gerald received him with a cold--almost averted air.
+Suffering, rather than sharing, this mark of fraternal love, he turned
+the instant afterward to his servant, and, in a tone of querulousness
+said, "Sambo, give me wine."
+
+Inexpressibly shocked, and not knowing what to think of this conduct,
+Henry bent his glance upon the negro. The old man shook his head
+mournfully, and even with the dripping spray that continued to fall from
+his woolly locks upon his cheeks, tears might be seen to mingle. A
+dreadful misgiving came over the mind of the youth, and he felt his
+very hair rise thrillingly, as he for a moment admitted the horrible
+possibility, that the shock produced by his recent accident had affected
+his brother's intellect. Sambo replied to his master's demand, by saying
+"there was no wine--the canoe and its contents had been utterly lost."
+
+All this passed during the first few moments of their landing. The
+necessity for an immediate change of apparel was obvious, and Gerald and
+his servant were led into the nearest block house, where each of the
+honest fellows occupying it was eager in producing whatever his rude
+wardrobe afforded. The brothers then made the best of their way,
+followed by the negro, to their own abode in the town.
+
+The evening being damp and chilly, a fire was kindled in the apartment
+in which Gerald dined--the same in which both had witnessed the dying
+moments of their mother, and Henry those of their father. It had been
+chosen by the former, in the height of her malady, for its cheerfulness,
+and she had continued in it until the hour of her decease; while Major
+Grantham had selected it for his chamber of death for the very reason
+that it had been that of his regretted wife. Henry, having already
+dined, sat at the opposite extremity of the table watching his brother,
+whose features he had so longed to behold once more; yet not without a
+deep and bitter feeling of grief, that those features should have
+undergone so complete a change in their expression towards himself.
+Gerald had thrown off the temporary and ill-fitting vestments exchanged
+for his own wet clothing, and now that he appeared once more in his
+customary garb, an extraordinary alteration was perceptible in his whole
+appearance. Instead of the blooming cheek, and rounded and elegant form,
+for which he had always been remarkable, he now offered to the eye of
+his anxious brother, an emaciated figure, and a countenance pale even to
+wanness--while evidence of much care and inward suffering might be
+traced in the stern contraction of his hitherto open brow. There was
+also a dryness in his speech that startled and perplexed even more than
+the change in his person. The latter might be the effect of
+imprisonment, and its anxiety and privation, coupled with the exhaustion
+arising from his recent accident; but how was the first to be accounted
+for, and wherefore was he, after so long a separation, and under such
+circumstances, thus incommunicative and unaffectionate? All these
+reflections occurred to the mind of the sensitive Henry, as he sat
+watching, and occasionally addressing a remark to, his taciturn brother,
+until he became fairly bewildered in his efforts to find a clue to his
+conduct. The horrible dread which had first suggested itself of the
+partial overthrow of intellect, had passed away, but to this had
+succeeded a discovery attended by quite as much concern, although
+creating less positive alarm. He had seen, with inexpressible pain, that
+Gerald ate but little, seeming rather to loathe his food, while on the
+other hand he had recourse more frequently to wine, drinking off bumpers
+with greedy avidity, until, yielding at length to the excess of his
+potations, he fell fast asleep in the arm-chair he had drawn to the
+fire, overcome by the mingled influence of wine, fatigue and drowsiness.
+
+Bitter were the feelings of Henry Grantham, as thus he gazed upon his
+sleeping brother. Fain would he have persuaded himself that the effect
+he now witnessed was an isolated instance, and occurring only under the
+peculiar circumstances of the moment. It was impossible to recal the
+manner in which he had demanded "wine" from their faithful old servant
+and friend, and not feel satisfied that the tone proclaimed him one who
+had been in the frequent habit of repeating that demand, as the prepared
+yet painful manner of the black, indicated a sense of having been too
+frequently called upon to administer to it. Alas, thought the
+heart-stricken Henry, can it really be, that he whom I have cherished in
+my heart of hearts with more than brother's love, has thus fallen? Has
+Gerald, formerly as remarkable for sobriety as for every honorable
+principle, acquired even during the months I have so wretchedly mourned
+his absence, the fearful propensities of the drunkard? The bare idea
+overpowered him, and with difficulty restraining his tears, he rose from
+his seat, and paced the room for some time in a state of indescribable
+agitation. Then again he stopped, and when he looked in the sleeping
+face of his unconscious brother, he was more than ever struck by the
+strange change which had been wrought in his appearance. Finding that
+Gerald still slept profoundly, he took the resolution of instantly
+questioning Sambo as to all that had befallen them during their absence,
+and ascertaining, if possible, to what circumstance the mystery which
+perplexed him was attributable. Opening and reclosing the door with
+caution, he hastened to the room which, owing to his years and long and
+faithful services, had been set apart for the accommodation of the old
+man when on shore. Here he found Sambo, who had dispatched his
+substantial meal, busily occupied in drying his master's wet dress
+before a large blazing wood fire--and laying out, with the same view,
+certain papers, the contents of a pocket-book which had been completely
+saturated with water. A ray of satisfaction lighted the dark but
+intelligent face of the negro, which the instant before had worn an
+expression of suffering, as the young officer, pressing his hand with
+warmth, thanked him deeply and fervently for the noble, almost
+superhuman, exertions, he had made that day to preserve his brother's
+life.
+
+"Oh, Massa Henry!" was all the poor creature could say in reply, as he
+returned the pressure with an emphasis that spoke his profound
+attachment to both. Then leaning his white head upon his hand against
+the chimney, and bursting into tears--"berry much change, he poor broder
+Geral, he not a same at all."
+
+Here was a sad opening indeed to the subject. The heart of the youth
+sank within him, yet feeling the necessity of knowing all connected with
+his brother's unhappiness, he succeeded in drawing the old man into
+conversation, and finally into a narration of all their adventures, as
+far at least as he had personal knowledge, from the moment of their
+leaving Detroit in the preceding autumn.
+
+When, after the expiration of an hour, he returned to the drawing-room,
+Gerald was awake, and so far restored by his sound sleep as to be, not
+only more communicative, but more cordial towards his brother. He even
+reverted to past scenes, and spoke of the mutual events of their youth,
+with a cheerfulness bordering on levity; but this pained Henry the more,
+for he saw in it but the fruit of a forced excitement--as melancholy in
+adoption as pernicious in effect--and his own heart repugned all
+participation in so unnatural a gaiety, although he enforced himself to
+share it to the outward eye. Fatigue at length compelled Gerald to court
+the quiet of his pillow, and, overcome as his senses were with wine, he
+slept profoundly until morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+When they met at breakfast, Henry was more than ever struck and
+afflicted by the alteration in his brother's person and manner. All
+traces of the last night's excitement had disappeared with the cause,
+and pale, haggard and embarrassed, he seemed but the shadow of his
+former self, while the melancholy of his countenance had in it something
+wild and even fierce. As at their first meeting, his language was dry
+and reserved, and he seemed rather impatient of conversation, as though
+it interfered with the indulgence of some secret and all absorbing
+reflection, while, to Henry's affectionate questioning of his adventures
+since they first parted, he replied in the vague unsatisfactory manner
+of one who seeks to shun the subject altogether. At another moment, this
+apparent prostration of the physical man might have been ascribed to his
+long immersion of the preceding day, and the efforts that were necessary
+to rescue him from a watery grave; but, from the account Sambo had given
+him, Henry had but too much reason to fear that the disease of body and
+mind which had so completely encompassed his unfortunate brother, not
+only had its being in a different cause, but might be dated from an
+earlier period. Although burning with desire to share that confidence
+which it grieved him to the soul to find thus unkindly withheld, he made
+no effort to remove the cloak of reserve in which his brother had
+invested himself. That day they both dined at the garrison mess, and
+Henry saw with additional pain, that the warm felicitations of his
+brother officers on his return, were received by Gerald with the same
+reserve and indifference which had characterized his meeting with him,
+while he evinced the same disinclination to enter upon the solicited
+history of his captivity, as well as the causes which led to his bold
+venture, and consequent narrow escape, of the preceding day. Finding him
+thus incommunicative, and not comprehending the change in his manner,
+they rallied him; and, as the bottle circulated, he seemed more and more
+disposed to meet their raillery with a cheerfulness and good humor that
+brought even the color into his sunken cheeks; but when, finally, some
+of them proceeded to ask him, in their taunting manner, what he had done
+with his old flame and fascinating prisoner, Miss Montgomerie, a deadly
+paleness overspread his countenance, and he lost in the moment all power
+of disguising his feelings. His emotion was too sudden and too palpable,
+not to be observed by those who had unwillingly called it forth, and
+they at once, with considerate tact, changed the conversation. Hereupon
+Gerald again made an effort to rally, but no one returned to the
+subject. Piqued at this conduct, he had more frequent recourse to the
+bottle, and laughed and talked in a manner that proved him to be
+laboring under the influence of extraordinary excitement. When he took
+leave of his brother to retire to rest, he was silent, peevish,
+dissatisfied--almost angry.
+
+Henry passed a night of extreme disquiet. It was evident from what had
+occurred at the mess-table in relation to the beautiful American, that
+to her was to be ascribed the wretchedness to which Gerald had become a
+victim, and he resolved on the following morning to waive all false
+delicacy, and throwing himself upon his affection, to solicit his
+confidence, and offer whatever counsel he conceived would best tend to
+promote his peace of mind.
+
+At breakfast the conversation turned on the intended movement, which was
+to take place within three days, and on this subject Gerald evinced a
+vivacity that warmed into eagerness. He had risen early that morning,
+with a view to obtain the permission of the commodore to make one of the
+detachment of sailors who were to accompany the expedition, and, having
+succeeded in obtaining the command of one of the two gun-boats which
+were destined to ascend the Miami, and form part of the battering force,
+seemed highly pleased. This apparent return to himself might have led
+his brother into the belief that his feelings had undergone a reaction,
+had he not, unfortunately, but too much reason to know that the
+momentary gaiety was the result of the very melancholy which consumed
+him. However, it gave him a more favorable opportunity to open the
+subject next his heart, and, as a preparatory step, he dexterously
+contrived to turn the conversation into the channel most suited to his
+purpose.
+
+The only ill effect arising from Gerald's recent immersion was a sense
+of pain in that part of his arm which had been bitten by the
+rattlesnake, on the day of the pic-nic to Hog Island, and it chanced
+that this morning especially it had a good deal annoyed him, evincing
+some slight predisposition to inflammation. To subdue this, Henry
+applied with his own hand a liniment which had been recommended, and
+took occasion, when he had finished, to remark on the devotedness and
+fearlessness Miss Montgomerie had manifested in coming so opportunely to
+his rescue--in all probability, thereby preserving his life.
+
+At the sound of this name Gerald started, and evinced the same
+impatience of the subject he had manifested on the preceding day. Henry
+keenly remarked his emotion, and Gerald was sensible that he did.
+
+Both sat for some minutes gazing at each other in expressive silence,
+the one as if waiting to hear, the other as if conscious that he was
+expected to afford, some explanation of the cause of so marked an
+emotion. At length Gerald said and in a tone of deep and touching
+despondency, "Henry, I fear you find me very unamiable and much altered,
+but indeed I am very unhappy."
+
+Here was touched the first chord of their sympathies. Henry's, already
+on the _elan_, flew to meet this demonstration of returning confidence,
+and he replied in a voice broken by the overflowing of his full heart.
+
+"Oh, my beloved brother, changed must you indeed be, when even the
+admission that you are unhappy inspires me with a thankfulness such as I
+now feel. Gerald, I entreat, I implore you, by the love we have borne
+each other from infancy, to disguise nothing from me. Tell me what it is
+that weighs so heavily at your heart. Repose implicit confidence in me
+your brother, and let me assist and advise you in your extremity, as my
+poor ability will permit. Tell me, Gerald, wherefore are you thus
+altered--what dreadful disappointment has thus turned the milk of your
+nature into gall?"
+
+Gerald gazed at him a moment intently. He was much affected, and a
+sudden and unbidden tear stole down his pallid cheek. "If _you_ have
+found the milk of my nature turned into gall, then indeed am I even more
+wretched than I thought myself. But, Henry, you ask me what I cannot
+yield--my confidence--and, even were it not so, the yielding would
+advantage neither. I am unhappy, as I have said, but the cause of that
+unhappiness must ever remain buried here," and he pointed to his breast.
+This was said kindly, yet determinedly.
+
+"Enough, Gerald," and his brother spoke in terms of deep reproach,
+"since you persist in withholding your confidence, I will no longer urge
+it; but you cannot wonder that I, who love but you alone on earth,
+should sorrow as one without hope, at beholding you subject to a grief
+so overwhelming as to have driven you to seek refuge from it in an
+unhallowed grave."
+
+"I do not understand you--what mean you?" quickly interrupted Gerald,
+raising his head from the hand which supported it at the breakfast-table
+while he colored faintly.
+
+"You cannot well be ignorant of my meaning," pursued Henry in the same
+tone, "if you but recur to the circumstances attending your arrival
+here."
+
+"I am still in the dark," continued Gerald, with some degree of
+impatience.
+
+"Because you know not that I am acquainted with all that took place on
+the melancholy occasion. Gerald," he pursued, "forgive the apparent
+harshness of what I am about to observe--but was it generous--was it
+kind in you to incur the risk you did, when you must have known that
+your death would have entailed upon me an eternal grief? Was it worthy
+of yourself, moreover, to make the devoted follower of your fortunes, a
+sharer in the danger you so eagerly and wantonly courted?"
+
+"Nay, my good brother," and Gerald made an attempt at levity, "you are
+indeed an unsparing monitor; but suppose I should offer in reply, that a
+spirit of enterprize was upon me on the occasion to which you allude,
+and that, fired by a desire to astonish you all with a bold feat, I had
+resolved to do what no other had done before me, yet without
+apprehending the serious consequences which ensued--or even assuming the
+danger to have been so great."
+
+"All this, Gerald, you might, yet would not say; because, in saying it,
+you would have to charge yourself with a gross insincerity; and although
+you do not deem me worthy to share your confidence, I still have
+pleasure in knowing that my affection will not be repaid with
+deceit--however plausible the motives for its adoption may appear--by
+the substitution, in short, of that which is not for that which is."
+
+"A gross insincerity?" repeated Gerald, again slightly coloring.
+
+"Yes, my brother--I say it not in anger, nor in reproach--but a gross
+insincerity it would certainly be. Alas, Gerald, your motives are but
+too well known to me. The danger you incurred was incurred wilfully,
+wantonly, and with a view to your own destruction."
+
+Gerald started. The color had again fled from his sunken cheek, and he
+was ashy pale. "And _how_ knew you this?" he asked with a trembling
+voice.
+
+"Even, Gerald, as I know that you have been driven to seek in wine that
+upbearing against the secret grief which consumes you, which should be
+found alone in the fortitude of a strong mind and the consciousness of
+an untainted honor. Oh, Gerald, had these been your supporters, you
+never would have steeped your reason so far in forgetfulness, as to have
+dared what you did on that eventful day. Good Heaven! how little did I
+ever expect to see the brother of my love degenerated so far as to
+border on the character of the drunkard and the suicide."
+
+The quick but sunken eyes of the sailor flashed fire; and he pressed his
+lips, and clenched his teeth together, as one strongly attempting to
+restrain his indignation. It was but the momentary flashing of the
+chafed and bruised spirit.
+
+"You probe me deeply, Henry," he said, calmly and in a voice of much
+melancholy. "These are severe expressions for a brother to use; but you
+are right--I did seek oblivion of my wretchedness in that whirlpool, as
+the only means of destroying the worm that feeds incessantly upon my
+heart; but Providence has willed it otherwise--and, morever, I had not
+taken the danger of my faithful servant into the account. Had Sambo not
+saved me, I must have perished; for I made not the slightest effort to
+preserve myself. However, it matters but little, the mere manner of
+one's death," he pursued, with increased despondency. "It is easy for
+you, Henry, whose mind is at peace with itself and the world, to preach
+fortitude and resignation; but, felt you the burning flame which
+scorches my vitals, you would acknowledge the wide difference between
+theory and practice."
+
+Henry rose deeply agitated; he went to the door and secured the bolt;
+then returning, knelt at his brother's feet. Gerald had one hand
+covering his eyes, from which, however, the tears forced themselves
+through his closed fingers. The other was seized and warmly pressed in
+his brother's grasp.
+
+"Gerald," he said, in the most emphatic manner, "by the love you ever
+bore to our sainted parents, in whose chamber of death I now appeal to
+your better feelings--by the friendship that has united our hearts from
+youth to manhood--by all and every tie of affection, let me implore you
+once more to confide this dreadful grief to me, that I may share it with
+you, and counsel you for your good. Oh, my brother, on my bended knees
+do I solicit your confidence. Believe me, no mean curiosity prompts my
+prayer. I would soothe, console, assist you--aye, even to the very
+sacrifice of life."
+
+The feelings of the sailor were evidently touched, yet he uttered not a
+word. His hand still covered his face, and the tears seemed to flow even
+faster than before.
+
+"Gerald," pursued his brother, with bitterness; "I see, with pain, that
+I have not your confidence, and I desist--yet answer me one question.
+From the faithful Sambo, as you must perceive, I have learnt all
+connected with your absence, and from him I have gained that, during
+your captivity, you were much with Miss Montgomerie (he pronounced the
+name with an involuntary shuddering); all I ask, therefore, is, whether
+your wretchedness proceeds from the rejection of your suit, or from any
+levity or inconstancy you may have found in her?"
+
+Gerald raised his head from his supporting hand, and turned upon his
+brother a look in which mortified pride predominated over an infinitude
+of conflicting emotions.
+
+"Rejected, Henry, _my_ suit rejected--oh, no! In supposing my grief to
+originate with her, you are correct; but imagine not it is because my
+suit is rejected--certainly not."
+
+"Then," exclaimed Henry, with generous emphasis, while he pressed the
+thin hand which he held more closely between his own, "Why not marry
+her?"
+
+Gerald started.
+
+"Yes, marry her," continued Henry; "marry her and be at peace. Oh!
+Gerald, you know not what sad agency I attached to that insidious
+American from the first moment of her landing on this shore--you know
+not how much I have disliked, and still dislike her--but what are all
+these considerations when my brother's happiness is at stake? Gerald,
+marry her--and be happy."
+
+"Impossible," returned the sailor, in a feeble voice, and again his
+heart sank upon the open palm of his hand.
+
+"Do you no longer love her, then?" eagerly questioned the astonished
+youth.
+
+Once more Gerald raised his head, and fixed his large, dim eyes full
+upon those of his brother. "To madness!" he said, in a voice and with a
+look that made Henry shudder. There was a moment of painful pause. The
+latter at length ventured to observe:
+
+"You speak in riddles, Gerald. If you love this Miss Montgomerie to
+madness, and are, as you seem to intimate, loved by her in return, why
+not, as I have urged, marry her?"
+
+"Because," replied the sailor, turning paler than before, and almost
+gasping for breath, "there is a condition attached to the possession of
+her hand."
+
+"And that is?" pursued Henry, inquiringly, after another long and
+painful pause--
+
+"My secret," and Gerald pointed significantly to his breast.
+
+"True," returned Henry, slightly coloring; "I had forgotten--but what
+condition, Gerald (and here he spoke as if piqued at the abrupt manner
+in which his brother had concluded his half confidence), what condition,
+I ask, may a woman entitled to our respect, as well as to our love,
+propose, which should be held of more account than that severest of
+offences against the Divine will--self-murder? Nay, look not thus
+surprised; for have you not admitted that you had guiltily attempted to
+throw away your life--to commit suicide, in short--rather than comply
+with an earthly condition?"
+
+"What if in this," returned Gerald, with a smile of bitterness, "I have
+preferred the lesser guilt to the greater?"
+
+"I can understand no condition, my brother, a woman worthy of your
+esteem could impose, which should one moment weigh in the same scale
+against the inexpiable crime of self-destruction. But, really, all this
+mystery so startles and confounds me, that I know not what to
+think--what inference to draw."
+
+"Henry," observed the sailor, with some show of impatience, "considering
+your promise not to urge it further, it seems to me you push the matter
+to an extremity."
+
+The youth made no reply, but, raising himself from his knees, moved
+towards the door, which he again unbolted. He then walked to the window
+at the further end of the apartment.
+
+Gerald saw that he was deeply pained; and, impatient and angry with
+himself, he also rose and paced the room with hurried steps. At length
+he stopped, and putting one hand upon the shoulder of his brother, who
+stood gazing vacantly from the window, pointed with the other towards
+that part of the apartment in which both their parents had breathed
+their last.
+
+"Henry, my kind, good Henry," he said, with a voice faltering with
+emotion, "do you recollect the morning when, on our return from school,
+we found our young holiday joy changed into heart-breaking and mourning
+by the sight of our dying mother?"
+
+"Remember it, Gerald! aye, even as though it had been yesterday. Oh, my
+brother, little did I think at the moment when, with hands closely
+clasped together, we sank, overcome with grief, upon our bended knees,
+to receive that mother's blessing, a day would ever arrive when the joy
+or sorrow of the one should form no portion of the joy or sorrow of the
+other."
+
+"It was there," pursued Gerald, and without noticing the interruption,
+"that we solemnly pledged ourselves to do the will and bidding of our
+father in all things."
+
+"Even so, Gerald, I remember it well."
+
+"And it was there," continued the sailor, with the emphasis of strong
+emotion, "that, during my unfortunate absence from the death-bed of our
+yet surviving parent, you gave a pledge for _both_, that no action of
+our lives should reflect dishonor on his unsullied name."
+
+"I did. Both in your name and in my own, I gave the pledge--well knowing
+that, in that, I merely anticipated your desire."
+
+"Most assuredly; what then would be your sensations were you to know
+that I had violated that sacred obligation?"
+
+"Deep, poignant, ceaseless regret, that my once noble and high-spirited
+brother should have been so lost to respect for his father's memory and
+for himself." This was uttered not without deep agitation.
+
+"You are right, Henry," added Gerald, mournfully; "better, far better,
+is it to die than live on in the consciousness of having forfeited all
+claim to esteem."
+
+The young soldier started as if a viper had stung him. "Gerald," he
+said, eagerly, "you have not dishonored yourself. Oh no--tell me, my
+brother, that you have not."
+
+"No," was the cold, repulsive answer; "although my peace of mind is
+fled," he pursued, rather more mildly, "my honor, thank heaven, remains
+as pure as when you first pledged yourself for its preservation."
+
+"Thanks, my brother, for that. But can it really be possible, that the
+mysterious condition attached to Miss Montgomerie's love involves the
+loss of honor?"
+
+Gerald made no answer.
+
+"And can _you_ really be weak enough to entertain a passion for a woman,
+who would make the dishonoring of the fair fame of him she professes to
+love the fearful price at which her affection is to be purchased?"
+
+Gerald seemed to wince at the word "weak," which was rather emphatically
+pronounced, and looked displeased at the concluding part of the
+sentence.
+
+"I said not that the condition attached to her _love_," he remarked,
+with the piqued expression of a wounded vanity; "her affection is mine,
+I know, beyond her own power of control--the condition relates not to
+her heart, but to her hand."
+
+"Alas, my poor infatuated brother. Blinding indeed must be the delusions
+of passion, when a nature so sensitive and so honorable shrinks not from
+such a connexion. My only surprise is, that, with such a perversion of
+judgment you have returned at all."
+
+"No more of this Henry. It is not in man to control his destiny, and
+mine appears to be to love with a fervor that must bear me, ere long, to
+my grave. Of this, however, be assured--that, whatever my weakness, or
+infatuation, as you may be pleased to call it, _that_ passion shall
+never be gratified at the expense of my honor. Deeply--madly as I doat
+upon her image, Miss Montgomerie and I have met for the last time."
+
+Overcome by the emotion with which he had thus expressed himself, Gerald
+could not restrain a few burning tears that forced their way down his
+hollow cheeks. Henry caught eagerly at this indication of returning
+softness, and again essayed, in reference to the concluding declaration
+of his brother, to urge upon him the unworthiness of her who had thus
+cast her deadly spell upon his happiness. But Gerald could ill endure
+the slightest allusion to the subject.
+
+"Henry," he said, "I have already told you that Miss Montgomerie and I
+have parted for ever; but not the less devotedly do I love her. If,
+therefore, you would not farther wring a heart already half broken with
+affliction, oblige me by never making the slightest mention of her name
+in my presence--or ever adverting again to our conversation of this
+morning. I am sure, Henry, you will not deny me this."
+
+Henry offered no other reply than by throwing himself into the arms that
+were extended to receive him. The embrace of the brothers was long and
+fervent, and, although there was perhaps more of pain than pleasure, in
+their mutual sense of the causes which had led to it in the present
+instance--still was it productive of a luxury the most heartfelt. It
+seemed to both as if the spirits of their departed parents hovered over,
+and blessed them in this indication of their returning affection,
+hallowing, with their invisible presence, a scene connected with the
+last admonitions from their dying lips. When they had thus given vent to
+their feelings, although the sense of unhappiness continued
+undiminished, their hearts experienced a sensible relief; and when they
+separated for the morning, in pursuit of their respective avocations, it
+was with a subdued manner on the part of Gerald, and a vague hope with
+Henry, that his brother's disease would eventually yield to various
+influences, and that other and happier days were yet in store for both.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+Meanwhile the preparations for the departure of the expedition for the
+Miami were rapidly completing. To the majority of the regular force of
+the two garrisons were added several companies of militia, and a
+considerable body of Indians, under Tecumseh--the two former portions of
+the force being destined to advance by water, the latter by land. The
+spring had been unusually early, and the whole of April remarkably warm;
+on some occasions sultry to oppressiveness--as for instance on the
+morning of the tempest. They were now in the first days of the last week
+of that month, and everywhere, quick and luxuriant vegetation had
+succeeded to the stubborn barrenness and monotony of winter. Not a
+vestige of that dense mass of ice which, three months previously, had
+borne them over lake and river, was now to be seen. The sun danced
+joyously and sportively on the golden wave, and where recently towered
+the rugged surface of the tiny iceberg, the still, calm, unbroken level
+of the mirroring lake was only visible. On the beach, just below the
+town, and on a line with the little fleet, that lay at anchor between
+the island and the main, were drawn up numerous batteaux, ready for the
+reception of the troops, while on the decks of two gun-boats, that were
+moored a few yards without them, were to be seen the battering train and
+entrenching tools intended to accompany the expedition. Opposite to each
+batteau was kindled a fire, around which were grouped the _voyageurs_
+composing the crew, some dividing their salt pork or salt fish upon
+their bread, with a greasy clasped knife, and quenching the thirst
+excited by this with occasional libations from tin cans, containing a
+mixture of water and the poisonous distillation of the country,
+miscalled whiskey. In other directions, those who had dined sat puffing
+the smoke from their dingy pipes, while again, they who had sufficiently
+luxuriated on the weed, might be seen sleeping, after the manner of the
+Indians, with their heads resting on the first rude pillow that offered
+itself, and their feet close upon the embers of the fire on which they
+had prepared their meal. The indolence of inactivity was more or less
+upon all, but it was the indolence consequent on previous exertion, and
+a want of further employment. The whole scene was characteristic of the
+peculiar manners of the French Canadian boatmen.
+
+Since the morning of the long and partial explanation between the
+brothers, no further allusion had been made to the forbidden subject.
+Henry saw, with unfeigned satisfaction, that Gerald not only abstained
+from the false excitement to which he had hitherto had recourse, but
+that he apparently sought to rally against his dejection. It is true
+that whenever he chanced to surprise him alone, he observed him pale,
+thoughtful, and full of care, but, as he invariably endeavored to hide
+the feeling at his approach, he argued favorably even from the effort.
+Early on the day previous to that of the sailing of the expedition,
+Gerald asked leave for a visit of a few hours to Detroit, urging a
+desire to see the family of his uncle, who still remained quartered at
+that post, and whom he had not met since his return from captivity. This
+had been readily granted by the Commodore, in whom the change in the
+health and spirits of his young favorite had excited both surprise and
+concern, and who, anxious for his restoration, was ready to promote
+whatever might conduce to his comfort. He had even gone so far as to
+hint the propriety of his relinquishing his intention of accompanying
+the expedition, (which was likely to be attended with much privation and
+exposure to those engaged in it), and suffering another officer to be
+substituted to his command, while he remained at home to recruit his
+health. But Gerald heard the well meant proposal with ill disguised
+impatience, and he replied with a burning cheek, that if his absence for
+a day could not be allowed without inconvenience to the service, he was
+ready to submit; but, as far as regarded his making one of the
+expedition, nothing short of a positive command should compel him to
+remain behind. Finding him thus obstinate, the Commodore good humoredly
+called him a silly, wilful, fellow, and bade him have his own way;
+however he felt confident that, if he accompanied the Miami expedition
+in his then state of health, he never would return from it.
+
+Gerald submitted it was probable enough he should not, but, although he
+deeply felt the kindness of his Commander's motive in wishing him to
+remain, he was not the less determined, since the matter was left to his
+own choice, to go where his duty led him. Then, promising to be back
+long before the hour fixed for sailing the ensuing day, he warmly
+pressed the cordially extended hand, and soon afterwards, accompanied by
+Sambo, whose skill as a rider was in no way inferior to his dexterity as
+a steersman, mounted a favorite horse, and was soon far on his road to
+Detroit.
+
+Towards midnight of that day, two men were observed by the American
+tanner to enter by the gate that led into the grounds of the cottage,
+and, after lingering for a few moments, near the graves to which
+tradition had attached so much of the marvellous, to disappear round the
+angle of the building into the court behind. Curiosity induced him to
+follow and watch their movements, and, although he could not refrain
+from turning his head at least a dozen times, as if expecting at each
+moment to encounter some dread inhabitant of the tomb, he at length
+contrived to place himself in the very position in which Gerald had
+formerly been a witness of the attempt at assassination. From the same
+window now flashed a strong light upon the court below, and by this the
+features of the officer and his servant were distinctly revealed to the
+astonished tanner, who, ignorant of their return, and scarcely knowing
+whether he gazed upon the living or the dead, would have fled, had he
+not, as he afterwards confessed, been rooted by fear, and a species of
+fascination, to the spot. The appearance and actions of the parties
+indeed seemed to justify, not only the delusion, but the alarm of the
+worthy citizen. Both Gerald and Sambo were disguised in large dark
+cloaks, and as the light fell upon the thin person and pale, attenuated,
+sunken countenance of the former, he could scarcely persuade himself
+this was the living man, who a few months before, rich in beauty and in
+health, had questioned him of the very spot in which he now, under such
+strange circumstances, beheld him. Nor was the appearance of the negro
+more assuring. Filled with the terror that ever inspired him on
+approaching this scene of past horrors, his usually dark cheek wore the
+dingy paleness characteristic of death in one of his color, while every
+muscle, stiff, set, contracted by superstitious fear, seemed to have
+lost all power of relaxation. The solemnity moreover of the manner of
+both, was in strict keeping with their personal appearance, so that it
+can scarcely be wondered that in a mind not the strongest nor the most
+free from a belief in the supernatural, a due quantum of awe and alarm
+should have been instilled. Fear, however, had not wholly subdued
+curiosity, and even while trembling to such a degree that he could
+scarcely keep his teeth from chattering, the tanner followed with eager
+eye the movements of those he knew not whether to look upon as ghosts or
+living beings. The room was exactly in the state in which we last
+described it, with this difference merely, that the table, on which the
+lamp and books had been placed now lay overturned, as if in the course
+of some violent scuffle, and its contents distributed over the floor.
+The bed still remained, in the same corner, unmade, and its covering
+tossed. It was evident no one had entered the apartment since the night
+of the attempted assassination.
+
+The first act of Gerald, who bore the light, followed closely by Sambo,
+was to motion the latter to raise the fallen table. When this was done
+he placed his lamp upon it, and sinking upon the foot of the bed, and
+covering his eyes with his hands, seemed utterly absorbed in bitter
+recollections. The negro, meanwhile, an apparent stranger to the scene,
+cast his eyes around him with the shrinking caution of one who finds
+himself in a position of danger, and fears to encounter some terrific
+sight, then, as if the effort was beyond his power, he drew the collar
+of his cloak over his face, and shuffling to get as near as possible to
+the bed as though in the act he came more immediately under the
+protection of him who sat upon it, awaited, in an attitude of
+statue-like immobility, the awakening of his master from his reverie.
+
+Gerald at length withdrew his hands from his pallid face, on which the
+glare of the lamp rested forcibly, and, with a wild look and low, but
+imperative voice, bade the old negro seat himself beside him still lower
+on the bed.
+
+"Sambo," he inquired abruptly--"how old were you when the Indian
+massacre took place near this spot. You were then, I think I have heard
+it stated, the servant of Sir Everard Valletort?"
+
+The old negro looked aghast. It was long since direct allusion had been
+made to his unfortunate master or the events of that period. Questioned
+in such a spot, and at such an hour, he could not repress the feeling of
+terror conjured up by the allusion. Scarcely daring to exceed a whisper,
+he answered.
+
+"Oh Massa Geral, for Hebben's sake no talkee dat. It berry long time
+ago, and break poor nigger heart to tink ob it----"
+
+"But I insist on knowing," returned Gerald loudly and peremptorily;
+"were you old enough to recollect the curse that poor heart-broken
+woman, Ellen Halloway, uttered on all our race, and if so what was it?"
+
+"No, Massa Geral, I no sabby dat. Sambo den only piccaninny, and Sir
+Ebbered make him top in he fort--oh berry bad times dat, Massa Geral.
+Poor Frank Hallabay he shot fust, because he let he grandfadder out ob
+he fort, and den ebery ting go bad--berry bad indeed."
+
+"But the curse of Ellen Halloway, Sambo, you must have heard of it
+surely--even if you were not present at the utterance. Did she not," he
+continued, finding that the other replied not: "Did she not pray that
+the blood of my great grandfather's children might be spilt on the very
+spot that had been moistened with that of her ill-fated husband--and,
+that if any of the race should survive, it might be only with a view to
+their perishing in some horrible manner. Was not this the case?"
+
+"Oh yes, Massa Geral, berry bad tongue Ellen, affer he lose he
+husband--but, poor ting, he half mad and no sabby what he say. He time
+to start for he gun-boat, Massa Geral."
+
+The part Sambo had sustained in this short dialogue was a forced one. He
+had answered almost mechanically, and not altogether without
+embarrassment, the few queries that were put to him. Nay, so far was he
+governed by surrounding local influences, that the anguish he would,
+under other circumstances, have experienced, at this raking up of
+recollections he so sedulously avoided, was lost in terror, produced by
+his near and midnight propinquity to the fatal theatre of death. His
+only idea now was to leave the spot as quickly as he could.
+
+Gerald had again covered his face with his hands, and appeared to be
+laboring under strong agitation of mind. At length he started abruptly
+up, and seizing the light, held it forward, stooping over the bed, as if
+gazing fixedly on some object within.
+
+"No," he said with vehemence, "it shall never be. That part of the
+malediction, at least, shall _not_ be accomplished. For once shall the
+curse of the innocent be unheeded."
+
+The strange action and words of the excited officer, by no means
+contributed to allay the nervousness of the brave but superstitious
+negro. He had approached as near as he could to Gerald, without actually
+touching him, but when he remarked his abrupt movement, and heard the
+sudden outburst feeling which accompanied it, he half fancied he was
+apostrophizing some spirit visible only to himself, and shocked and
+terrified at this idea, he turned away his head.
+
+Sambo's alarm was not to terminate here. Scarcely had he bent his glance
+upon the window when he beheld two glaring eyes, magnified by his fear
+into thrice their natural size, fixed intently on that part of the room
+in which they stood. He attempted to cry out, but the sound was stifled
+in his throat, and he sank upon his knees, holding up his hands in an
+attitude of prayer--his teeth chattering, and his eyes fascinated by
+those which had produced in him this paroxysm of terror. Presently he
+thought he saw a mouth open, and a row of large and ragged teeth display
+themselves in a grin of derision. With a desperate effort he broke the
+spell that seemed to enchain every faculty, and called piteously and
+imploringly on the name of Gerald. The officer, who had continued gazing
+on the untenanted bed in deep abstraction, and seeming forgetfulness of
+all surrounding objects, turned hastily round, and was much concerned to
+observe the terrified expression of the old man's countenance. Following
+the direction of his fixed gaze, he looked toward the window for a
+solution of the cause. At that moment a noise was heard without, as of a
+falling body. Gerald sprang towards the window, and hastily lifting it,
+thrust the lamp through; but nothing was visible, neither was there
+sound of footsteps to be heard.
+
+Before daybreak on the following morning, the poor old negro, whom no
+living danger could daunt, had given but too alarming evidence that his
+reason was utterly alienated. His ravings were wild and fearful, and
+nothing could remove the impression that the face he had beheld was that
+of the once terrible Wacousta--the same face which had presented itself,
+under such extraordinary circumstances, at the window of the Canadian's
+hut, on the night of the departure of his master, Sir Everard Valletort,
+and Captain De Haldimer, for Michillimackinac in 1763. Nay, so rooted
+was this belief, that, with the fervor of that zeal which had governed
+his whole life and conduct towards each succeeding generation of the
+family, he prayed and obtained, during a momentary gleam of reason, the
+promise of the much shocked Gerald, that he would never again set foot
+within the precincts of these fatal grounds.
+
+Inexpressibly grieved as Gerald was at this sad and unexpected
+termination to his adventure, he had no time to linger near his
+unfortunate servant. The expedition was to set out in a few hours, and
+he had too completely bent his mind upon accompanying it to incur the
+slightest chance of a disappointment. Leaving the faithful and
+unfortunate creature to the care of his uncle's family, by every member
+of whom he was scarcely less loved than by himself, he took the ferry to
+the opposite shore within an hour after daybreak, and made such speed
+that, when Henry came down to breakfast he found, to his surprise, his
+brother already there.
+
+During his ride, Gerald had had leisure to reflect on the events of the
+preceding night, and bitterly did he regret having yielded to a
+curiosity which had cost the unfortunate Sambo so much. He judged
+correctly that they had been followed in their nocturnal excursion, and
+that it was the face of some prying visitant which Sambo's superstitious
+dread had transformed into a hideous vision of the past. He recalled the
+insuperable aversion the old man had ever entertained to approach or
+even make mention of the spot, and greatly did he blame himself for
+having persisted in offering a violence to his nature, the extent of
+which had been made so fearfully obvious. It brought no consolation to
+him to reflect that the spot itself contained nought that should have
+produced so alarming an effect on a mind properly constituted. He felt
+that, knowing his weakness as he did, he ought not to have trifled with
+it, and could not deny to himself, that in enforcing his attendance,
+with a view to obtain information on several points connected with the
+past, he had been indirectly the destroyer of his reason. There had been
+a season when the unhappy sailor would have felt a sorrow even deeper
+than he did, but Gerald was indeed an altered being--too much rapt in
+himself to give heed to others.
+
+The painful nature of his reflections, added to the fatigue he had
+undergone, had given to his countenance a more than usually haggard
+expression. Henry remarked it and inquired the cause, when his brother,
+in a few brief sentences, explained all that had occurred during his
+absence. Full of affection as he was for the old man, and utterly
+unprepared for such a communication, Henry could not avoid expressing
+deep vexation that his brother, aware as he was of the peculiar weakness
+of their aged friend, should have been inconsiderate enough to have
+drawn him thither. Gerald felt the reproof to be just, and for that very
+reason grew piqued under it. Pained as he was at the condition of Sambo,
+Henry was even more distressed at witnessing the apparent apathy of his
+brother for the fate of one who had not merely saved his life on a
+recent occasion, but had evinced a devotedness--a love for him--in every
+circumstance of life, which seldom had had their parallel in the annals
+of human servitude. It was in vain that he endeavored to follow the
+example of Gerald, who, having seated himself at the breakfast table,
+was silently appeasing an appetite such as he had not exhibited since
+his return. Incapable of swallowing his food, Henry paced up and down
+the room, violently agitated and sick at heart. It seemed to him as if
+Sambo had been a sort of connecting link between themselves and the
+departed parents; and now that he was suddenly and fearfully afflicted,
+he thought he could see in the vista of futurity a long train of evils
+that threw their shadows before, and portended the consummation of some
+unknown, unseen affliction, having its origin in the incomprehensible
+alienation of his brother's heart from the things of his early love.
+
+While he was yet indulging in these painful thoughts, the firing of a
+gun from the harbor--the signal for the embarkation of the
+troops--brought both Gerald and himself to a sense of other
+considerations. The latter was the first to quit the house. "Henry," he
+said, with much emotion, "God bless you. It is possible that, as our
+service lies in different lines, we shall see but little of each other
+during this expedition. Of one thing, however, be assured--that although
+I am an unhappy man, I am anything but dead to feeling.--Henry," he
+continued pressing his hand with warmth, "think not unkindly hereafter
+of your poor brother Gerald." A long embrace, in which each, although in
+silence, seemed to blend heart with heart, ensued, and both greatly
+relieved, as they always were after this generous expansion of their
+feelings, separated forthwith whither their respective duties summoned
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+Seldom has there been witnessed a more romantic or picturesque sight
+than that presented by a warlike expedition of batteaux moving across
+one of the American lakes, during a season of profound calm. The uniform
+and steady pull of the crew, directed in their time by the wild chaunt
+of the steersman, with whom they ever and anon join in full chorus--the
+measured plash of the oars into the calm surface of the water--the
+joyous laugh and rude, but witty, jest of the more youthful and buoyant
+of the soldiery, from whom, at such moments, although in presence of
+their officers, the trammels of restraint are partially removed--all
+these, added to the inspiriting sight of their gay scarlet uniforms, and
+the dancing of the sunbeams upon their polished arms, have a tendency to
+call up impressions of a wild interest, tempered only by the
+recollection that many of those who move gaily on, as if to a
+festival--bright in hope as though the season of existence were to last
+for ever--may never more set eye upon the scenes they are fast quitting,
+with the joyousness produced by the natural thirst of the human heart
+for adventure, and a love of change.
+
+On the second day of its departure from Malden, the expedition, preceded
+by the gun-boats, entered the narrow river of the Miami, and, the woods
+on either shore being scoured by the Indians, gained without opposition
+the point of debarkation. Batteries having, under great difficulties,
+been erected on the right bank, immediately opposite to and about six
+hundred yards from the American fort, which had been recently and
+hurriedly constructed, a heavy and destructive fire was, on the morning
+of the third day, opened from them, supported by the gun-boats, one of
+which, commanded by Gerald Grantham, had advanced so close to the
+enemy's position as to have diverted upon herself the fire which would
+else have been directed to the demolition of a British battery, hastily
+thrown up on the left bank. The daring manifested by the gallant sailor
+was subject of surprise and admiration at once to friends and foes; and
+yet, although his boat lay moored within musket shot of the defences, he
+sustained but trifling loss. The very recklessness and boldness of his
+advance had been the means of his preservation; for, as almost all the
+shots from the battery flew over him, it was evident he owed his safety
+to the difficulty the Americans found in depressing their guns
+sufficiently to bear advantageously upon the boat, which, if anchored
+fifty yards beyond, they might have blown out of the water.
+
+The limits of our story will not admit of a further detail of the
+operations of this siege. The object was foiled, and the expedition was
+re-embarked and directed against Fort Sandusky, a post of the Americans
+situated on the river of that name, and running also into Lake Erie.
+
+Here, once more, was the British artillery landed, while, under a heavy
+fire from the fort, the troops advanced within range, to take possession
+of an eminence whereon it was intended to erect the batteries. Two days
+were passed in incessant cannonading, but, as at the Miami, without
+making the slightest impression. Finding all idea of a practicable
+breach hopeless, it was at length resolved that an attempt at assault
+should be made; and, with this view, the troops were, on the afternoon
+of the second day, ordered to hold themselves in immediate readiness.
+
+In consequence of the shallowness of the river, it had been found
+necessary to moor the gun-boats at a point considerably below, and out
+of sight of the fort. Gerald Grantham had obtained permission to leave
+his command, and take charge of one of the batteries, which, however, he
+relinquished on the day of the assault, having successfully petitioned
+to be permitted to join the attack as a volunteer. In the dress of a
+grenadier soldier, disabled during the siege, he now joined the party of
+animated officers, who, delighted at the prospect of being brought once
+more in close contact with their enemies, after so many wearing days of
+inaction--were seated at a rude but plentiful repast in Captain
+Cranstoun's tent, and indulging in remarks which, although often uttered
+without aim or ill-nature, are as often but too bitter subject of after
+self-reproach to those who have uttered them. Of those who had
+originally set out on the expedition, the only officer of the
+Forty-first Regiment absent was Henry Grantham, who, having been
+slightly wounded at the Miami, had, much against his inclination, been
+ordered back to Amherstburg, in charge of the sick and wounded of the
+detachment, and this so suddenly, that he had not had an opportunity of
+taking leave of his brother.
+
+"Ha! Gerald, my fine fellow," exclaimed Captain Molineux, as the youth
+now joined their circle, "so you have clapped on the true harness at
+last. I always said that your figure became a red jacket a devilish deal
+better than a blue. But what new freak is this? Had you not a close
+enough berth to Jonathan in the Miami, without running the risk of a
+broken head with us to-day in his trenches?"
+
+"No such good luck is there in store for my juniors, I fancy," replied
+Grantham, swallowing off a goblet of wine which had been presented to
+him--"but if I do fall, it will be in good company. Although the
+American seems to lie quietly within his defences, there is that about
+him which promises us rather a hot reception."
+
+"So much the better," said Villiers; "there will be broken heads for
+some of us. Who do you think we have booked for a place to the other
+world?"
+
+Gerald made no answer, but his look and manner implied that he
+understood himself to be the party thus favored.
+
+"Not so," returned Villiers, "we can't afford to spare you yet--besides,
+the death of a blue jacket can in no way benefit us. What's the
+use of 'a bloody war and a sickly season,' that standard toast
+at every West India mess, if the juniors are to go off, and not the
+seniors?--Cranstoun's the man we've booked."
+
+"Captain Cranstoun, I have the honor of wishing you a safe passage, and
+speedy promotion in Heaven," said Middlemore, draining off his glass.
+"Devilish good port this of yours! By the bye, as you have a better
+_port_ in view, you cannot do better than assign over what is left of
+this to me."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Middlemore," returned Cranstoun, drily yet
+good-humoredly, "yet as you are attached to my division, you will
+perhaps run just the same risk; and as, perhaps, you will not require
+more wine than we have taken to-day, I will pledge you in a last cup a
+safe passage to Heaven, where I trust you will find credit for better
+qualities than you possess as a punster."
+
+"What," asked Gerald, with an unfeigned surprise, when the laugh against
+Middlemore had subsided, "and is it really in his own wine that you have
+all been thus courteously pledging Captain Cranstoun's death?"
+
+"Even so," said Middlemore, rallying and returning to the attack, "he
+invited us all to lunch in his tent, and how could we better repay him
+for opening his hampers, than by returning his _spirit scot-free_ and
+_unhampered_ to Heaven?"
+
+"Oh, oh, oh!" ejaculated St. Clair, stopping his ears and throwing up
+his eyes; "surely, Mr. Middlemore, if you are not shot this day, it must
+be that you were born to be hanged--no man can perpetrate so horrible a
+pun, and expect to live."
+
+"I'm hanged if I am, then," returned the other; "but, talking of being
+shot--is there another shot in the locker, Cranstoun---another bottle of
+port?"
+
+"The shot that is reserved for you, will bring you acquainted with
+another locker than Cranstoun's, I suspect," said Villiers, "one Mr.
+David Jones's locker--hit there, eh?"
+
+The low roll of a muffled drum suddenly recalled the party from their
+trifling to considerations of a graver interest. It was the signal for
+forming the columns of attack. In a moment the tone, the air of
+ribaldry, was exchanged for a seriousness that befitted the
+occasion--and it seemed as if a momentary reproach passed over the minds
+of those who had most amused themselves at the expense of Cranstoun, for
+each, as he quitted the tent, gave his extended hand to his host, who
+pressed it in a manner to show all was forgiven.
+
+The English batteries had been constructed on the skirt of the wood
+surrounding the fort, from which latter they were separated by a meadow
+covered with long grass, about six hundred yards across at the narrowest
+point. Behind these the columns of attack, three in number, were now
+rapidly and silently formed. To that commanded by Captain Cranstoun, on
+the extreme left, and intended to assault the fort at the strongest
+point, Gerald Grantham had attached himself, in the simple dress, as we
+have observed, of a private soldier, and armed with a common musket. In
+passing, with the former officer, to take his position in front of the
+column, he was struck by the utter want of means for executing with
+success the duty assigned to the several divisions. Each column was
+provided with a certain number of axemen, selected to act as pioneers;
+but not one of the necessary implements was in a condition to be used:
+neither had a single fascine or ladder been provided, although it was
+well known that a deep ditch remained to be passed before the axes,
+inefficient as they were, could be brought into use.
+
+"Such," said Captain Cranstoun, with a sneer of much bitterness, "are
+the pitiful things on which hang the lives of our brave fellows. No
+doubt the despatches will say a great deal about the excellent
+arrangements for attack--but if you do not fall, Gerald, I hope you will
+make a proper representation of the affair. As you belong to the other
+service, there is little fear the General can hurt your promotion for
+merely speaking the truth. A General, indeed!--who'll say Fortune is not
+blind to make a General of such as he?"
+
+It was not an usual thing for Cranstoun to express himself thus in
+regard to his superiors; but he was really vexed at the idea of the
+sacrifice of human life that must attend this wantonness of neglect and
+imbecility of arrangement. He had moreover taken wine enough, not in any
+way to intoxicate, but sufficient to thaw his habitual caution and
+reserve. Fearless as his sword, he cared not for his own life; but,
+although a strict officer, he was ever attentive to the interests of his
+men, who in their turn, admired him for his cool, unflinching courage,
+and would have dared anything under the direction of their captain.
+
+It was evident that the contempt of the sailor for the capacity of the
+leader, to whom it was well known all the minute arrangements were
+submitted, was not one whit inferior to what was entertained by the
+brave and honest Cranstoun. He, however, merely answered, as they both
+assumed their places in front, and with the air of one utterly
+indifferent to these disadvantages.
+
+"No matter, Cranstoun, the greater the obstacles we have to contend
+against, the more glorious will be our victory. Where you lead, however,
+we shall not be long in following."
+
+"Hem! since it is to be a game of follow-my-leader," said Middlemore,
+who had now joined them, "I must not be far behind. A month's pay with
+either of you I reach the stockade first."
+
+"Done, Middlemore, done," eagerly replied Cranstoun, and they joined
+hands in confirmation of the bet.
+
+This conversation had taken place during the interval occupied by the
+movements of the right and centre columns along the skirt of the wood,
+to equidistant points in the half circle embraced in the plan of attack.
+A single blast of the bugle now announced that the furthermost had
+reached its place of destination, when suddenly a gun--the first fired
+since noon from the English batteries--gave the signal for which all
+were now prepared.
+
+In the next minute the heads of the several columns debouched from the
+woods, and, the whole advancing in double quick time, with their arms at
+the trail, moved across the meadow in the several directions assigned
+them. The space to be traversed by Captain Cranstoun's division was
+considerably the shortest of the three; but, on the other hand, he was
+opposed to that part of the enemy's defences where there was the least
+cover afforded to an assailing force.
+
+Meanwhile there was an utter repose in the fort, which for some moments
+induced the belief that the Americans were preparing to surrender their
+trust without a struggle, and loud yells from the Indians, who, from
+their cover in the rear, watched the progress of the troops with
+admiration and surprise, were pealed forth as if in encouragement to the
+latter to proceed. But the American Commander had planned his defence
+with skill. No sooner had the several columns got within half musket
+shot, than a tremendous fire of musketry and rifles was opened upon them
+from two distinct faces of the stockade. Captain Cranstoun's division,
+being the nearest, was the first attacked, and suffered considerably
+without attempting to return a shot. At the first discharge, the two
+leading sergeants, and many of the men, were knocked down; but neither
+Cranstoun, nor Middlemore, nor Grantham, were touched.
+
+"Forward men, forward," shouted the former, brandishing his sword, and
+dashing down a deep ravine, that separated them from the trenches.
+
+"On, my gallant fellows, on!--the left column for ever!" cried
+Middlemore, imitating the example of his captain, and, in his eagerness
+to reach the ditch first, leaving his men to follow as they could.
+
+Few of these, however, needed the injunction. Although galled by the
+severe fire of the enemy, they followed their leaders down the ravine
+with a steadiness worthy of a better result; then climbing up the
+opposite ascent, under a shower of bullets, yet, without pulling a
+trigger themselves, made for the ditch their officer had already gained.
+
+Cranstoun, still continuing in advance, was the first who arrived on the
+brink. For a moment he paused, as if uncertain what course to pursue,
+then, seeing Middlemore close behind him, he leaped in, and striking a
+blow of his sabre upon the stockade, called loudly upon the axemen to
+follow. While he was yet shouting, a ball from a loop-hole not three
+feet above his head, entered his brain, and he fell dead across the
+trench.
+
+"Ha! well have you won your wager, my noble Captain," exclaimed
+Middlemore, putting his hand to his chest, and staggering from the
+effects of a shot he had that instant received. "You are indeed the
+_better_ man" (he continued, excited beyond his usual calm by the
+circumstances in which he found himself placed, yet unable to resist his
+dominating propensity, even at such a moment,) "and deserve the palm of
+honor this day. Forward, men, forward! axemen, do your duty.--Down with
+the stockade, my lads, and give them a bellyful of steel."
+
+Scarcely had he spoken, when a second discharge from the same wall-piece
+that had killed Cranstoun passed through his throat. "Forward!" he again
+but more faintly shouted, with the gurgling tone of suffocation peculiar
+to a wound in that region, then falling headlong into the ditch, was in
+the next instant trodden under by the advance of the column who rushed
+forward, though fruitlessly, to avenge the deaths of their officers.
+
+All was now confusion, noise and carnage. Obeying the command of their
+leader, the axemen had sprung into the ditch, and, with efforts nerved
+by desperation, applied themselves vigorously to the task allotted them.
+But as well might they have attempted to raze the foundations of the
+globe itself. Incapable from their bluntness of making the slightest
+impression on the obstinate wood, the iron at each stroke rebounded off,
+leaving to the eye no vestige of where it had rested. Filled with
+disappointment and rage, the brave and unfortunate fellows dashed the
+useless metal to the earth, and endeavored to escape from the ditch back
+into the ravine, where, at least, there was a prospect of supplying
+themselves with more serviceable weapons from among their slain
+comrades; but the ditch was deep and slimy, and the difficulty of ascent
+great. Before they could accomplish it, the Americans opened a fire from
+a bastion, the guns of which, loaded with slugs and musket balls, raked
+the trench from end to end, and swept away all that came within its
+range. This was the first check given to the division of the unfortunate
+Cranstoun. Many of the leading sections had leaped, regardless of all
+obstacles, into the trench, with a view of avenging their slaughtered
+officers; but these, like the axemen, had been carried away by the
+discharges from the bastion, and the incessant fire poured upon them
+from the loop-holes of the stockade. Despairing of success, without
+fascines to fill up the ditch, or a ladder to scale the picketing that
+afforded cover to their enemies, there was no alternative, but to remain
+and be cut down to a man where they stood, or to retire into the
+brushwood that lined the ravine. The latter was finally adopted; but not
+before one-third of the column had paid the penalty of their own daring,
+and what the brave Cranstoun had sneeringly termed the "General's
+excellent arrangements," with their lives. The firing at this time had
+now almost wholly ceased between the enemy and the columns on the right
+and centre, neither of which had penetrated beyond the ravine, and at a
+late hour in the evening the whole were drawn off.
+
+Meanwhile, steady at his post at the head of the division, Gerald
+Grantham had continued to act with the men as though he had been one of
+themselves. During the whole course of the advance, he neither joined in
+the cheers of the officers, nor uttered word of encouragement to those
+who followed. But in his manner there was remarked a quietness of
+determination, a sullen disregard of danger, that seemed to denote some
+deeper rooted purpose than the mere desire of personal distinction. His
+ambition seemed to consist, not in being the first to reach or scale the
+fort, but in placing himself wherever the balls of the enemy flew
+thickest. There was no enthusiasm in his mien, no excitement in his eye;
+neither had his step the buoyancy that marks the young heart wedded to
+valorous achievement, but was, on the contrary, heavy, measured, yet
+firm. His whole manner and actions, in short, as reported to his
+brother, on the return of the expedition, by those who had been near him
+throughout the affair, was that of a man who courts not victory but
+death. Planted on the brow of the ditch at the moment when Middlemore
+fell, he had deliberately discharged his pistol into the loop-hole
+whence the shot had been fired; but although, as he seemed to expect,
+the next instant brought several barrels to play upon himself, not one
+of these had taken effect. A moment after and he was in the ditch,
+followed by some twenty or thirty of the leading men of the column, and
+advancing towards the bastion, then preparing to vomit forth its fire
+upon the devoted axemen. Even here, Fate, or Destiny, or whatever power
+it be that wills the nature of the end of man, turned aside the death
+with which he already seemed to grapple. At the very moment when the
+flash rose from the havoc-dealing gun, he chanced to stumble over the
+dead body of a soldier, and fell flat upon his face. Scarcely had he
+touched the ground when he was again upon his feet; but even in that
+short space of time, he alone, of those who had entered the ditch, had
+been left unscathed. Before him came bellying along the damp trench, the
+dense smoke from the fatal bastion, as it were a funeral shroud for its
+victims; and behind him were to be seen the mangled and distorted forms
+of his companions, some dead, others writhing with acute agony, and
+filling the air with shrieks, and groans, and prayers for water to
+soothe their burning lips, that mingled fearfully yet characteristically,
+with the unsubdued roar of small arms.
+
+It was now, for the first time, that Gerald evinced anything like
+excitement, but it was the excitement of bitter disappointment. He saw
+those to whom the preservation of life would have been a blessing, cut
+down and slaughtered; while he, whose object it was to lay it down for
+ever, was, by some strange fatality, wholly exempt.
+
+The reflections that passed with lightning quickness through his mind,
+only served to stimulate his determination the more. Scarcely had the
+smoke which had hitherto kept him concealed from the battery, passed
+beyond him, when, rushing forward and shouting, "To the bastion, men--to
+the bastion!" he planted himself in front of the gun, and not three
+yards from its muzzle. Prevented by the dense smoke that choked up the
+trench, from ascertaining the extent of execution produced by their
+discharge, the American artillerymen, who had again loaded, were once
+more on the alert and preparing to repeat it. Already was the match in
+the act of descending, which would have blown the unfortunate Gerald to
+atoms, when suddenly an officer, whose uniform bespoke him to be of some
+rank, and to whose quick eye it was apparent the rash assailant was
+utterly unsupported, sprang upon the bastion, and dashing the fuze from
+the hand of the gunner, commanded that a small sally-port, which opened
+into the trench a few yards beyond the point where he stood, should be
+opened, and the brave soldier taken prisoner without harm. So prompt was
+the execution of this order, that, before Gerald could succeed in
+clambering up the ditch, which, with the instinctive dread of captivity,
+he attempted, he was seized by half a dozen soldiers, and by these borne
+hurriedly back through the sally-port, which was again closed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+Defeated at every point and with great loss, the British columns had
+retired into the bed of the ravine, where, shielded from the fire of the
+Americans, they lay several hours shivering with cold and ankle deep in
+mud and water; yet consoling themselves with the hope that the renewal
+of the assault under cover of the coming darkness, would be attended
+with a happier issue. But the gallant General, who appeared in the
+outset to have intended they should make picks of their bayonets and
+scaling-ladders of each other's bodies, now that a mound sufficient for
+the latter purpose could be raised of the slain, had altered his mind,
+and alarmed, and mayhap conscience stricken at the profuse and
+unnecessary sacrifice of human life which had resulted from the first
+wanton attack, adopted the resolution of withdrawing his troops. This
+was at length finally effected, and without further loss.
+
+Fully impressed with the belief that the assailants would not be
+permitted to forego the advantages they still possessed in their near
+contiguity to the works, without another attempt at escalade, the
+Americans had continued calmly at their posts; with what confidence in
+the nature of their defences and what positive freedom from danger, may
+be inferred from the fact of their having lost but one man throughout
+the whole affair, and that one killed immediately through the loop-hole
+by the shot that avenged the death of poor Middlemore. When at a late
+hour they found that the columns were again in movement, they could
+scarcely persuade themselves they were not changing their points of
+attack. A very few minutes, however, sufficed to show their error; for,
+in the indistinct light of a new moon, the British troops were to be
+seen ascending the opposite face of the ravine and in full retreat. Too
+well satisfied with the successful nature of their defence, the
+Americans made no attempt to follow, but contented themselves with
+pouring in a parting volley, which however the obscurity rendered
+ineffectual. Soon afterwards the sally-port was again opened, and such
+of the unfortunates as yet lingered alive in the trenches were brought
+in, and every attention the place could afford paid to their
+necessities.
+
+An advanced hour of the night brought most of the American officers
+together in their rude mess-room, where the occurrences of the day were
+discussed with an enthusiasm of satisfaction natural to the occasion.
+Each congratulated each on the unexpected success, but commendation was
+more than usually loud in favor of their leader, to whose coolness and
+judgment, in reserving his fire until the approach of the enemy within
+pistol shot, was to be attributed the severe loss and consequent check
+they had sustained.
+
+Next became the topic of eulogium the gallantry of those who had been
+worsted in all but their honor, and all spoke with admiration of the
+devotedness of the two unfortunate officers who had perished in the
+trenches--a subject which, in turn, led to a recollection of the brave
+soldier who had survived the sweeping discharge from the bastion, and
+who had been so opportunely saved from destruction by the Commandant
+himself.
+
+"Captain Jackson," said that officer, addressing one of the few who wore
+the regular uniform of the United States army, "I should like much to
+converse with this man, in whom I confess, as in some degree the
+preserver of his life, I feel an interest. Moreover, as the only
+uninjured among our prisoners, he is the one most calculated to give us
+information in regard to the actual force of those whom we have this day
+had the good fortune to defeat, as well as of the ultimate destination
+of the British General. Notes of both these important particulars, if I
+can possibly obtain them, I wish to make in a despatch of which I intend
+you to be the bearer."
+
+The Aid-de-camp, for in that capacity was he attached to the person of
+Colonel Forrester, immediately quitted the room, and presently
+afterwards returned ushering in the prisoner.
+
+Although Gerald was dressed, as we have said, in the uniform of the
+private grenadier, there was that about him which, in defiance of a
+person covered from head to foot with the slimy mud of the trenches, and
+a mouth black as ink with powder from the cartridges he had bitten, at
+once betrayed him for something more than he appeared.
+
+There was a pause for some moments after he entered. At length Colonel
+Forrester inquired, in a voice strongly marked by surprise:
+
+"May I ask, sir, what rank you hold in the British army?"
+
+"But that I have unfortunately suffered more from your mud than your
+fire," replied Gerald, coolly, and with undisguised bitterness of
+manner, "the question would at once be answered by a reference to my
+uniform."
+
+"I understand you, sir; you would have me to infer you are what your
+dress, and your dress alone, denotes--a private soldier?"
+
+Gerald made no answer.
+
+"Your name, soldier?"
+
+"My name!"
+
+"Yes; your name. One possessed of the gallantry we witnessed this day
+cannot be altogether without a name."
+
+The pale cheek of Gerald was slightly tinged. With all his grief, he
+still was a man. The indirect praise lingered a moment at his heart,
+then passed off with the slight blush that as momentarily dyed his
+cheek.
+
+"My name, sir, is a humble one, and little worthy to be classed with
+those who have this day written theirs in the page of honor with their
+heart's blood. I am called Gerald Grantham."
+
+"Gerald Grantham!" repeated the Commandant, musingly, as though
+endeavoring to bring back the recollection of such a name.
+
+The prisoner looked at him steadfastly in return, yet without speaking.
+
+"Is there another of your name in the British squadron?" continued
+Colonel Forrester, fixing his eye full upon his prisoner.
+
+"There are many in the British squadron whose names are unknown to me,"
+replied Gerald, evasively, and faintly coloring.
+
+"Nay," said Colonel Forrester, "that subterfuge more than anything
+betrays you. Though not answered, I am satisfied. How we are to account
+for seeing a gallant sailor attacking us in our trenches, in the humble
+garb of a private soldier, and so out of his own element, I cannot
+understand; but the name of Gerald Grantham, coupled with your manner
+and appearance, assures us we are making personal acquaintance with one
+to whose deeds we are not strangers. Gentlemen," addressing his
+officers, "this is the Lieutenant Grantham, whose vessel was captured
+last autumn at Buffalo, and of whose gallant defence my cousin, Captain
+Edwin Forrester, has spoken so highly. Lieutenant Grantham," he pursued,
+advancing and offering his hand, "when I had the happiness to save your
+life this day, by dashing aside the fuze that would have been the agent
+in your destruction, I saw in you but the brave and humble soldier, whom
+it were disgrace not to have spared for so much noble daring. Judge how
+great must be my satisfaction to know that I have been the means of
+preserving, to his family and country, one whose name stands so high
+even in the consideration of his enemies."
+
+Poor Gerald! how bitter and conflicting must have been his feelings at
+that moment. On the one side, touched by the highest evidences of esteem
+a brave and generous enemy could proffer--on the other, annoyed beyond
+expression at the recollection of an interposition which had thwarted
+him in his fondest, dearest hope--that of losing, at the cannon's mouth,
+the life he loathed. What had been done in mercy and noble forbearance,
+was to him the direst punishment that could be inflicted; yet how was it
+possible to deny gratitude for the motive which had impelled his
+preservation, or fail in acknowledgment of the appreciation in which he
+thus found himself personally held.
+
+"It would be idle, Colonel Forrester," he said, taking the proffered
+hand, "after the manner in which you have expressed yourself, to deny
+that I am the officer to whom you allude. I feel deeply these marks of
+your regard, although I cannot but consider any little merit that may
+attach to me very much overrated by them. My appearance in this dress,
+perhaps requires some explanation. Prevented by the shallowness of the
+river from co-operating with the array in my gun-boat, and tired of
+doing nothing, I had solicited and obtained permission to become one of
+the storming party in the quality of volunteer, which of necessity
+induced the garb in which you now behold me. You know the rest."
+
+"And yet, Colonel," said a surly-looking backwoodsman, who sat with one
+hand thrust into the bosom of a hunting frock, and the other playing
+with the richly ornamented hilt of a dagger, while a round hat,
+surmounted by a huge cockade, was perched knowingly over his left ear,
+covering, or rather shadowing, little more than one fourth of his
+head--"I reckon as how this here sort of thing comes within the spy act.
+Here's a commissioned officer of King George, taken not only in our
+lines, but in our very trenches in the disguise of a private soger. What
+say you, Captain Buckhorn?" turning to one somewhat younger and less
+uncouth, who sat next him habited in a similar manner. "Don't you think
+it comes within the spy act?"
+
+Captain Buckhorn, however, not choosing to hazard an opinion on the
+subject, merely shrugged his shoulders, puffed his cigar, and looked at
+the Colonel as if he expected him to decide the question.
+
+"As I am a true Tennessee man, bred and born, Major Killdeer," said the
+Aid-de-camp Jackson, "I can't see how that can lie. To come within the
+spy act, a man must be in plain clothes, or in the uniform of his enemy.
+Now, Liftenant Grantham, I take it, comes in the British uniform, and
+what signifies a whistle if he wears gold lace or cotton tape, provided
+it be stuck upon a scarlet coat, and that in the broad face of day, with
+arms in his hand,--aye, and a devil of a desperation to make good use of
+them too"--he added, with a good naturedly malicious leer of the eye
+towards the subject of his defence.
+
+"At all events, in my conceit, it's an attempt to undervally himself,"
+pursued the tenacious Kentuckian Major. "Suppose his name warn't known
+as it is, he'd have passed for a private soger, and would have been
+exchanged for one, without our being any the wiser; whereby the United
+States, service, I calculate, would have lost an officer in the balance
+of account."
+
+"Although there cannot be the slightest difficulty," observed Colonel
+Forrester, "in determining on the doubt first started by you, Major
+Killdeer I confess, that what you have now suggested involves a question
+of some delicacy. In the spirit, although not altogether in the letter,
+of your suggestion, I agree; so much so, Mr. Grantham," he added,
+turning to Gerald, "that in violence to the inclination I should
+otherwise have felt to send you back to your lines, on parole of honor,
+I shall be compelled to detain you until the pleasure of my government
+be known as to the actual rank in which you are to be looked upon. I
+should say that, taken in arms as a combatant without rank, we have no
+right to know you as anything else; but as I may be in error, I am sure
+you will see how utterly impossible it is for me to take any such
+responsibility upon myself, especially after the difficulty you have
+just heard started."
+
+Gerald, who had listened to this discussion with some astonishment, was
+not sorry to find the manner of its termination. In the outset he had
+not been without alarm that the hero of one hour might be looked upon
+and hanged as the spy of the next; and tired as he was of life, much as
+he longed to lay it down, his neck had too invincible a repugnance to
+anything like contact with a cord to render him ambitious of closing his
+existence in that way. He was not at all sorry, therefore, when he found
+the surly-looking Major Killdeer wholly unsupported in his sweeping
+estimate of what he called the "spy act." The gentlemanly manner of
+Colonel Forrester, forming as it did so decided a contrast with the
+unpolished--even rude frankness of his second in command was not without
+soothing influence upon his mind, and to his last observation he
+replied, as he really felt, that any change in his views as to his
+disposal could in no way affect him, since it was a matter of total
+indifference whether he returned to Amherstburg, or was detained where
+he was. In neither case could he actively rejoin the service until duly
+exchanged, and this was the only object embraced in any desire he might
+entertain of the kind.
+
+"Still," added the Colonel, "although I may not suffer you to return yet
+into Canada, I can see no objection to according you the privilege of
+parole of honor, without at all involving the after question of whether
+you are to be considered as the soldier or the officer. From this moment
+therefore, Mr. Grantham, you will consider yourself a prisoner at large
+within the fort--or, should you prefer journeying into the interior, to
+sharing the privations and the dullness inseparable from our isolated
+position, you are at liberty to accompany Captain Jackson, my
+Aid-de-camp, who will leave this within twelve hours, charged with
+dispatches for the Governor of Kentucky."
+
+Gerald had already acknowledged to himself that, if anything could add
+to his wretchedness, it would be a compulsory residence in a place not
+only destitute itself of all excitement, but calling up, at every hour,
+the images of his brave companions in danger--men whom he had known when
+the sun of his young hopes shone unclouded, and whom he had survived but
+to be made sensible of the curse of exemption from a similar fate;
+still, with that instinctive delicacy of a mind whose natural refinement
+not even a heavy weight of grief could wholly deaden, he felt some
+hesitation in giving expression to a wish, the compliance with which
+would, necessarily, separate him from one who had so courteously treated
+him, and whom he feared to wound by an appearance of indifference.
+
+"I think, Mr. Grantham," pursued Colonel Forrester, remarking his
+hesitation, "I can understand what is passing in your mind. However I
+beg you will suffer no mere considerations of courtesy to interfere with
+your inclination. I can promise you will find this place most dismally
+dull, especially to one who has no positive duty to perform in it. If I
+may venture to recommend, therefore, you will accompany Captain Jackson.
+The ride will afford you more subject for diversion than anything we can
+furnish here."
+
+Thus happily assisted in his decision Gerald said, "Since, Sir, you
+leave it optional with me, I think I shall avail myself of your kind
+offer and accompany Captain Jackson. It is not a very cheering sight,"
+he pursued, anxious to assign a satisfactory reason for his choice, "to
+have constantly before one's eyes the scene of so signal a discomfiture
+as that which our arms have experienced this day."
+
+"And yet," said Colonel Forrester, "despite of that discomfiture, there
+was nothing in the conduct of those engaged that should call a blush
+into the cheek of the most fastidious stickler for national glory. There
+is not an officer here present," he continued, "who is not prepared to
+attest with myself, that your column in particular behaved like heroes.
+By the way, I could wish to know, but you will use your own discretion
+in answering or declining the question, what was the actual strength of
+your attacking force?"
+
+"I can really see no objection to a candid answer to your question,
+Colonel," returned Gerald, after a moment's consideration. "Each
+division was, I believe, for I cannot state with certainty, little more
+than two hundred strong, making in all, perhaps, from six hundred to six
+hundred and fifty men. In return, may I ask the number of those who so
+effectually repulsed us?"
+
+"Why I guess only one hundred and fifty, and most all my volunteers,"
+somewhat exultingly exclaimed Major Killdeer.
+
+"Only one hundred and fifty men!" repeated Gerald, unable to disguise
+his vexation and astonishment.
+
+"That ere's a poser for him," said the Major, turning and addressing
+Captain Buckhorn in an under tone, who replied to him with a wink from
+his nearest eye.
+
+"Even so, Mr. Grantham," replied the Colonel. "One hundred and fifty men
+of all arms, save artillery, composed my force at the moment when your
+columns crossed the plain. To-night we muster one hundred and
+forty-nine."
+
+"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Gerald warming into excitement, with vexation
+and pique, "what a disgraceful affair."
+
+"Disgraceful, yes--but only in as far as regards those who planned, and
+provided (or rather ought to have provided) the means of attack. I can
+assure you, Mr. Grantham, that although prepared to defend my post to
+the last, when I saw your columns first emerge from the wood, I did not
+expect, with my small force, to have been enabled to hold the place one
+hour; for who could have supposed that even a school boy, had such been
+placed at the head of an army, would have sent forward a storming party,
+without either fascines to fill a trench, or ladders to ascend from it
+when filled. Had these been provided, there can be no doubt of the
+issue, for, to repulse the attempt at escalade in one quarter, I must
+have concentrated the whole of my little force--and thereby afforded an
+unopposed entrance to the other columns--or even granting my garrison to
+have been sufficient to keep two of your divisions in check, there still
+remained a third to turn the scale of success against us."
+
+"I can understand the satisfaction with which you discovered this
+wretched bungling on the part of our leaders," remarked Gerald, with
+vexation.
+
+"No sooner had I detected the deficiency," pursued Colonel Forrester,
+"than I knew the day would be my own, since the obstacles opposed to
+your attempt would admit of my spreading my men over the whole line
+embraced within the attack. The result, you see, has justified my
+expectation. But enough of this. After the fatigues of the day, you must
+require both food and rest. Captain Jackson, I leave it to you to do the
+honors of hospitality towards Mr. Grantham, who will so shortly become
+your fellow-traveller; and if, when he has performed the ablutions he
+seems so much to require, my wardrobe can furnish anything your own
+cannot supply to transform him into a backwoodsman (in which garb I
+would strongly advise him to travel). I beg it may be put under
+contribution without ceremony."
+
+So saying, Colonel Forrester departed to the rude log-hut that served
+him for his head-quarters, first enjoining his uncouth second to keep a
+sufficient number of men on the alert, and take such other precautions
+as were necessary to guard against surprise--an event, however, of which
+little apprehension was entertained, now that the British troops
+appeared to have been wholly withdrawn.
+
+Sick, wearied, and unhappy, Gerald was but too willing to escape to the
+solitude of retirement, to refuse the offer which Captain Jackson made
+of his own bed, it being his intention to sit up all night in the
+mess-room, ready to communicate instantly with the Colonel in the event
+of any alarm.
+
+Declining the pressing invitation of the officers to join in the repast
+they were about to make for the first time since the morning, and more
+particularly that of Captain Buckhorn, who strongly urged him to "bring
+himself to an anchor and try a little of the Wabash," he took a polite
+but hasty leave of them all, and was soon installed for the night in the
+Aid-de-camp's dormitory.
+
+It would be idle to say that Gerald never closed his eyes that
+night--still more idle would it be to attempt a description of all that
+passed through a mind whose extent of wretchedness may be inferred from
+his several desperate although unsuccessful, efforts at the utter
+annihilation of all thought. When he met Colonel Forrester and his
+officers in the mess-room at breakfast, he was dressed, as had been
+recommended, in the hunting frock and belt of a backwoodsman; and in
+this his gentlemanly figure looked to such advantage as to excite
+general attention--so much so, indeed, that Major Killdeer was more than
+once detected in eyeing his own heavy person, as if to ascertain if the
+points of excellence were peculiar to the dress or to the man. Sick and
+dispirited as he was, Gerald felt the necessity of an attempt to rally,
+and however the moralist may condemn the principle, there is no doubt
+that he was considerably aided in his effort by one or two glasses of
+bitters which Captain Buckhorn strongly recommended as being of his
+wife's making, and well calculated to put some color into a man's
+face--an advantage in which, he truly remarked, Grantham was singularly
+deficient.
+
+Accurate intelligence having been obtained from a party of scouts, who
+had been dispatched early in the morning to track their course, that the
+British General with his troops and Indians had finally departed,
+preparations were made about midday for the interment of the fallen. Two
+large graves were accordingly dug on the outer brow of the ravine, and
+in these the bodies of the fallen soldiers were deposited, with all the
+honors of war. A smaller grave, within the fort, and near the spot where
+they so nobly fell, was considerately allotted to Cranstoun and
+Middlemore. There was a composedness on the brow of the former that
+likened him, even in death, to the living man; while, about the
+good-humored mouth of poor Middlemore, played the same sort of
+self-satisfied smile that had always been observable there when about to
+deliver himself of a sally. Gerald, who had imposed upon himself the
+painful duty of attending to their last committal to earth, could not
+help fancying that Middlemore must have breathed his last with an
+inaudible pun upon his lips--an idea that inexpressibly affected him.
+Weighed down with sorrow as was his own soul, he had yet a tear for the
+occasion--not that his brave comrades were dead, but that they had died
+with so much to attach them to life--while he whose hope was in death
+alone, had been chained, as by a curse to an existence compared with
+which death was the first of human blessings.
+
+On the following morning, after an early breakfast, he and Captain
+Jackson quitted the fort, Colonel Forrester--who had not failed to
+remark that the brusque manner of his aide-de-camp was not altogether
+understood by his charge--taking occasion at parting, to assure the
+latter that, with all his eccentricity, he was a kind-hearted man, whom
+he had selected to be near him more for his personal courage, zeal, and
+general liberality of feeling, than for any qualifications of intellect
+he possessed.
+
+The means provided for their transport into the interior were well
+assimilated to the dreariness of the country through which they passed.
+Two common pack-horses, lean, galled by the saddle, and callous from
+long acquaintance with the admonitory influence both of whip and spur,
+had been selected by Captain Jackson as the best within the fort.
+Neither were the trappings out of keeping with the steeds they decked.
+Moth-eaten saddles, almost black with age, beneath which were spread
+pieces of dirty blanket to prevent further excoriation of the already
+bared and reeking back--bridles, the original thickness of which had
+been doubled by the incrustation of mould and dirt that pertinaciously
+adhered to them--stirrups and bits, with their accompanying buckles--the
+absence of curb chains being supplied by pieces of rope--all afforded
+evidence of the wretchedness of resource peculiar to a back settlement
+population. Over the hard saddles, however, had been strapped the
+blankets which, when the travellers were fortunate enough to meet with a
+hut at the close of their day's ride, or, as was more frequently the
+case, when compelled to bivouac in the forest before the fire kindled by
+the industry of the hardy aide-de-camp, served them as their only couch
+of rest, while the small leather valise tied to the pummel of the
+saddle, and containing their scanty wardrobe, was made to do the duty of
+the absent pillow. The blanket Gerald found to be the greatest advantage
+of his grotesque equipment--so much so, indeed, that when compelled, by
+the heavy rains which took place shortly after their departure, to make
+it serve, after the fashion of a backwoodsman, as a covering for his
+loins and shoulders, he was obliged to own that his miseries, great as
+they were, were yet susceptible of increase.
+
+Notwithstanding Captain Jackson had taken what he considered to be the
+best of the two Rosinantes for himself. Gerald had no reason to deny the
+character for kind-heartedness given of him by Colonel Forrester.
+Frequently when winding through some dense forest, or moving over some
+extensive plain where nothing beyond themselves told of the existence of
+man, his companion would endeavor to divert him from the abstraction and
+melancholy in which he was usually plunged, and, ascribing his
+melancholy to an unreal cause, seek to arouse him by the consolatory
+assurance that he was not the first man who had been taken
+prisoner--adding that there was no use in snivelling, as "what was done
+couldn't be undone, and no great harm neither, as there was some as
+pretty gals in Kaintuck as could be picked out in a day's ride; and that
+to a good-looking young fellow like himself, with nothing to do but make
+love to them, _that_ ought to be no mean consideration, enabling him, as
+it would, to while away the tedium of captivity." At other times he
+would launch forth into some wild rhapsody, the invention of the moment,
+or seek to entertain his companion with startling anecdotes connected
+with his encounters with the Indians on the Wabash, (where he had
+formerly served) in the course of which much of the marvellous, to call
+it by the most indulgent term, was necessarily mixed up--not perhaps
+that he was quite sensible of this himself, but because he possessed a
+constitutional proneness to exaggeration that rendered him even more
+credulous of the good things he uttered than those to whom he detailed
+them.
+
+But Gerald heard without being amused, and, although he felt thankful
+for the intention, was distressed that his abstraction should be the
+subject of notice, and his despondency the object of care. To avoid this
+he frequently suffered Jackson to take the lead, and, following some
+distance in the rear with his arms folded and the reins loose upon the
+horse's neck, often ran the risk of having his own neck broken by the
+frequent stumbling of the unsure-footed beast. But the Captain as often
+returned to the charge, for, in addition to a sincere desire to rally
+his companion, he began at length to find it exceedingly irksome to
+travel with one who neither spoke himself, nor appeared to enjoy speech
+in another; and when he had amused himself with whistling, singing,
+hallooing, and cutting a thousand antics with his arms, until he was
+heartily tired of each of these several diversions, he would rein in his
+horse to suffer Gerald to come up, and, after a conciliating offer of
+his rum flask, accompanied by a slice of hung beef that lined the wallet
+depending from his shoulder, enter upon some new and strange exploit, of
+which he was as usual the hero. Enforced in a degree to make some return
+for the bribe offered to his patience, Gerald would lend--all he
+could--his ear to the tale; but long before the completion he would give
+such evidence of his distraction, as utterly to disconcert the narrator,
+and cause him finally to have recourse to one of the interludes above
+described.
+
+In this manner they had journeyed some days, when the rains suddenly
+commenced with a violence and continued with a pertinacity, that might
+have worn out the cheerfulness of much less impatient spirits than those
+of our travellers, who without any other protection than what was
+afforded by the blanket tightly girt around the loins, and fastened over
+the shoulders in front of the chest, presented an appearance quite as
+wild as the waste they traversed. It was in vain that, in order to
+promote a more rapid circulation, they essayed to urge their jaded
+beasts out of the jog-trot in which they had set out. Accustomed to this
+from the time when they first emerged from colthood into horsehood, the
+aged steeds, like many aged senators of their day, were determined
+enemies to anything like innovation on the long established customs of
+their caste; and, although, unlike the said senators, they were made to
+bear all the burdens of the state, still did they not suffer themselves
+to be driven out of the sluggish habits in which sluggish animals of
+every description seem to feel themselves privileged to indulge. Whip
+and spur, therefore, were alike applied in vain, as to any accelerated
+motion in themselves; but with this advantage at least to their riders,
+that while the latter toiled vigorously for an increase of vital warmth
+through the instrumentality of their non-complying hacks they found it
+where they least seemed to look for it--in the mingled anger and
+activity which kept them at the fruitless task.
+
+It was at the close of one of those long days of wearying travel
+throughout a vast and unsheltered plain--where only here and there rose
+an occasional cluster of trees, like oases in the desert--that, drenched
+to the skin with the steady rain, which commencing at the dawn had
+continued without a moment's intermission, they arrived at a small log
+hut, situate on the skirt of a forest forming one of the boundaries of
+the vast savannah they had traversed. Such was the unpromising
+appearance of this apology for a human dwelling, that, under any other
+circumstances, even the "not very d----d particular" Jackson, as the
+aide-de-camp often termed himself, would have passed it by without
+stopping; but after a long day's ride, and suffering from the greatest
+evils to which a traveller can well be subjected--cold, wet and
+hunger--even so wretched a resting-place as this was not to be despised;
+and accordingly a determination was formed to stop there for the night.
+On riding up to the door, it was opened to their knock, when a tall
+man--apparently its only occupant--came forth, and after viewing the
+travellers a moment with a suspicious eye, inquired "what the strangers
+wanted?"
+
+"Why I guess," said Jackson, "it doesn't need much conjuration to tell
+that. Food and lodging for ourselves, to be sure, and a wisp of hay and
+tether for our horses. Hospitality, in short; and that's what no true
+Tennessee man, bred and born, never refused yet--no, not even to an
+enemy, such a night as this."
+
+"Then you must go further in search of it," replied the woodsman,
+surlily. "I don't keep no tavern, and han't got no accommodation; and
+what's more, I reckon I'm no Tennessee man."
+
+"But any accommodation will do friend. If you havn't got beds, we'll
+sit up all night, and warm our toes at the fire, and spin long yarns,
+as they tell in the Eastern sea-ports. Anything but turn a fellow out
+such a night as this."
+
+"But I say, stranger," returned the man fiercely and determinedly, "I
+an't got no room any how, and you shan't bide here."
+
+"Oh, ho, my old cock! that's the ticket, is it? But you'll see whether
+an old stager like me is to be turned out of any man's house such a
+night as this. I havn't served two campaigns against the Ingins and the
+British for nothing; and here I rest for the night."
+
+So saying, the determined Jackson coolly dismounted from his horse, and
+unbuckling the girth, proceeded to deposit the saddle, with the valise
+attached to it, within the hut, the door of which still stood open.
+
+The woodman, perceiving his object, made a movement, as if to bar the
+passage; but Jackson with great activity seized him by the wrist of the
+left hand, and, all-powerful as the ruffian was, sent him dancing some
+few yards in front of the threshold before he was aware of his
+intention, or could resist the peculiar _knack_ with which it was
+accomplished. The aide-de-camp, meanwhile, had deposited his saddle in a
+corner near the fire, and on his return to the door, met the
+inhospitable woodsman advancing as if to court a personal encounter.
+
+"Now, I'll tell you what it is, friend," he said calmly, throwing back
+at the same time the blanket that concealed his uniform and--what was
+more imposing--a brace of large pistols stuck in his belt. "You'd better
+have no nonsense with me, I promise you, or--" and he tapped with the
+fore finger of his right hand upon the butt of one of them, with an
+expression that could not be misunderstood.
+
+The woodsman seemed little awed by this demonstration. He was evidently
+one on whom it might have been dangerous for one man, however well
+armed, to have forced his presence, so far from every other human
+habitation; and it is probable that his forbearance then arose from the
+fact of there being two opposed to him, for he glanced rapidly from one
+to the other, nor was it until he seemed to have mentally decided that
+the odds of two to one were somewhat unequal, that he at length withdrew
+himself out of the doorway, as if in passive assent to the stay he could
+not well prevent.
+
+"Just so, my old cock," continued Jackson, finding that he had gained
+his point, "and when you speak of this again, don't forget to say it was
+a true Tennessee man, bred and born, that gave you a lesson in what no
+American ever wanted--hospitality to a stranger. Suppose you begin and
+make your self useful, by tethering and foddering old spare bones."
+
+"I reckon as how you've hands as well as me," rejoined the surly
+woodsman, "and every man knows the ways of his own beast best. As for
+fodder, they'll find it on the skirt of the wood, and where natur'
+planted it."
+
+Gerald meanwhile, finding victory declare itself in favor of his
+companion, had followed his example and entered the hut with his saddle.
+As he again quitted it, a sudden flash of light from the fire, which
+Jackson was then in the act of stirring, fell upon the countenance of
+the woodsman who stood without, his arms folded and his brow scowling,
+as if planning some revenge for the humiliation to which he had been
+subjected. In the indistinct dusk of the evening Grantham had not been
+able to remark more than the outline of the figure; but the voice struck
+him as one not unknown to him, although somewhat harsher in its tones
+than that which his faint recollection of the past supplied. The glance
+he had now obtained, momentary as it was, put every doubt to rest. What
+his feelings were in recognising in the woodsman the traitor settler of
+the Canadas, Jeremiah Desborough, we leave to our readers to infer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+There was a time, when to have met his father's enemy thus would have
+been to have called into activity all the dormant fierceness of Gerald's
+nature; but since they had last parted, a new channel had been opened to
+his feelings, and the deep and mysterious grief in which we have seen
+him shrouded had been of so absorbing and selfish a nature, as to leave
+him little consideration for sorrows not his own. The rash impetuosity
+of his former character, which had often led him to act even before he
+thought, and to resent an injury before it could well be said to have
+been offered, had moreover given place to a self-command, the fruit of
+the reflective habits and desire of concealment which had made him
+latterly almost a stranger to himself.
+
+Whatever his motives for outwardly avoiding all recognition of the
+settler, certain it is that, so far from this, he sought sedulously to
+conceal his own identity, by drawing the slouched hat, which formed a
+portion of his new equipment, lower over his eyes. Left to do the duties
+of the rude hostelry, Captain Jackson and he now quitted the hut, and
+leading their jaded, smoking steeds, a few rods off to the verge of the
+plain they had so recently traversed, prepared to dispose of them for
+the night. Gerald had by this time become too experienced in the mode of
+travelling through an American wilderness, not to understand, that he
+who expects to find a companion in his horse in the morning must duly
+secure him with the tether at night. Following, therefore, the example
+of the Aide-de-camp, he applied himself, amid the still pelting rain, to
+the not very cleanly task of binding round the fetlock joints of his
+steed several yards of untanned hide strips, with which they were
+severally provided for the purpose. Each gave his steed a parting slap
+on the buttock with the hard bridle. Jackson exclaiming, "Go ye
+luxurious beasts--ye have a whole prairie of wet grass to revel in for
+the night," and then left them to make the best of their dainty food.
+
+While returning, Grantham took occasion to observe, that he had reason
+to think he knew the surly and inhospitable woodsman, by whom however he
+was not desirous of being recognised, and therefore begged as a favor
+that Captain Jackson would not, in the course of the night, mention his
+name, or even allude to him in any way that could lead to an inference
+that he was any other than he seemed, a companion and brother officer of
+his own; promising, in conclusion, to give him, in the course of the
+next day's journey, some little history of the man which would fully
+explain his motives. With this request Jackson unhesitatingly promised
+compliance, adding, good-humoredly, that he was not sorry to pledge
+himself to anything that would thaw his companion's tongue into
+sociability, and render himself, for the first time since their
+departure, a listener. Before entering the hut Gerald further observed
+in a whisper that, the better to escape recognition, he would, as much
+as possible, avoid joining in any conversation which might ensue, and
+therefore hoped his companion would not think him rude if he suffered
+him to bear the tax. Jackson again promised to keep the attention of the
+woodsman directed as much as possible to himself, observing that he
+thought Gerald had already, to his cost, discovered he was one not
+easily tired out by conversation, should their host be that way
+inclined.
+
+On opening the door of the cabin, they found that the woodsman--or more
+properly the settler, as we shall again term him--making a virtue of
+necessity, had somewhat changed its interior. A number of fine logs,
+sufficient to last throughout the night had been heaped upon the hearth,
+and these, crackling and fizzing, and emitting sparks in all the burly
+of a hickory wood fire, gave promise of a night of comparative comfort.
+Ensconced in the farther corner of the chimney, the settler had already
+taken his seat, and, regardless of the entrance of the strangers, (with
+his elbows resting on his knees, and his face buried in his large
+palms,) kept his eyes fixed upon the fire, as if with a sullen
+determination neither to speak nor suffer himself to be questioned. But
+the Aide-de-camp was by no means disposed to humor him in his fancy. The
+idea of passing some eight or ten consecutive hours in company with two
+fellow beings, without calling into full play the bump of loquacity with
+which nature had largely endowed him, was, in his view, little better
+than the evil from which his perseverance had just enabled him to
+escape. Making himself perfectly at home, he unbuckled the wet blanket
+from his loins and spreading it, with that of Gerald, to dry upon the
+rude floor before the fire, drew forward a heavy uncouth-looking table,
+(which, with two or three equally unpolished chairs, formed the whole of
+the furniture,) and deposited thereon the wallet or haversack in which
+remained a portion of provision. He then secured the last vacant chair,
+and taking up a position on the right of the table which lay between
+himself and Gerald, let it fall upon the dry clay hearth, with a
+violence that caused the settler to quit his attitude of abstraction for
+one of anger and surprise.
+
+"Sorry to disturb you, friend," he said, "but these chairs of yours are
+so cursed heavy, there's no handling them decently; 'specially with cold
+fingers."
+
+"Beggars, I reckon, have no right to be choosers," returned the settler;
+"the chairs is quite good enough for me--and no one axed you to sit on
+'em."
+
+"I'll tell you what it is, old cock," continued the Aide-de-camp, edging
+his seat closer, and giving his host a smart friendly slap upon the
+thigh, "this dull life of yours don't much improve your temper. Why, as
+I am a true Tennessee man, bred and born, I never set eyes upon such a
+crab-apple in all my life--you'd turn a whole dairy of the sweetest milk
+that ever came from prairie-grass sour in less than no time. I take it
+you must be crossed in love, old boy--eh?"
+
+"Crossed in hell," returned the settler, savagely; "I reckon as how it
+don't consarn you whether I look sour or sweet--what you want is a
+night's lodgin', and you've got it--so don't trouble me no more."
+
+"Very sorry, but I shall," said Jackson, secretly congratulating himself
+that, now he had got the tongue of his host in motion, he had a fair
+chance of keeping it so. "I must trouble you for some bread, and
+whatever else your larder may afford. I'll pay you honestly for it,
+friend."
+
+"I should guess," said the settler, his stern features brightening for
+the first time into a smile of irony, "as how a man who had served a
+campaign agin the Ingins and another agin the British, might contrive to
+do without sich a luxury as bread. You'll find no bread here, I reckon."
+
+"What, not even a bit of corn bread? Try, my old cock, and rummage up a
+crust or two, for hung beef is devilish tight work for the teeth,
+without a little bread of some sort for a relish."
+
+"If you'd ha' used your eyes, you'd ha' seen nothin' like a corn patch
+for twenty mile round about this. Bread never entered this hut since I
+have been here. I don't eat it."
+
+"More's the pity," replied Jackson, with infinite drollery; "but though
+you may not like it yourself, your friends may."
+
+"I _have_ no friends--I _wish_ to have no friends!" was the sullen
+reply.
+
+"More's the pity still," pursued the Aide-de-camp. "But what do you live
+on, then, old cock, if you don't eat bread?"
+
+"Human flesh. Take that as a relish to your hung beef."
+
+Scarcely had the strange expression escaped the settler's lips, when
+Jackson, active as a deer, was at the farther end of the hut, one hand
+holding the heavy chair as a shield before him, the other placed upon
+the butt of one of his pistols. The former at the same moment quitted
+his seat, and stretching his tall and muscular form to its utmost
+height, burst into a laugh that sounded more like that of some wild
+beast than a human being. The involuntary terror produced in his guest
+was evidently a source of exultation to him, and he seemed gratified to
+think he had at length discovered the means of making himself looked
+upon with something like fear.
+
+On entering the hut, Gerald had taken his seat at the opposite corner of
+the fire, yet in such a manner as to admit of his features being shaded
+by the projection of the chimney. The customs of the wilderness,
+moreover, rendering it neither offensive, nor even worthy of remark,
+that he should retain his hat, he had, as in the first instance, drawn
+it as much over his eyes as he conceived suited to his purpose of
+concealment, without exciting a suspicion of his design; and, as the
+alteration in his dress was calculated to deceive into a belief of his
+being an American, he had been enabled to observe the settler without
+much fear of recognition in return. A great change had taken place in
+the manner of Desborough. Ferocious he still was, but it was a ferocity
+wholly unmixed with the cunning of his former years, that he now
+exhibited. He had evidently suffered much, and there was a stamp of
+thought on the heavy countenance that Gerald had never remarked there
+before. There was also this anomaly in the man--that while ten years
+appeared to have been added to his age, his strength was increased in
+the same proportion--a change that made itself evident by the attitude
+in which he stood.
+
+"Why now I take it you must be jesting," at length exclaimed the
+Aid-de-camp, doubtingly, dropping at the same time the chair upon the
+floor, yet keeping it before him as though not quite safe in the
+presence of this self-confessed anthropophagos; "you surely don't mean
+to say you kill and pickle every unfortunate traveller that comes by
+here. If so, I must apprehend you in the name of the United States
+Government."
+
+"I rather calculate not, Mister," sneered the settler. "Besides, I don't
+eat the United States subjects; consequently they've no claim to
+interfere."
+
+"Who the devil do you eat, then?" asked Jackson, gathering courage with
+his curiosity, and advancing a pace or two nearer the fire, "or is it
+all a hum?"
+
+The settler approached the fire, stooped a little, and applying his
+shoulder to the top of the opening, thrust his right hand and arm up the
+chimney.
+
+"I reckon that's no hum," he said, producing and throwing upon the table
+a piece of dark, dry flesh, that resembled in appearance the upper part
+of a human arm. "If you're fond of a relisn," he pursued, with a fierce
+laugh, "you'll find that mighty well suited to the palate--quite as
+sweet as a bit of smok'd venison."
+
+"Why, you don't really mean to say that's part of a man?" demanded
+Jackson, advancing cautiously to the table, and turning over the
+shrivelled mass with the point of his dagger. "Why, I declare, its just
+the color of my dried beef."
+
+"But I do though--and what's more, of my own killin' and dryin'. Purty
+naturist you must be, not to see that's off an Ingin's arm!"
+
+"Oh, an Ingin's only, is it?" returned the Aid-de-camp, whose
+apprehension began rapidly to subside, now that he had obtained the
+conviction that it was not the flesh of a white man. "Well, I'm sure!
+who'd have thought it? I take it, old cock, you've been in the wars as
+well as myself."
+
+"A little or so, I reckon, and I expect to be in them agin shortly--as
+soon as my stock of food's out. I've only a thigh bone to pick after
+this, and then I'm off. But why don't you take your seat at the fire.
+There's nothin' so out of the way in the sight of a naked arm, is there?
+I reckon, if you're a soger, you must have seen many a one lopped off in
+the wars."
+
+"Yes, friend," said Jackson, altering the position of the table and
+placing it between the settler and himself; "a good many lopped off, as
+you say, and in a devil of a stew, but not exactly eaten. However, be so
+good as to return this to the chimney, and when I've eaten something
+from my bag, I'll listen to what you have to say about it."
+
+"Jist so, and go without my own supper, I suppose, to please you. But
+tarnation, while you're eatin' a bit of your hung beef, I'll try a snack
+of mine."
+
+So saying, he deliberately took from the table the dried arm he had
+previously flung there, and, removing a large clasp knife from a pocket
+beneath his coarse hunting frock, proceeded to help himself to several
+thin slices, corresponding precisely in appearance with those which the
+Aid-de-camp divided in the same manner.
+
+Jackson had managed to swallow three or four pieces of his favorite hung
+beef with all the avidity of an appetite rendered keen by the absence of
+every other stimulant than hunger; but no sooner did he perceive his
+host fastening with a degree of fury on his unnatural food, than, sick
+and full of loathing, his stomach rejected further aliment, and he was
+compelled to desist. During all this time, Grantham, who, although he
+had assumed the manner and attitude of a sleeping man, was a watchful
+observer of all that passed, neither moved nor uttered a syllable,
+except on one occasion to put away from him the food Jackson had
+offered.
+
+"Sorry to see your ride has given you so poor an appetite," said the
+settler, with a look expressive of the savage delight he felt in
+annoying his visitor, "I reckon that's rather unsavory stuff you've got
+there, that you can't eat it without bread. I say, young man,"
+addressing Grantham, "can't you find no appetite neither, that you sit
+there snorin', as if you never meant to wake agin."
+
+Gerald's head sunk lower on his chest, and his affectation of slumber
+became more profound.
+
+"Try a drop of this," said Jackson, offering his canteen, after having
+drank himself, and with a view to distract attention from his companion.
+"You seem to have no liquor in the house, and I take it you require
+something hot as h--ll, and strong as d--n----n, after that ogre-like
+repast of yours."
+
+The settler seized the can, and raised it to his lips. It contained some
+of the fiery whiskey we have already described as the common beverage in
+most parts of America. This, all powerful as it was, he drained off as
+though it had been water, and with the greedy avidity of one who finds
+himself suddenly restored to the possession of a favorite and long
+absent drink.
+
+"Hollo, my friend!" exclaimed the angry Aid-de-camp, who had watched the
+rapid disappearance of his "traveller's best companion," as he quaintly
+enough termed it, down the capacious gullet of the woodman--and
+snatching at the same moment the nearly emptied canteen from his hands.
+"I take it, that's not handsome. As I'm a true Tennessee man, bred and
+born, it aint at all hospitable to empty off a pint of raw liquor at a
+spell, and have not so much as a glass of metheglin to offer in return.
+What the h--ll do you suppose we're to do to-morrow for drink, during a
+curst long ride through the wood, and not a house of call till nightfall
+along the road?"
+
+The ruffian drew a breath long and heavy in proportion to the draught he
+had swallowed, and when his lungs had again recovered their play,
+answered, blusteringly, in a voice that betokened incipient
+intoxication:
+
+"Roar me up a saplin', Mister, but you're mighty stingy of the Wabash. I
+reckon as how I made you a free offer of my food, and it warn't no fault
+of mine if you didn't choose to take it. It would only have been relish
+for relish, after all--and that's what I call fair swap."
+
+"Well, no matter," said Jackson, soothingly; "what's done can't be
+undone, therefore I take it its no use argufying--however, my old cock,
+when next you get the neck of a canteen of mine 'twixt your lips, I hope
+it may do the cockles of your heart good; that's all. But let's hear how
+you came by them pieces of nigger's flesh, and how it is you've taken it
+into your head to turn squatter here. You seem," glancing around, "to
+have no sleeping room to spare, and one may as well sit up and chat, as
+have one's bones bruised to squash on the hard boards."
+
+"It's a sad tale," said the settler gruffly and with a darkening brow,
+"and brings bitter thoughts with it; but as the liquor has cheered me up
+a bit, I don't much mind if I do tell you how I skivered the varmint.
+Indeed," he pursued savagely, "that always gives me a pleasure to think
+of, for I owed them a desperate grudge--the bloody red skins and imps of
+hell. I was on my way to Detroit, to see the spot once more where my
+poor boy Phil lay rootin', and one dark night (for I only ventured to
+move at night), I came slick upon two Ingins as was lying fast asleep
+before their fire in a deep ravine. The one nearest to me had his face
+unkivered, and I knew the varmint for the tall dark Delaweer chief as
+made one of the party after poor Phil and me, a sight that made me
+thirst for the blood of the heathens as a child for mother's milk.
+Well, how do you think I managed them. I calculate you'd never guess.
+Why, I stole, as quiet as a fox until I got jist atween them, and then
+holdin' a cocked pistol to each breast, I called out in a thunderin'
+voice that made the woods ring agin, Kit-chimocomon, which you know, as
+you've been in the wars, signifies long knife or Yankee. You'd a laugh'd
+fit to split your sides I guess, to see the stupid stare of the devils,
+as startin' out of their sleep, they saw a pistol within three inches of
+each of 'em. 'Ugh,' says they, as if they did'nt know well whether to
+take it as a joke or not. 'Yes, 'ugh' and be damn'd to you,' say's I:
+you may go and 'ugh' in hell next--and with that snap went the triggers,
+and into their curst carcasses went the balls. The one I killed outright
+but t'other, the Delaweer chief, was by a sudden shift only slightly
+wounded, and he sprung on his feet and out with his knife. But I had a
+knife too, and all a disappointed father's rage to boot, so at it we
+went closin' and strikin' with our knives like two fierce fiends of the
+forest. It was noble sport sure_ly_. At last the Delaweer fell over the
+bleedin' body of his warrior and I top of him. As he fell the knife
+dropped from his hand and he could'nt reach it no how, while I still
+gripped mine fast. 'Ugh,' he muttered again, as if askin' to know what I
+meant to do next. 'Ugh,' and be damned to you once more, say's I--and
+the pint of my long knife was soon buried in his black heart. Then, when
+I see them both dead I eat my own meal at their fire, for I was
+tarnation hungry, and while I was eatin' a thought came across me that
+it would be good fun to make smoked meat of the varmint, so when I
+tucked it in purty considerably, what with hominy and dried bear's meat,
+moistened with a little Wabash I found in the Delaweer chief's canteen,
+I set to and regularly quartered them. The trunks I left behind, but the
+limbs I packed up in the blankets that had been used to kiver them, I
+reckon; and with them slung across my shoulders, like a saddle bag
+across a horse, I made tracks through the swamps and the prairies for
+this here hut, which I know'd no livin' soul had been nigh for many a
+long year. And now," he concluded with a low drunken laugh, "you've the
+history of the dried meat. There isn't much left but when all is gone
+I'm off to the wars, for I can't find no peace I reckon without my poor
+boy Phil." He paused a moment, and then as if suddenly influenced by
+some painful recollection, he struck his hand with startling violence
+upon the table, and, while every feature of his iron countenance seemed
+worked up to a pitch of intensity, added with fearful calmness, "May
+God's curse light upon me if I don't have my revenge of them Granthams
+yet:--yes," he continued with increased excitement of voice and manner,
+while he kicked one of the blazing hickory logs in the chimney with all
+the savageness of drunken rage, causing a multitude of sparks to spit
+forth as from the anvil of a smith.--"jist so would I kick them both to
+hell for having murdered my poor boy."
+
+"Why, surely, Liftenant Grantham, he can't meant you?" abruptly
+questioned the Aid-de-camp, drawing back his chair and resting the palms
+of his hands upon his knees, while he fixed his eye keenly and
+inquiringly upon Gerald.
+
+But Gerald had no time to answer him--Scarcely had the name escaped the
+lips of the incautious Jackson, when a yell of exultation from the
+woodman drew him quickly to his feet, and in the next moment he felt one
+hand of his enemy grappling at his throat, while the fingers of the
+other were rapidly insinuating themselves into the hair that shadowed
+one of his temples, with the evident intention to "gouge" him. Weak and
+emaciated as he was, Gerald was soon made sensible of the disproportion
+of physical strength thus suddenly brought into the struggle, and as the
+savage laugh of the man, as his fingers wound themselves closer and
+closer within the clustering hair, proclaimed his advantage, he felt
+that his only chance of saving the threatened eye was by having recourse
+to some sudden and desperate attempt to free himself from the gripe of
+his opponent. Summoning all his strength into one vigorous effort, he
+rushed forward upon his enemy with such force, raising himself at the
+same time in a manner to throw the whole weight of his person upon him,
+that the latter reeled backwards several paces without the power of
+resistance, and falling over the table towards which he had been
+intentionally propelled, sank with a heavy crash to the floor, still
+however retaining his firm hold of his enemy, and dragging him after
+him.
+
+Half throttled, maddened with pain, and even more bitterly stung by a
+sense of the humiliating position in which he found himself, the
+feelings of Gerald became uncontrollable, until his anxiety to inflict a
+mortal injury upon his enemy became in the end as intense as that of the
+settler. In their fall the table had been overturned, and with it the
+knife which Desborough had used with his horrid repast. As the light
+from the blazing fire fell upon the blade, it had once caught the
+unassailed eye of the officer, and was the next moment clutched in his
+grasp. He raised it with a determination, inspired by the agony he
+endured, at once to liberate himself and to avenge his father's murder,
+but the idea that there was something assassin-like in the act as
+suddenly arrested him, and ere he had time to obey a fresh impulse of
+his agony, the knife was forcibly stricken from his hand. A laugh of
+triumph burst from the lips of the half intoxicated Desborough, but it
+was scarcely uttered before it was succeeded by a yell of pain, and the
+hand that had contrived to entwine itself, with resistless force and
+terrible intent, in the waving hair of the youth, fell suddenly from its
+grasp, enabling its victim at length to free himself altogether and
+start once more to his feet.
+
+Little more than a minute had been passed in the enactment of this
+strange scene. The collision, the overthrow, the upraising of the knife
+had followed each other in such rapid succession that, until the last
+desperate intention of Gerald was formed, the Aid-de-camp had not had
+time to interpose himself in any way between the enraged combatants. His
+first action had been to strike away the murderous knife with the heavy
+butt of one of his pistols, the other to plant such a blow upon the
+"gouging" hand of the settler from the same butt, as effectually to
+compel him to relinquish his ferocious clutch. In both objects, as we
+have seen, he fully succeeded.
+
+But although his right hand had been utterly disabled by the blow from
+Jackson's pistol, the fury of Desborough, fed as it was by the fumes of
+the liquor he had swallowed, was too great to render him heedful of
+aught but the gratification of his vengeance. Rolling rapidly over to
+the point where the knife had fallen he secured it in his left hand, and
+then, leaping nimbly to his feet, gathered himself into a spring upon
+his unarmed but watchful enemy. But before the bound could be taken, the
+active Aid-de-camp, covering Gerald with his body and presenting a
+cocked pistol, had again thwarted him in his intention.
+
+"I say now, old cock, you'd much better be quiet I guess, for them sort
+of tantrums won't suit me. If this here Liftenant killed your son why
+he'll answer for it later, but I can't let you murder my prisoner in
+that flumgustious manner. I'm responsible for him to the United States
+Government, therefore just drop that knife clean and slick upon the
+floor, and let's have no more of this nonsense for the night."
+
+But even the cocked pistol had not power to restrain the fierce--almost
+brutal--rage of the woodman, whose growing intoxication added fuel to
+the fire which the presence of his enemy had kindled in his heart.
+Heedless of the determined air and threatening posture of the
+Aid-de-camp, he made a bound forward, uttering a sound that resembled
+the roar of a wild beast rather than the cry of a human being, and
+struck over Jackson's shoulder at the chest of the officer. Gerald,
+whose watchful eye marked the danger, had however time to step back and
+avoid the blow. In the next moment the Aid-de-camp, overborne by the
+violence of the collision, fell heavily backwards upon the rude floor,
+and in the fall the pistol went off lodging the ball in the sinewy calf
+of Desborough's leg. Stung with acute animal pain, the whole rage of the
+latter was now diverted from Gerald to the aid-de-camp, on whom,
+assuming the wound to have been intentional, he threw himself with the
+fury of a tiger, grappling as he closed with him at his throat. But the
+sailor, in his turn, now came to the rescue of his companion, and the
+scene for some time, as the whole party struggled together upon the
+floor in the broad, red glare of the wood fire, was one of fearful and
+desperate character. At length, after an immense effort, and amid the
+most horrid imprecations of vengeance upon them, the officers succeeded
+in disarming and tying the hands of the settler behind his back, after
+which, dragging him to a distant corner of the hut, they secured him
+firmly to one of the open and mis-shapen logs which composed its frame.
+This done, Jackson divided the little that had been left of his "Wabash"
+with his charge, and then stretching himself at his length, with his
+feet to the fire and his saddle for a pillow, soon fell profoundly
+asleep.
+
+Too much agitated by the scene which had just passed, Gerald, although
+following the example of his companion in stretching himself before the
+cheerful fire, was in no condition to enjoy repose. Indeed, whatever his
+inclination, the attempt would have been vain, for so dreadful were the
+denunciations of Desborough throughout the night, that sleep had no room
+to enter even into his thoughts. Deep and appalling were the curses and
+threats of vengeance which the enraged settler uttered upon all who bore
+the name of Grantham; and with these were mingled lamentations for his
+son, scarcely less revolting in their import than the curses themselves.
+Nor was the turbulence of the enraged man confined to mere excitement of
+language. His large and muscular form struggled in every direction to
+free himself from the cords that secured him to the logs, and finding
+these too firmly bound to admit of the accomplishment of his end, he
+kicked his brawny feet against the floor with all the fury and
+impatience of a spirit, quickened into a livelier sense of restraint by
+the stimulus of intoxication. At length, exhausted by the efforts he had
+made, his struggles and his imprecations became gradually less frequent
+and less vigorous, until finally towards dawn they ceased altogether,
+and his deep and heavy breathing announced that he slept.
+
+Accustomed to rise with the dawn, the Aide-de-camp was not long after
+its appearance in shaking off the slumber in which he had so profoundly
+indulged. The first object that met his eye as he raised himself up in a
+sitting posture from his rude bed, was Gerald stooping over the sleeping
+Desborough, one hand resting upon his chest, the other holding the
+knife already alluded to, while every feature of his face was kindled
+into loathing and abhorrence of his prostrate and sleeping enemy.
+Startled by the expression he read there, and with the occurrences of
+the last night rushing forcibly upon his memory, the Aide-de-camp called
+quickly out:
+
+"Hold, Liftenant Grantham. Well, as I'm a true Tennessee man, bred and
+born, may I be most especially d----d, if I'd a thought you'd do so foul
+a deed. What! assassinate a sleeping drunken man?"
+
+"Assassinate, Captain Jackson?" repeated Gerald, raising himself to his
+full height, while a crimson flush of indignation succeeded to the
+deadly paleness which had overspread his cheek.
+
+"Yes--assassinate!" returned the Aide-de-camp, fixing his eye upon that
+of his prisoner, yet without perceiving that it quailed under his
+penetrating glance; "It's an ugly word, I reckon, for you to hear, as it
+is for me to speak, but your quarrel last night--your fix just now--that
+knife--Liftenant Grantham," and he pointed to the blade which still
+remained in the hands of the accused--"surely these things speak for
+themselves; and though the fellow has swallowed off all my Wabash, and
+be d----d to him, still I shouldn't like to see him murdered in that
+sort of way."
+
+"I cannot blame you, Captain Jackson," said Gerald calmly, his features
+resuming their pallid hue. "These appearances, I grant, might justify
+the suspicion, horrible as it is, in one who had known more of me than
+yourself but was assassination even a virtue, worlds would not tempt me
+to assassinate that man--wretch though he be--or even to slay him in
+fair and open combat."
+
+"Then I calculate one night has made a pretty considerable change in
+your feelings, Liftenant," retorted the Aide-de-camp. "You were both
+ready enough to go at it last night, when I knocked the knife out of
+your fist, and broke the knuckles of his gouging hand."
+
+"I confess," said Gerald, again coloring, "that excessive pain made me
+wild, and I should have been tempted to have had recourse to any means
+to thwart him in his diabolical purpose. As you have said, however, the
+past night has effected a change in my feelings towards the man, and
+death from my hand, under any circumstances, is the last thing he has
+now to apprehend." Gerald sank his head upon his chest, and sighed
+bitterly.
+
+"Well," said Jackson, "all this is queer enough; but what were you doing
+standing over the man just now with that knife, if it was not to harm
+him? And as for your countenance, it scowled so savage and passionate, I
+was almost afraid to look at it myself."
+
+"My motive for the action I must beg you to excuse my entering upon,"
+replied Gerald. "Of this, however, be assured, Captain Jackson, that I
+had no intention to injure yon sleeping villain. On the word of an
+officer and a gentleman, and by the kindness you have shown me on all
+occasions since our journey commenced, do I solemnly assure you this is
+the fact."
+
+"And on the word of an officer, and a true Tennessee man, bred and born
+I am bound to believe you," returned the American, much affected. "A man
+that could fight so wickedly in the field would never find heart, I
+reckon, to stick an enemy in the dark. No, Liftenant Grantham, you were
+not born to be an assassin. And now let's be starting--the day has
+already broke."
+
+"And yet," returned Gerald, with a smile of bitter melancholy, as they
+hurried towards the spot where they had left their horses, "if any man
+ever had reason to act so as to merit the imputation of being such, I
+have. In that savage woodsman, Captain Jackson, you have beheld the
+murderer--the self-acknowledged murderer of my father."
+
+"God bless my soul!" cried Jackson dropping the saddle which he carried
+and standing still with very amazement. "A pretty fix I've got into, to
+be sure. Here's one man accuses another of murdering his son, and
+t'other, by way of quits accuses him, in his turn, of murdering his
+father. Why, which am I to believe?"
+
+"Which you please, Captain Jackson," said the sailor coolly, yet
+painedly; and he moved forward in pursuit of his horse.
+
+"Nay, Liftenant Grantham," said the Aid-de-camp, who had again resumed
+his burden, and was speedily at the side of his companion, "don't be
+offended. I've no doubt the thing's as you say; but you must make
+allowance for my ideas, never too much of the brightest, being
+conglomerated, after a fashion, by what I have seen and heard, since we
+let loose our horses last night upon this prairie."
+
+"I am not offended, only hurt," replied Gerald, shaking the hand that
+was cordially tendered to him, "hurt, that you should doubt my word, or
+attach anything to the assertion of that man beyond the mere ravings of
+a savage and diseased spirit. Justice to myself demands that I should
+explain everything in detail."
+
+"Now, that's what I call all right and proper," returned the
+Aide-de-camp, "and should be done, both for your sake and mine; but we
+will leave it till we get once more upon the road and in sight of a
+tavern, for it's dry work talking and listening without even so much as
+a gum tickler of the Wabash to moisten one's clay."
+
+They found their horses not far from the spot where they had been left
+on the preceding night, and these being speedily untethered and saddled,
+the travellers again pursued their route towards the capital of the
+state in which they found themselves. As they passed the hut which had
+been the scene of so much excitement to both, the voice of Desborough,
+whom they had left fast asleep, was heard venting curses and
+imprecations upon them both, for having left him there to starve, bound
+and incapable of aiding himself. Wretch as the settler was, Gerald could
+not reconcile to himself the thought of his being left to perish thus
+miserably, and he entreated the Aid-de-camp to enter and divide the
+cords. But Jackson declared this to be impolitic, urging as a powerful
+reason for declining, the probability of his having fire-arms in the
+hut, with which (if released) he might follow and overtake them in their
+route, and sacrifice one or the other to his vengeance--an object which
+it would be easy to accomplish without his ever being detected. However,
+that the villain might have sustenance until some chance traveller
+should come later to his assistance, or he could manage to get rid of
+his bonds himself, he consented to place within his reach all the dried
+meat that had been left of his Indian foes, together with a pail of
+water--the latter by way of punishment for having swilled away at his
+Wabash in the ungracious manner he had.
+
+While Jackson was busied in this office of questionable charity, the
+rage and disappointment of the settler surpassed what it had hitherto
+been. Each vein of his dark brow rose distinctly and swelling from its
+surface, and he kicked and stamped with a fury that proclaimed the
+bitter tempest raging in his soul. When the Aide-de-camp had again
+mounted, his shrieks and execrations became piercing, and for many
+minutes after they had entered into the heart of the forest in which the
+hut was situated, the shrill sounds continued to ring upon their ears in
+accents so fearful, that each felt a sensible relief when they were
+heard no more.
+
+On the evening of the third day after this event, Jackson and our hero,
+between whom a long explanation on the subject of the settler had taken
+place, alighted at the door of the principal inn in Frankfort, the
+capital of Kentucky, which was their ultimate destination. To mine host
+Gerald was introduced by his escort with the formality usual on such
+occasions in America, and with the earnest recommendation to that most
+respectable personage, that, as his own friend, as well as that of
+Captain Forrester, every indulgence should be shown to the prisoner that
+was not inconsistent with his position.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+Few situations in life are less enviable than that of the isolated
+prisoner of war. Far from the home of his affections, and compelled by
+the absence of all other companionship, to mix with those who, in
+manners, feelings, and national characteristics, form, as it were, a
+race apart from himself, his recollections, already sufficiently
+embittered by the depressing sense of captivity, are hourly awakened by
+some rude contrast wounding to his sensibilities, and even though no
+source of graver irritation should exist, a thousand petty annoyances,
+incident to the position, are magnified by chagrin from mole-hills into
+mountains. Such, however, would be the effect produced on one only, who,
+thrown by the accident of war into the situation of a captive, should
+have no grief more profound, no sorrow deeper seated, than what arose
+from the being severed from old, and associated with new and undesired
+ties--one to whom life was full of the fairest buds of promise, and
+whose impatience of the present was only a burning desire to enter upon
+the future. Not so with Gerald Grantham. Time, place, circumstance,
+condition, were alike the same--alike indifferent to him. In the
+recollection of the scenes he had so lately quitted, and in which his
+fairer and unruffled boyhood had been passed, he took no pleasure--while
+the future was so enshrouded in gloom, that he shrank from its very
+contemplation. So far from trying to wring consolation from
+circumstances, his object was to stupify recollection to the uttermost.
+He would fain have shut out both the past and the future, contenting
+himself as he might with the present; but the thing was impossible. The
+worm had eaten into his heart, and its gnawings were too painful, not
+poignantly to remind him of the manner in which it had been engendered.
+
+Upwards of a fortnight had elapsed since his arrival, and yet, although
+Captain Jackson, prior to his return to Sandusky, had personally
+introduced him to many highly respectable families in Frankfort, he
+uniformly abstained from cultivating their acquaintance, until at length
+he was, naturally enough, pronounced to be a most disagreeable specimen
+of a British officer. Even with the inmates of the hotel, many of whom
+were officers of his own age, and with whom he constantly sat down to
+the ordinary, he avoided everything approaching to intimacy--satisfying
+himself merely with discharging his share of the commonest courtesies
+of life. They thought it pride--it was but an effect--an irremediable
+effect--of the utter sinking of his sad and broken spirit. The only
+distraction in which he eventually took pleasure, or sought to indulge,
+was rambling through the wild passes of the chain of wooded hills which
+almost encircles the capital of Kentucky, and extends to a considerable
+distance in a westerly direction. The dense gloom of these narrow
+valleys he had remarked on his entrance by the same route, and feeling
+them more in unison with his sick mind than the hum and bustle of a
+city, which offered nothing in common with his sympathies, he now
+frequently passed a great portion of the day in threading their
+mazes--returning, however, at a certain hour to his hotel, conformably
+with the terms of his parole.
+
+On one occasion, tempted by the mellow beauty of the season--it was now
+the beginning of October--he had strayed so far, and through passes so
+unknown to him, that when the fast advancing evening warned him of the
+necessity of returning, he found he had utterly lost his way. Abstracted
+as he usually was, he had yet reflection enough to understand that his
+parole of honor required he should be at his hotel at an hour which it
+would put his speed to the proof to accomplish. Despairing of finding
+his way by the circuitous route he had originally taken, and the proper
+clue to which he had moreover lost, he determined, familiar as he was
+with the general bearings of the capital, to effect his return in a
+direct line across the chain of hills already alluded to. The deepening
+shadows of the wild scene, as he proposed to ascend that immediately
+before him, told that the sun had sunk beneath the horizon, and when he
+gained its summit, the last faint corruscations of light were passing
+rapidly away in the west. Still, by the indistinct twilight, he could
+perceive that at his feet lay a small valley, completely hemmed in by
+the circular ridge on which he stood. This traversed, it was but to
+ascend the opposite section of the ridge, and his destination would be
+gained. Unlike the narrow, rocky passes which divided the hills in every
+other direction in which he had previously wandered, this valley was
+covered with a luxuriant verdure, and upon this the feet of Gerald moved
+inaudibly even to himself. As he advanced more into the centre of the
+little plain, he thought he could perceive, at its extremity on the
+right, the dark outline of a building--apparently a dwelling-house; and
+while he yet hesitated whether he should approach it and inquire his
+most direct way to the town, a light suddenly appeared at that point of
+the valley for which he was already making. A few minutes sufficed to
+bring him to the spot whence the light had issued. It was a small,
+circular building, possibly intended for a summer-house, but more
+resembling a temple in its construction, and so closely bordering upon
+the forest ridge, by a portion of the foliage by which it had previously
+been concealed, as to be almost confounded with it. It was furnished
+with a single window, the same through which the light now issued, and
+this, narrow, elongated, and studded with iron bars, was so placed as to
+prevent one even taller than our hero from gazing into the interior,
+without the aid of some elevation. But Gerald, independently of his
+anxiety to reach the town in time to prevent comment upon his absence,
+had no desire to occupy himself with subjects foreign to his object.
+Curiosity was a feeling dead within his bosom, and he was preparing,
+without once staying his course, to ascend the ridge at the side of the
+temple, when he fancied he heard a suppressed groan, as of one suffering
+from intense agony. Not the groan, but the peculiar tone in which it
+was uttered, arrested his attention, and excited a vague yet stirring
+interest in his breast. On approaching closer to the temple, he found
+that at its immediate basement the earth had been thrown up into a sort
+of mound, which so elevated the footing as to admit of his reaching the
+bars of the window with his hands. Active as we have elsewhere shown him
+to be, he was not long in obtaining a full view of the interior, when a
+scene met his eye which riveted him, as well it might, in utter
+astonishment. Upon the rude, uncarpeted floor knelt a female, who, with
+clasped and uplifted hands, had her eyes fixed upon a portrait that hung
+suspended from the opposite wall--her figure, clad in a loose robe of
+black, developing by its attitude a contour of such rich and symmetrical
+proportion as might be difficult for the imagination to embody. And who
+was the being upon whom his each excited sense now lingered with an
+admiration little short of idolatry? One whom, a moment before, he
+believed to be still far distant, whom he had only a few months
+previously fled from as from a pestilence, and whom he had solemnly
+sworn never to behold again--yet whom he continued to love with a
+passion that defied every effort of his judgment to subdue, making his
+life a wilderness--Matilda Montgomerie! and if her beauty had _then_ had
+such surpassing influence over his soul, what was not its effect when he
+beheld her _now_, every grace of womanhood exhibited in a manner to
+excite admiration the most intense!
+
+It would be vain to describe all that passed through the mind of Gerald
+Grantham, while he thus gazed upon her whose beauty was the rock on
+which his happiness had been wrecked. His first impulse had been to fly,
+but the fascination which riveted him to the window deprived him of all
+power, until eventually, of all the host of feelings that had crowded
+tumultuously upon his heart, passion alone remained triumphant. Unable
+longer to control his impatience, he was on the point of quitting his
+station, for the purpose of knocking and obtaining admission by a door
+which he saw opposite to him, when a sudden change in the attitude of
+Matilda arrested the movement.
+
+She had risen, and with her long and dark hair floating over her white
+shoulders, now advanced towards the portrait, on which her gaze had
+hitherto been so repeatedly turned. This was so placed that Gerald had
+not previously an opportunity of remarking more than the indistinct
+outline, which proved it to represent a human figure; but as she for a
+moment raised the light with one hand, while with the other she covered
+it with a veil which had been drawn aside, he distinctly saw that it was
+the portrait of an officer dressed in the American uniform; and it even
+occurred to him that he had before seen the face, although, in his then
+excited state he could not recollect where. Even had he been inclined to
+tax his memory, the effort would have been impracticable, for another
+direction was now given to his interest.
+
+On the left and close under the window, stood a rude sofa and ruder
+table, the only pieces of furniture which Gerald could observe within
+the temple. Upon the former Matilda had now reclined herself, and
+placing the candle upon the table at her side, proceeded to unfold and
+peruse a letter which she had previously taken from her pocket book. The
+same unconsciousness of observation inducing the same unstudiedness of
+action, the whole disposition of the form bore a character of
+voluptuousness, which the presumed isolation of her who thus exhibited
+herself, a model of living grace, alone could justify. But although the
+form was full of the eloquence of passion, one had but to turn to the
+pale and severe face, to find there was no corresponding expression in
+the heart. As heretofore, the brow of the American wore a cast of
+thought--only deeper, more decided--and even while her dark eyes flashed
+fire, as if in disappointment and anger at sundry passages in the letter
+over which she lingered, not once did the slightest color tinge her
+cheek, or the gloom dissipate itself from that cold brow. Emotion she
+felt, for this her heaving bosom and occasionally compressed lip
+betokened. Yet never was contrast more marked than that between the
+person and the face of Matilda Montgomerie, as Gerald Grantham then
+beheld her.
+
+On one who had seen her thus for the first time, the cold, calm
+countenance of the singular girl, would have acted as a chastener to the
+emotions called up by the glowing expression of her faultless form, but
+although there was now a character of severity on her features, which
+must have checked and chilled the ardent admiration produced by that
+form on a mere stranger, Gerald but too well remembered occasions when
+the harmony of both had been complete, and when the countenance, rich in
+all those fascinations, which, even in her hours of utmost
+collectedness, never ceased to attach to the person, had beamed upon him
+in a manner to stir his very soul into madness. There were other and
+later recollections too, that forced themselves upon his memory; but
+these, even though they recalled scenes in which the voluptuous beauty
+of Matilda shone paramount, were as blots upon the fair picture of the
+past, and he fain would have banished them from his mind for ever.
+
+The letter on which the American was now engaged, Grantham had
+recognised, from its fold and seal, to be one he had written prior to
+parting with her, as he had supposed for ever. While he was yet dwelling
+on this singularity, Matilda threw the letter upon the table at her
+side, and leaning her head upon her hand, seemed as if musing deeply
+upon its contents. The contraction of her brow became deeper, and there
+was a convulsed pressure of her lips as of one forming some
+determination, requiring at once strong moral and physical energy to
+accomplish. A cold shudder crept through the veins of Gerald, for too
+well did he fancy he could divine what was passing in the soul of that
+strange yet fascinating woman. For a moment a feeling of almost loathing
+came over his heart, but when, in the next moment, he saw her rise from
+the sofa, revealing the most inimitable grace, he burned with impatience
+to throw himself, reckless of consequences, at her feet, and to confess
+his idolatry.
+
+After pacing to and fro for some moments, her dark and kindling eye
+alone betraying the excitement which her colorless cheek denied, Matilda
+again took up the light, and having once more approached the portrait,
+was in the act of raising the veil, when a slight noise made by Gerald,
+who in his anxiety to obtain a better view of her, had made a change in
+his position, arrested her ear; and she turned and fixed her eye upon
+the window, not with the disturbed manner of a person who fears
+observation, but with the threatening air of one who would punish an
+intrusion.
+
+Holding the light above her head, she advanced firmly across the room,
+and stopping beneath the window, fixed her eye steadily and
+unshrinkingly upon it. The mind of Gerald had become a chaos of
+conflicting and opposite feelings. Only an instant before and he would
+have coveted recognition, now his anxiety was to avoid it; but cramped
+in his attitude, and clinging as he was compelled, with his face close
+to the bars, his only means of doing so was by quitting his position
+altogether. He therefore loosened his hold, and dropped himself on the
+mound of earth from which he had contrived to ascend, but not so
+noiselessly, in the unbroken stillness of the night, as to escape the
+keen ear of the American. In the next moment Gerald heard a door open,
+and a well known voice demand, in tones which betrayed neither alarm nor
+indecision.
+
+"Who is there?"
+
+The question was repeated in echo from the surrounding woods, and then
+died away in distance.
+
+"Who of my people," again demanded Matilda, "has dared to follow me here
+in defiance of my orders?"
+
+Another echo of indistinct sounds, and all again was still.
+
+"Whoever you are, speak," resumed the courageous girl. "Nay," she
+pursued more decidedly, as having moved a pace or two from the door, she
+observed a human form standing motionless beneath the window. "Think not
+to escape me. Come hither slave that I may know you. This curiosity
+shall cost you dear."
+
+The blood of Gerald insensibly chilled at the harsh tone in which these
+words were uttered, and had he followed a first impulse he would at once
+have retired from the influence of a command, which under all the
+circumstances, occurred to him as being of prophetic import. But he had
+gazed on the witching beauty of the syren, until judgment and reason had
+yielded the rein to passion, and filled with an ungovernable desire to
+behold and touch that form once more--even although he should the next
+moment tear himself from it for ever--he approached and stood at the
+entrance of the temple, the threshold of which Matilda had again
+ascended.
+
+No exclamation of surprise escaped the lips of the ever-collected
+American; and yet, for the first time that night, her cheek was suffused
+with a deep glow, the effect of which was to give to her whole style of
+beauty a character of radiancy.
+
+"Gerald Grantham!"
+
+"Yes, Matilda," exclaimed the youth, madly, heedless of the past, while
+he riveted his gaze upon her dazzling loveliness with such strong
+excitement of expression as to cause her own to sink beneath it, "your
+own Gerald--your slave kneels before you," and he threw himself at her
+feet.
+
+"And what punishment does not that slave merit?" she asked in a tone so
+different from that in which she had addressed her supposed domestic,
+that Gerald could scarcely believe it to be the same. "What reparation
+can he make for having caused so much misery to one who loved and
+cherished him so well. Oh! Gerald, what days, what nights of misery have
+I not passed since you so unkindly left me." As she uttered the last
+sentence, she bent herself over the still kneeling form of her lover,
+while her long dark hair, falling forward, completely enveloped him in
+its luxuriant and waving folds.
+
+"You will be mine, Matilda," at length murmured the youth, as he sat at
+her side on the sofa, to which on rising he had conducted her.
+
+"Yours, only yours," returned the American, while she bent her face upon
+his shoulder. "But you know the terms of our union."
+
+Had a viper stung him, Gerald could not have recoiled with more dismay
+and horror from her embrace. Again the features of Matilda became
+colorless, and her brow assumed an expression of care and severity.
+
+"Then, if not to fulfil that compact, wherefore are you here?" and the
+question was put half querulously, half contemptuously.
+
+"Chance, Destiny, Fate,--call it what you will," cried Gerald, obeying
+the stronger impulse of his feelings, and clasping her once more to his
+beating heart. "Oh! Matilda, if you knew how the idea of that fearful
+condition has haunted me in my thoughts by day, and my dreams by night,
+you would only wonder that at this moment I retain my senses, filled as
+my soul is with maddening--with inextinguishable love for you."
+
+"And do you really entertain for me that deep, that excessive passion
+you have just expressed," at length observed Matilda, after some moments
+of silence, and with renewed tenderness of voice and manner, "and yet
+refuse the means by which you may secure me to you for ever?"
+
+"Matilda," said Gerald, with vehemence, "my passion for you is one which
+no effort of my reason can control; but let me not deceive you--it is
+_now_ one of the senses."
+
+An expression of triumph, not wholly unmingled with scorn, animated the
+features of Matilda. It was succeeded by one of ineffable tenderness.
+
+"We will talk of this no more to-night, Gerald, but to-morrow evening,
+at the same hour, be here: and our mutual hopes, and fears, and doubts
+shall be then realized or disappointed, as the event may show. To-morrow
+will determine if, as I cannot but believe, Destiny has sent you to me
+at this important hour. It is very singular," she added, as if to
+herself, her features again becoming deadly pale, "very singular
+indeed!"
+
+"What is singular, Matilda?" asked Gerald.
+
+"You shall know all to-morrow," she replied; "but mind," and her dark
+eye rested on his with an expression of much tenderness, "that you come
+prepared to yield me all I ask."
+
+Gerald promised that he would, and Matilda expressing a desire to hear
+what had so unexpectedly restored him to her presence, he entered into a
+detail of all that had befallen him from the moment of their separation.
+She appeared to be much touched by the relation, and in return, gave him
+a history of what she too had felt and suffered. She moreover informed
+him that Major Montgomerie had died of his wounds shortly after their
+parting, and that she had now been nearly two months returned to her
+uncle's estate at Frankfort, where she lived wholly secluded from
+society, and with a domestic establishment consisting of slaves. These
+short explanations having been entered into they parted--Matilda to
+enter her dwelling, the same which Gerald had marked in outline, in
+which numerous lights were now visible, and her lover to make the best
+of his way to the town.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+Morning dawned, and yet no sleep had visited the eyes of Gerald
+Grantham. The image of Matilda floated in his mind, and to the
+recollection of her beauty he clung with an aching eagerness of delight,
+that attested the extent of its influence over his imagination. Had
+there been nothing to tarnish that glorious picture of womanly
+perfection, the feelings it called up would have been too exquisite for
+endurance; but, alas! with the faultless image came recollections,
+against which it required all the force of that beauty to maintain
+itself. One ineffaceable spot was upon the soul of that fascinating
+being; and though, like the spots on the sun's disk, it was hidden in
+the effulgence which surrounded it, still he could not conceal from
+himself that it _did_ exist, to deface the symmetry of the whole. It was
+his knowledge of that fearful blemish that had driven him to seek in
+drunkenness, and subsequently in death, a release from the agonizing
+tortures of his mind. Virtue and a high sense of honor had triumphed so
+far, as not merely to leave his own soul spotless, but to fly from her
+who would have polluted it with crime; yet, although respect and
+love--the pure sentiments by which he had originally been
+influenced--had passed away, the hour of their departure had been that
+of the increased domination of passion, and far from her whose beauty
+was ever present to his mind, his imagination had drawn and lingered on
+such pictures that, assured as he was they could never be realized, he
+finally resolved to court death wherever it might present itself.
+
+Restored thus unexpectedly to the presence of her who had been the
+unceasing subject of his thoughts, and under circumstances so well
+calculated to inflame his imagination, it cannot appear wonderful that
+Gerald should have looked forward to his approaching interview with
+emotions of the intensest kind. How fated, too, seemed the reunion. He
+had quitted Matilda with the firm determination never to behold her
+more, yet, by the very act of courting that death which would fully have
+accomplished his purpose, he had placed himself in the position he most
+wished to avoid. Presuming that Major Montgomerie, who had never alluded
+to Frankfort as his home, was still with his niece, a resident in the
+distant State in which he had left them, he had gladly heard Colonel
+Forrester name the Kentucky capital as the place of his destination;
+for, deep and maddening as was his passion for Matilda, no earthly
+considerations could have induced him voluntarily to have sought her.
+Even since his arrival in Frankfort, it had been a source of consolation
+to him to feel that he was far removed from her who could have made him
+forget that, although the heart may wither and die, while self-esteem
+and an approving conscience remain to us, the soul shares not in the
+same decay--confesses not the same sting. Could he even have divined
+that in the temple to which his curiosity had led him, he should have
+beheld the being on whose image he doted, even while he shunned it, he
+would have avoided her as a pestilence.
+
+The result of this terrible struggle of his feelings was a determination
+to see her once more--to yield up his whole soul to the intoxication of
+her presence, and then, provided she should refuse to unite her fate to
+his, unhampered by the terrible condition of past days, to tear himself
+from her for ever.
+
+Strong in this resolution, Gerald, to whom the hours had appeared as
+days since his rising, quitted Frankfort about his usual time, and, in
+order to avoid observation, took the same retired and circuitous route
+by which he had reached the valley the preceding evening. As he
+descended into the plain, the light from the window of the temple was
+again perceptible. In a few minutes he was in the room.
+
+"Gerald--my own Gerald," exclaimed Matilda, as, carefully closing the
+door after her lover, she threw herself into his embrace. Alas, weak
+man! Like the baseless fabric of a dream, disappeared all the lately
+formed resolutions of the youth.
+
+"Yes, Matilda--your own Gerald. Come what will, henceforth I am yours."
+
+A pause of some moments ensued, during which each felt the beating of
+the other's heart.
+
+"Will you swear it, Gerald?" at length whispered Matilda.
+
+"I will--I do swear it."
+
+There was a sudden kindling of the dark eye of the American, and an
+outswelling of the full bust, that seemed to betoken exultation in the
+power of her beauty; but this was quickly repressed, and, sinking on the
+sofa at the side of her lover, her whole countenance was radiant with
+the extraordinary expression Gerald had, for the first time, witnessed
+while she lingered on the arm of his uncle, Colonel D'Egville.
+
+"Gerald," she said tenderly, "confirm the oath which is to unite us
+heart and soul in one eternal destiny. Swear upon this sacred volume,
+that your hand shall avenge the wrongs of your Matilda--of your wife.
+Ha! your wife--think of that," she added with sudden energy.
+
+Gerald caught the book eagerly to his lips. "I swear it Matilda,--he
+shall die."
+
+But scarcely had he sworn, when a creeping chill passed through his
+frame. His features lost all their animation, and, throwing away the
+book on which the impious oath had been taken, he turned away his face
+from Matilda, and sinking his head upon his breast, groaned and wept
+bitterly.
+
+"What! already, Gerald, do you repent? Nay, tell me not that one thus
+infirm of purpose, can be strong of passion. You love me not, else would
+the wrongs of her you love arm you with the fiercest spirit of vengeance
+against him who has so deeply injured her. But if you repent, it is but
+to absolve you from the oath, and then the deed must be my own."
+
+The American spoke in tones in which reproach, expostulation, and
+wounded affection, were artfully and touchingly blended, and as she
+concluded, she too dropped her head upon her chest and sighed.
+
+"Nay, Matilda, you do me wrong. It is one thing to swerve from the
+guilty purpose to which your too seductive beauty has won my
+soul,--another, to mourn as man should mourn, the hour when virtue,
+honor, religion, all the nobler principles in which my youth has been
+nurtured, have proved too weak to stem the tide of guilty passion. You
+say I love you not!" and he laughed bitterly. "What greater proof would
+you require than the oath I have just taken?"
+
+"Its fulfilment," said Matilda impressively.
+
+"It shall be fulfilled," he returned quickly; "but at least deny me not
+the privilege of cursing the hour when crime of so atrocious a dye
+could be made so familiar to my soul."
+
+"Crime is a word too indiscriminately bestowed," said Matilda, after a
+momentary pause. "What the weak in mind class with crime, the strong
+term virtue."
+
+"Virtue! what, to spill the blood of a man who has never injured me; to
+become a hired assassin, the price of whose guilt is the hand of her who
+instigates to the deed? If this be virtue, I am indeed virtuous."
+
+"Never injured you!" returned the American, while she bent her dark eyes
+reproachfully upon those of the unhappy Gerald. "Has he not injured
+_me_?--injured beyond all power of reparation, her who is to be the
+partner of your life?"
+
+"Nay, Matilda," and Gerald again passionately caught and enfolded her to
+his heart, "that image alone were sufficient to mould me to your will,
+even although I had not before resolved. And yet," he pursued, after a
+short pause, "how base, how terrible to slay an unsuspecting enemy!
+Would we could meet in single combat--and why not? Yes it can, it shall
+be so. Fool that I was not to think of it before. Matilda, my own love,
+rejoice with me, for there is a means by which your honor may be
+avenged, and my own soul unstained by guilt. I will seek this man, and
+fasten a quarrel upon him. What say you, Matilda--speak to me, tell me
+that you consent." Gerald gasped with agony.
+
+"Never, Gerald!" she returned, with startling impressiveness, while the
+color, which during the warm embrace of her lover had returned to it
+once more, fled from her cheek. "To challenge him would be but to ensure
+your own doom, for few in the army of the United States equal him in the
+use of the pistol or the small sword; and, even were it otherwise," she
+concluded, her eye kindling into a fierce expression, "were he the
+veriest novice in the exercise of both, my vengeance would be
+incomplete, did he not go down to his grave with all his sins on his
+head. No, no, Gerald, in the fulness of the pride of existence must he
+perish. He must not dream of death until he feels the blow that is aimed
+at his heart."
+
+The agitation of Matilda was profound beyond anything she had ever yet
+exhibited. Her words were uttered in tones that betrayed a fixed and
+unbroken purpose of the soul, and when she had finished, she threw her
+face upon the bosom of her lover, and ground her teeth together with a
+force that showed the effect produced upon her imagination by the very
+picture of the death she had drawn.
+
+A pause of some moments ensued. Gerald was visibly disconcerted, and the
+arm which encircled the waist of the revengeful woman dropped, as if in
+disappointment, at his side.
+
+"How strange and inconsistent are the prejudices of man," resumed
+Matilda, half mournfully, half in sarcasm; "here is a warrior--a spiller
+of human life by profession; his sword has been often dyed in the
+heart's blood of his fellow man, and yet he shudders at the thought of
+adding one murder more to the many already committed. What child-like
+weakness!"
+
+"Murder! Matilda--call you it murder to overcome the enemies of one's
+country in fair and honorable combat, and in the field of glory?"
+
+"Call _you_ it what you will--disguise it under whatever cloak you
+may--it is no less murder. Nay, the worst of murders, for you but do the
+duty of the hireling slayer. In cold blood, and for a stipend, do you
+put an end to the fair existence of him who never injured you in thought
+or deed, and whom, under other circumstances, you would perhaps have
+taken to your heart in friendship."
+
+"This is true, but the difference of the motive, Matilda! The one
+approved of heaven and of man, the other alike condemned of both."
+
+"Approved of man, if you will; but that they have the sanction of
+heaven, I deny. Worldly policy and social interests alone have drawn the
+distinction, making the one a crime, the other a virtue; but tell me not
+that an all-wise and just God sanctions and approves the slaying of his
+creatures, because they perish, not singly at the will of one man, but
+in thousands and tens of thousands at the will of another. What is there
+more sacred in the brawls of kings and potentates, that the blood they
+cause to be shed in torrents for some paltry breach of etiquette, should
+sit more lightly on their souls than the few solitary drops, spilt by
+the hand of revenge, on that of him whose existence is writhing under a
+sense of acutest injury?"
+
+The energy with which she expressed herself, communicated a
+corresponding excitement to her whole manner and person. Her eye
+sparkled and dilated, and the visible heaving of her bosom told how
+strongly her own feelings entered into the principles which she had
+advocated. Never did her personal beauty shine forth more triumphantly
+or seducingly than at the moment when her lips were giving utterance to
+sentiments from which the heart recoiled.
+
+"Oh Matilda," sighed Gerald, "with what subtlety of argument do you seek
+to familiarize my soul with crime. But the attempt is vain. Although my
+hand is pledged to do your will, my heart must ever mourn its guilt."
+
+"Foolish Gerald," said Matilda; "why should that seem guilt to you, a
+man, which to me, a woman, is but justice; but that unlike me you have
+never entered into the calm consideration of the subject. Yes," she
+pursued with greater energy, "what you call subtlety of argument is but
+force of conviction. For two long years have I dwelt upon the deed,
+reasoning, and comparing, until at length each latent prejudice has been
+expelled, and to avenge my harrowing wrongs appeared a duty as
+distinctly marked as any one contained in the decalogue. You saw me
+once, Gerald, when my hand shrank not from what you term the assassin's
+blow, and had you not interfered then, the deed would not now remain to
+be accomplished."
+
+"Oh, why did I interfere? why did my evil genius conduct me to such a
+scene. Then had I lived at least in ignorance of the fearful act."
+
+"Nay, Gerald, let it rather be matter of exultation with you that you
+did. Prejudiced as you are, this hand (and she extended an arm so
+exquisitely formed that one would scarce even have submitted it to the
+winds of Heaven) might not seem half so fair, had it once been dyed in
+human blood. Besides who so proper to avenge a woman's wrongs upon her
+destroyer, as the lover and the husband to whom she has plighted her
+faith for ever? No, no, it is much better as it is and fate seems to
+have decreed that it should be so, else why the interruption by yourself
+on that memorable occasion, and why, after all your pains to avoid me,
+this our final union, at a moment when the wretch is about to return to
+his native home, inflated with pride and little dreaming of the fate
+that awaits him.--Surely, Gerald, you will admit there is something more
+than mere chance in this?"
+
+"About to return," repeated Grantham shuddering. "When, Matilda?"
+
+"Within a week at the latest--perhaps within three days. Some
+unimportant advantage which he has gained on the frontier, has been
+magnified by his generous fellow citizens into a deed of heroism, and,
+from information conveyed to me, by a trusty and confidential servant, I
+find he has obtained leave of absence, to attend a public entertainment
+to be given in Frankfort, on which occasion a magnificent sword is to be
+presented to him. Never, Gerald," continued Matilda, her voice dropping
+into a whisper, while a ghastly smile passed over and convulsed her
+lips, "never shall he live to draw that sword. The night of his triumph
+is that which I have fixed for mine."
+
+"An unimportant advantage upon the frontier," asked Gerald eagerly and
+breathlessly. "To what frontier, Matilda, do you allude?"
+
+"The Niagara," was the reply.
+
+"Are you quite sure of this?"
+
+"So sure that I have long known he was there," returned Matilda.
+
+Gerald breathed more freely--but again he questioned:
+
+"Matilda, when first I saw you last night, you were gazing intently upon
+yon portrait, (he pointed to that part of the temple where the picture
+hung suspended), and it struck me that I had an indistinct recollection
+of the features."
+
+"Nothing more probable," returned the American, answering his searching
+look with one of equal firmness. "You cannot altogether have forgotten
+Major Montgomerie."
+
+"Nay, the face struck me not as his. May I look at it?"
+
+"Assuredly. Satisfy yourself."
+
+Gerald quitted the sofa, took up the light, and traversing the room
+raised the gauze curtain that covered the painting. It was indeed the
+portrait of the deceased Major, habited in full uniform.
+
+"How strange," he mused, "that so vague an impression should have been
+conveyed to my mind last night, when now I recal without difficulty
+those well remembered features," Gerald sighed as he recollected under
+what different circumstances he had first beheld that face, and dropping
+the curtain once more, crossed the room and flung himself at the side of
+Matilda.
+
+"For whom did you take it, if not for Major Montgomerie?" asked the
+American after a pause, and again her full dark eye was bent on his.
+
+"Nay, I scarcely know myself, yet I had thought it had been the portrait
+of him I have sworn to destroy."
+
+There was a sudden change of expression in the countenance of Matilda,
+but it speedily passed away, and she said with a faint smile,
+
+"Whether is it more natural to find pleasure in gazing on the features
+of those who have loved, or those who have injured us?"
+
+"Then whose was the miniature on which you so intently gazed, on that
+eventful night at Detroit?" asked Gerald.
+
+"That," said Matilda quickly, and paling as she spoke--"that was
+_his_--I gazed on it only the more strongly to detest the original--to
+confirm the determination I had formed to destroy him."
+
+"If _then_," returned the youth, "why not _now_--may I not see that
+portrait, Matilda? May I not acquire some knowledge of the unhappy man
+whose blood will so shortly stain my soul?"
+
+"Impossible," she replied, "The miniature I have since destroyed. While
+I thought the original within reach of my revenge, I could bear to gaze
+upon it, but no sooner had I been disappointed in my aim, than it became
+loathsome to me as the sight of some venomous reptile, and I destroyed
+it." This was said with undisguised bitterness.
+
+Gerald sighed deeply. Again he encircled the waist of his companion and
+one of her fair, soft, velvet hands was pressed in his.
+
+"Matilda," he observed, "deep indeed must be the wrong that would prompt
+the heart of woman to so terrible a hatred. When we last parted, you
+gave me but an indistinct and general outline of the injury you had
+sustained. Tell me now all--tell me everything," he continued with
+energy, "that can infuse a portion of the hatred which fills your soul
+into mine, that my hand may be firmer--my heart more hardened to the
+deed."
+
+"The story of my wrongs must be told in a few words, for I cannot bear
+to linger on it," commenced the American, again turning deadly pale,
+while her quivering lips and trembling voice betrayed the excitement of
+her feelings. The monster was the choice of my heart--judge how much so
+when I tell you that, confiding in _his_ honor, and in the assurance
+that our union would take place immediately, I surrendered to him
+_mine_. A constant visitor at Major Montgomerie's, whose brother officer
+he was, we had ample opportunities of being together. We were looked
+upon in society as affianced lovers, and in fact it was the warmest wish
+of Major Montgomerie that we should be united. A day had even been fixed
+for the purpose, and it wanted, but eight and forty hours of the time,
+when an occurrence took place which blasted all prospect of our union
+for ever.
+
+"I have already told you, I think," resumed Matilda, "that this little
+temple had been exclusively erected for my own use. Here however my
+false lover had constant ingress, and being furnished with a key, was in
+the habit of introducing himself at hours when having taken leave of the
+family for the evening, he was supposed by Major Montgomerie and the
+servants to have retired to his own home. On the occasion to which I
+have just alluded, I had understood from him some business, connected
+with our approaching marriage, would detain him in the town to an
+hour too advanced to admit of his paying me his usual visit. Judge my
+surprise, and indeed my consternation, when at a late hour of the night
+I heard the lock of the door turn, and saw my lover appear at the
+entrance."
+
+There was a short pause, and Matilda again proceeded.
+
+"Scarcely had he shown himself, when he again vanished, closing the door
+with startling violence. I sprang from the sofa and flew forth after
+him, but in vain. He had already departed, and with a heart sinking
+under an insurmountable dread of coming evil, I once more entered the
+temple, and throwing myself upon the sofa, gave vent to my feelings in
+an agony of tears."
+
+"But why his departure, and whence your consternation?" asked Gerald,
+whose curiosity had been deeply excited.
+
+"I was not alone," resumed Matilda, in a deep and solemn voice. "When he
+entered, I was hanging on the neck of another."
+
+Gerald gave a half start of dismay, his arm dropped from the waist of
+the American, and he breathed heavily and quickly.
+
+Matilda remarked the movement, and a sickly and half scornful smile
+passed over her pale features. "Before we last parted, Gerald, I told
+you, not only that I was in no way connected with Major Montgomerie by
+blood, but that I was the child of obscure parents."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"The man on whose neck I hung was my own father."
+
+"It was Desborough!" said the youth, with an air and in a voice of
+extreme anguish.
+
+"It was," returned Matilda, her face crimsoning as she reluctantly
+acknowledged the parentage. "But how knew you it?"
+
+"Behold the proof!" exclaimed Gerald, with uncontrollable bitterness, as
+he drew from his bosom the portrait of a child which, from its striking
+resemblance, could be taken for no other than her to whom he now
+presented it.
+
+"This is indeed mine," said Matilda, mournfully. "It was taken for me,
+as I have since understood, in the very year when I was laid an orphan
+and a stranger at the door of that good man, who, calling himself my
+uncle, has been to me through life a more than father. Thank God," she
+pursued, with great animation, her large, dark eyes upturned, and
+sparkling through the tears that forced themselves upwards, "thank God,
+he at least lives not to suffer through the acts of his adopted child.
+Where got you this, Gerald?" she proceeded, when, after a short struggle
+she had succeeded in overcoming her emotion.
+
+Gerald, who in his narrative of events, had purposely omitted all
+mention of Desborough, now detailed the occurrence at the hut, and
+concluded what the reader already knows, by stating that he had observed
+and severed from the settler, as he slept heavily on the floor, the
+portrait in question, which, added to the previous declaration of
+Matilda as to the obscurity of her birth, connected with other
+circumstances on board his gun-boat, on his trip to Buffalo, had left an
+impression little short of certainty that he was indeed the father of
+the woman whom he so wildly loved.
+
+For some minutes after this explanation there was a painful silence,
+which neither seemed anxious to interrupt. At length Gerald asked:
+
+"But what had a circumstance, so capable of explanation, to do with the
+breaking off of your engagement, Matilda? or did he, more proud--perhaps
+I should say less debased--than myself, shrink from uniting his fate
+with the daughter of a murderer?"
+
+"True," said Matilda, musingly; "you have said, I think, that he slew
+your father. This thirst for revenge, then, would seem hereditary.
+_That_ is the only, because it is the noblest, inheritance I would owe
+to such a being."
+
+"But your affair with your lover, Matilda--how terminated that?"
+demanded Gerald, with increasing paleness and in a faltering tone.
+
+"In his falsehood and my disgrace. Early the next morning I sent to him,
+and bade him seek me in the temple at the usual hour. He came, but it
+was only to blast my hopes--to disappoint the passion of the woman who
+doated upon him. He accused me of vile intercourse with a slave, and
+almost maddened me with ignoble reproaches. It was in vain that I swore
+to him most solemnly, the man he had seen was my father--a being whom
+motives of prudence compelled me to receive in private, even though my
+heart abhorred and loathed the relationship between us. He treated my
+explanation with deriding contempt, bidding me either produce that
+father within twenty-four hours, or find some easier fool to persuade,
+that one wearing the hue and features of the black, could by human
+possibility be the parent of a white woman. Again I explained the
+seeming incongruity, by urging that the hasty and imperfect view he had
+taken was of a mask, imitating the features of a negro, which my father
+had brought with him as a disguise, and which he had hastily resumed on
+hearing the noise of the key in the door. I even admitted as an excuse
+for seeing him thus clandestinely, the lowly origin of my father and the
+base occupation he followed of a treacherous spy, who, residing in the
+Canadas, came, for the mere consideration of gold, to sell political
+information to the enemies of the country that gave him asylum and
+protection. I added that his visit to me was to extort money, under a
+threat of publishing our consanguinity, and that dread of his (my
+lover's) partiality being decreased by the disclosure, had induced me to
+throw my arms, in the earnestness of entreaty, upon his neck, and
+implore his secresy; promising to reward him generously for his silence.
+I moreover urged him, if he still doubted, to make inquiry of Major
+Montgomerie, and ascertain from him whether I was not indeed the niece
+of his adoption, and not of his blood. Finally, I humbled myself in the
+dust, and, like a fawning reptile, clasped his knees in my arms,
+entreating mercy and justice. But no," and the voice of Matilda grew
+deeper, and her form became more erect; "neither mercy nor justice dwelt
+in that hard heart, and he spurned me rudely from him. Nothing short of
+the production of him he persisted in calling my vile paramour, would
+satisfy him; but my ignoble parent had received from me the reward of
+his secresy, and he had departed once more to the Canadas. And thus,"
+pursued Matilda, her voice trembling with emotion, "was I made the
+victim of the most diabolical suspicion that ever haunted the breast of
+man."
+
+Gerald was greatly affected. His passion for Matilda seemed to increase
+in proportion with his sympathy for her wrongs, and he clasped her
+energetically to his heart.
+
+"Finding him resolute in attaching to me the debasing imputation,"
+pursued the American, "it suddenly flashed upon my mind that this was
+but a pretext to free himself from his engagement, and that he was glad
+to accomplish his object through the first means that offered. Oh,
+Gerald, I cannot paint the extraordinary change that came over my
+feelings at this thought! much less give you an idea of the rapidity
+with which that change was effected. One moment before, and, although
+degraded and unjustly accused, I had loved him with all the ardor of
+which a woman's heart is capable: _now_ I hated, loathed, detested him;
+and had he sunk at my feet, I would have spurned him from me with
+indignation and scorn. I could not but be conscious that the very act of
+having yielded myself up to him, had armed my lover with the power to
+accuse me of infidelity, and the more I lingered on the want of
+generosity such a suspicion implied, the more rooted became my dislike,
+the more profound my contempt for him, who could thus repay so great a
+proof of confidingness and affection.
+
+"It was even while I lay grovelling at his feet," pursued Matilda, after
+a momentary pause, during which she evinced intense agitation, "that
+this sudden change (excited by this most unheard-of injustice) came over
+my mind--I rose and stood before him; then asked, in a voice in which no
+evidence of passion could be traced, what excuse he meant to make to
+Major Montgomerie for having thus broken off his engagement. He started
+at my sudden calmness of manner, but said that he thought it might be as
+well for my sake to name what I had already stated to him in regard to
+the obscurity of my birth, as a plea for his seceding from the
+connexion. I told him that, under all the circumstances, I thought this
+most advisable, and then, pointing to the door, bade him be gone, and
+never, under any pretext whatever, again to insult me with his presence.
+When he had departed, I burst into a paroxysm of tears; but they were
+tears shed not for the loss of him I now despised, but of wild sorrow at
+my unmerited degradation. That conflict over, the weakness had for ever
+passed away, and never, since that hour, has tear descended cheek of
+mine, associated with the recollection of the villain who had thus dared
+to trifle with a heart the full extent of whose passions he has yet to
+learn."
+
+There was a trembling of the whole person of Matilda which told how much
+her feelings had been excited by the recollection of what she narrated,
+and Gerald, as he gazed upon her beautiful form, could not but wonder at
+the apathy of the man who could thus have heartlessly thrown it from him
+for ever.
+
+"Had the injury terminated here," resumed Matilda, "bitter as my
+humiliation was, my growing dislike for him who had so ungenerously
+inflicted it, might have enabled me to endure it. But, not satisfied
+with destroying the happiness of her who had sacrificed all for his
+sake, my perfidious lover had yet a blow in reserve for me, compared
+with which his antecedent conduct was mercy. Gerald," she continued, as
+she pressed his arm with a convulsive grasp, "will you believe that the
+monster had the infamy to confide to one of his most intimate
+associates, that his rupture with me was occasioned by his having
+discovered me in the arms of a slave--of one of those vile beings
+communion with whom my soul in any sense abhorred? How shall I describe
+the terrible feeling that came over my insulted heart at that moment.
+But no, no--description were impossible. This associate--this friend of
+his--dared on the very strength of this infamous imputation, to pollute
+my ear with his disrespectful passion, and when, in a transport of
+contempt and anger, I spurned him from me, he taunted me with that which
+I believed confined to the breast, as it had been engendered only in the
+suspicion, of my betrayer. Oh! if it be dreadful to be accused by those
+whom we have loved in intimacy, how much more is it to know that they
+have not had even the common humanity to conceal our supposed weakness
+from the world. From that moment revenge took possession of my soul, and
+I swore that my destroyer should perish by the hand of her whose
+innocence and whose peace he had blasted for ever.
+
+"Shortly after this event," resumed Matilda, "my base lover was ordered
+to join his regiment, then stationed at Detroit. A year passed away, and
+during that period my mind pondered unceasingly on the means of
+accomplishing my purpose of revenge; and so completely did I devote
+myself to a cool and unprejudiced examination of the subject, that what
+the vulgar crowd term guilt, appeared to me plain virtue. On the war
+breaking out, Major Montgomerie was also ordered to Detroit, and thither
+I entreated him to suffer me to accompany him. He consented, for knowing
+nothing of the causes which had turned my love into gall, he thought it
+not improbable that a meeting with my late lover might be productive of
+a removal of his prejudices, and our consequent reunion. Little did he
+dream that it was with a view to plunge a dagger into my destroyer's
+false heart, that I evinced so much eagerness to undertake so long and
+so disagreeable a Journey.
+
+"Little more remains to be added," pursued Matilda, as she fixed her
+dark eyes with a softened expression on those of Gerald, "since with the
+occurrences there you are already sufficiently acquainted. Yet there is
+one point upon which I would explain myself. When I first became your
+prisoner, my mind had been worked up to the highest pitch of
+determination, and in my captor I at first beheld but an evil genius who
+had interposed himself between me and my just revenge, when on the very
+eve of its consummation. Hence my petulance and impatience while in the
+presence of your noble General."
+
+"And whence that look, Matilda, that peculiar glance, which you bestowed
+upon me even within the same hour?"
+
+"Because in your frank and fearless mien I saw that manly honor and
+fidelity, the want of which had undone me."
+
+"Then if so, why the cold, the mortifying reserve, you manifested when
+we met at dinner at my uncle's table?"
+
+"Because I had also recollected that, degraded as I was, I ought not to
+seek the love of an honorable man, and that to win you to my interest
+would be of no avail, as, separated by the national quarrel, you could
+not by any possibility be near to aid me in my plans."
+
+"Then," said Gerald reproachfully, "it was merely to make me an
+instrument of vengeance that you sought me. Unkind Matilda!"
+
+"Nay, Gerald--recollect, that then I had not learnt to know you as I do
+now--I will not deny that when first I saw you, a secret instinct told
+me you were one whom I would have deeply loved had I never loved before;
+but betrayed and disappointed as I had been, I looked upon all men with
+a species of loathing--my kind, good, excellent more than father,
+excepted--and yet, Gerald, there were moments when I wished even him
+dead" (Gerald started)--"yes! dead--because I knew the anguish that
+would crush his heart, if he should ever learn that the false brand of
+the assassin had been affixed to the brow of his adopted child." Matilda
+sighed profoundly, and then resumed. "Later, however, when the absence
+of its object had in some degree abated the keenness of my thirst for
+revenge, and when more frequent intercourse had made me acquainted with
+the generous qualities of your mind, I loved you, Gerald, although I
+would not avow it, with a fervor I had never believed myself a second
+time capable of entertaining."
+
+Again the countenance of Matilda was radiant with the expression just
+alluded to by her lover. Gerald gazed at her as though his very being
+hung upon the continuance of that fascinating influence, and again he
+clasped her to his heart.
+
+"Matilda! oh, my own betrothed Matilda!" he murmured.
+
+"Yes, your own betrothed," repeated the American, highly excited, "the
+wife of your affection and your choice, who has been held up to calumny
+and scorn. Think of that, Gerald; she on whose fond bosom you are to
+repose your aching head, she who glories in her beauty only because it
+is beauty in your eyes, has been betrayed, accused of a vile passion for
+a slave; yet he--the fiend who has done this grievous wrong--he who has
+stamped your wife with ignominy, and even published her shame--still
+lives. Within a week," she resumed in a voice hoarse from exhaustion,
+"yes, within a week, Gerald he will be here--perhaps to deride and
+contemn you for the choice you have made."
+
+"Within a week he dies," exclaimed the youth. "Matilda, come what will,
+he dies. Life is death without you, and with you even crime may sit
+lightly on my soul. But we will fly far from the habitations of men. The
+forest shall be my home, and when the past recurs to me you shall smile
+upon me with that smile, look upon me with that look, and I will forget
+all. Yes," he pursued, with a fierce excitement snatching up the holy
+book, and again carrying it to his lips, "once more I repeat my oath. He
+who has thus wronged you, my own Matilda, dies--dies by the hand of
+Gerald Grantham--of your affianced husband."
+
+There was another long embrace, after which the plan of operations was
+distinctly explained and decided upon. They then separated for the
+night--the infatuated Gerald, with a load of guilt at his heart no
+effort of his reason could remove, returning by the route he had
+followed on the preceding evening to his residence in the town.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+Leaving the lost Gerald for a time to all the horrors of his position,
+in which it would be difficult to say whether remorse or passion (each
+intensest of its kind) predominated, let us return to the scene where we
+first introduced him to the reader, and take a review of the military
+events passing in that quarter.
+
+After the defeat of the British columns at Sandusky, so far from any
+renewed attempts being made to interrupt the enemy in his strongholds,
+it became a question whether the position on the Michigan frontier could
+be much longer preserved. To the perseverance and promptitude of the
+Americans, in bringing new armies into the field, we have already had
+occasion to allude; but there was another quarter in which their
+strength had insensibly gathered, until it eventually assumed an aspect
+that carried apprehension to every heart. Since the loss of their
+flotilla at Detroit, in the preceding year, the Americans had commenced
+with vigour to equip one at Buffalo, which was intended to surpass the
+naval force on Lake Erie; and so silently and cautiously had they
+accomplished this task, that it was scarcely known at Amherstburg that a
+squadron was in the course of preparation, when that squadron, to which
+had been added the schooner captured from Gerald Grantham the preceding
+autumn, suddenly appeared off the harbor, defying their enemies to the
+combat. But the English vessels were in no condition to cope with so
+powerful an enemy, and although many a gallant spirit burned to be led
+against those who so evidently taunted them, the safety of the garrisons
+depended too much on the issue, for that issue to be lightly tempted.
+
+But misfortune was now beginning to overcast the hitherto fair prospects
+of the British arms in the Western District of the Canadas; and what the
+taunts of an enemy, triumphing in the consciousness of a superior
+numerical force, could not effect, an imperative and miserably
+provided-for necessity eventually compelled. Maintaining as they did a
+large body of wild and reckless warriors, together with their families,
+it may be naturally supposed the excesses of these people were not few;
+but it would have required one to have seen, to have believed, the
+prodigal waste of which they were often guilty. Acknowledging no other
+law than their own will, following no other line of conduct than that
+suggested by their own caprice, they had as little respect for the
+Canadian inhabitant as they would have entertained for that of the
+American enemy. And hence it resulted, that if an Indian preferred a
+piece of fresh, to the salted meat daily issued from the commissariat,
+nothing was more common than for him to kill the first head of cattle he
+found grazing on the skirt of the forest, secure the small portion he
+wanted, and leave the remainder to serve as carrion to the birds of prey
+of the country. Nay, to such an extent was this wanton spoliation
+carried, that instances have repeatedly occurred wherein cattle have
+been slain and left to putrify in the sun, merely because a warrior
+found it the most convenient mode by which to possess himself of a
+powder-horn. All this was done openly--in the broad face of day, and in
+the full cognisance of the authorities; yet was there no provision made
+to meet the difficulties so guilty a waste was certain eventually to
+entail. At length the effect began to make itself apparent, and it was
+shortly after the first appearance of the American fleet that the
+scarcity of food began to be so severely felt as to compel the English
+squadron, at all hazards, to leave the port in search of supplies.
+
+At this period, the vessel described in the commencement of our story,
+as having engaged so much of the interest and attention of all parties,
+had just been launched and rigged. Properly armed she was not, for there
+were no guns of the description used on ship-board wherewith to arm her;
+but now that the occasion became imperative, all nicety was disregarded
+in the equipment; and guns that lately bristled from the ramparts of the
+fort were soon to be seen protruding their long and unequal necks from
+the ports. She was a gallant ship, notwithstanding the incongruity of
+her armament, and had her brave crew possessed but the experience of
+those who are nursed on the salt waves of ocean, might have fought a
+more fortunate fight (a better or a braver was impossible) than she did.
+But in the whole of the English fleet there could not be counted
+three-score able or experienced seamen; the remainder were children of
+the Canadian Lakes, warm with the desire to distinguish themselves in
+the eyes of their more veteran European companions, but without the
+knowledge to make their enthusiasm sufficiently available. The
+Americans, on the contrary, were all sons of the ocean and equally
+brave.
+
+It was a glorious day in September, the beautiful September of Canada,
+when the gallant Commodore Barclay sailed with his fleet, ostensibly in
+fulfilment of the mission for which it was dispatched, but in reality
+under the firm expectation of being provoked to action by his stronger
+and better disciplined enemy. To say that he would have sought that
+enemy, under the disadvantages beneath which he knew himself to labor,
+would be to say that which would reflect little credit on his judgment;
+but, although not in a condition to hold forth the flag of defiance,
+where there was an inferiority in all but the skill of the leader and
+the personal courage of the men, he was not one to shun the battle that
+should be forced upon him. Still to him it was an anxious moment,
+because the fame of other days hung upon an issue over which no efforts
+of his own could hold mastery; and as he gazed at his armless sleeve, he
+sighed for the presence of those whose agency had coupled the
+recollection of past victory with that mutilated proof of honorable
+conduct. He knew, moreover, the magnitude of the stake for which he was
+thus compelled to play, and that defeat to him would be the loss of the
+whole of the Western District. While the British ascendancy could be
+maintained on the lake, there was little fear, lined as the forests were
+with Indian warriors, that the Americans would push any considerable
+force beyond the boundaries they had assigned themselves at Sandusky and
+on the Miami; but a victory once obtained by their fleet, there could be
+nothing to oppose the passage of their army in vessels and boats across
+the lake.
+
+Such were the thoughts that filled the mind of the Commodore (in common
+with all who calmly reasoned on the subject), as he crossed the bar that
+separated him from his enemy; but neither in look, nor word, nor deed,
+was there aught to reveal what was passing in the inward man; and when
+later the hostile fleet was signalized as bearing down upon them, he
+gave his order to prepare for action, in the animated voice of one who
+finds certain victory within his reach, and exultingly hastens to secure
+it.
+
+The events of that day the page of history has already recorded, in
+terms alike flattering to the conqueror and the conquered. Let it
+suffice that the Americans fought with determined bravery, and
+eventually triumphed.
+
+The result of the unlucky contest was, as had been anticipated, to open
+a free passage across the lake to the American armies, whose advance by
+land had been so repeatedly and effectually checked on former occasions,
+as to leave them little inclination for a renewal of an attempt in that
+quarter. Now however that they could forward a fleet of boats under
+cover of the guns of their squadron, to the very outworks of
+Amherstburg, the difficulty was at once removed; and an overwhelming
+army of not less than ten thousand men, was speedily assembled near
+Sandusky, with a view to the final invasion of Amherstburg and
+consequent recapture of Detroit.
+
+Under these disheartening circumstances--the want of provisions being
+daily more and more felt by the troops and inhabitants--it became
+necessary to hold a council of war, to determine upon the course that
+should be pursued. Accordingly the whole of the chiefs and officers of
+the garrison met in the hall already described in the beginning of our
+narrative, when it was proposed by General Proctor, at the conclusion of
+a speech in which the increasing difficulties and privations of the
+garrison were emphatically enumerated, that the fortifications should be
+razed to the ground, the dock yards and other public works destroyed,
+and the allied forces of English and Indians make the best of their way
+by land to join the centre division of the army on the Niagara frontier.
+
+This was warmly opposed by Tecumseh, but despite his eloquence and
+remonstrance, a few days later, and the work of destruction was entered
+upon and soon completed. The little British army, scarcely exceeding
+eight hundred men of all arms, commenced its march at night, lighted by
+the flames of the barracks which had given them shelter for the last
+time. As they passed the fort of Detroit the next day, dense columns of
+smoke and flame were to be seen rising high in air, from the various
+public edifices, affording a melancholy evidence of the destruction
+which usually tracks a retreating army. Many an American inhabitant
+looked on at the work of destruction, as if he would fain have arrested
+the progress of an element which at once defaced the beauty of the town,
+and promised much trouble and inconvenience to those whom they knew to
+be at hand, for their final deliverance from the British yoke. But the
+garrison continued stern spectators of the ruin they had been compelled
+to effect, until the flames had attained a power which rendered then
+suppression an impossibility; then and then only, did they quit the
+scene of conflagration, and embarking in the boats which had been kept
+in readiness for their transport, joined their comrades, who waited for
+them on the opposite bank. The two garrisons thus united; the whole
+preceded by a large body of Indians, were pushed forward to the position
+which had been selected on the Thames, and both shores of the Detroit
+were left an unresisting conquest to the Americans.
+
+Meanwhile, these latter had not been slow in profiting by the important
+advantages which had crowned their arms on the lake. On the third day
+after the retreat of the British garrison from Amherstburg, a numerous
+fleet of large boats was discovered from the town pushing for Hartley's
+point, under cover of the united squadrons. Unopposed as these were,
+their landing was soon effected, and a few hours later the American
+stars were to be seen floating over the still smoking ruins of the
+British fortress. Emboldened by the unexpected ease with which he had
+rendered himself finally master of a position long coveted, the American
+General at once resolved to follow and bring his retreating enemy to
+action if possible. A force of five thousand men (fifteen hundred of
+whom were mounted rifles) was accordingly pushed forward; and so rapid
+and indefatigable was the march of these, that they came up with the
+retreating columns before they had succeeded in gaining the village, at
+which it was purposed that their final stand should be made. The anxiety
+of General Proctor to save the baggage waggons containing his own
+personal effects, had been productive of the most culpable delay, and at
+the moment when his little army should have been under cover of
+entrenchments, and in a position which offered a variety of natural
+defensive advantages, they found themselves suddenly overtaken by the
+enemy in the heart of a thick wood, where, fatigued by the long and
+tedious march they had made under circumstances of great privation, they
+had scarcely time to form in the irregular manner permitted by their
+broken position, before they found themselves attacked with great spirit
+and on all sides, by a force more than quadruple their own. The result
+may easily be anticipated. Abandoned by their General, who at the very
+first outset, drove his spurs into the flanks of his charger and fled
+disgracefully from the scene of action, followed by the whole of his
+personal staff, the irregularly formed line of the little British army,
+was but ill prepared to make effectual resistance to the almost
+invisible enemy by whom it was encompassed; and those whom the rifle had
+spared, were to be seen, within an hour from the firing of the first
+shot, standing conquered and disarmed, between the closing lines of the
+victorious Americans.
+
+But although the English troops (sacrificed as they must be pronounced
+to have been, by their incapable leader) fell thus an easy prey to the
+overwhelming force brought against them, so did not their Indian allies,
+supported and encouraged as these were by the presence of their beloved
+Chieftain. It was with a sparkling eye and a glowing cheek that, just as
+the English troops had halted to give unequal battle to their pursuers.
+Tecumseh passed along the line, expressing in animated language the
+delight he felt at the forthcoming struggle, and when he had shaken
+hands with most of the officers he moved into the dense forest where his
+faithful bands were lying concealed, with a bounding step that proved
+not only how much his heart had been set upon the cast, but how
+completely he confided in the result. And who shall say what that result
+might not have been even notwithstanding the discomfiture of the English
+had the heroic Chieftain been spared to his devoted country! But this
+was not fated to be. Early in the action he fell by the hand of a
+distinguished leader of the enemy, and his death carried, as it could
+not fail to do, the deepest sorrow and dismay into the hearts of his
+followers, who although they continued the action long after his fall,
+and with a spirit that proved their desire to avenge the loss of their
+noble leader, it was evident, wanted the directing genius of him they
+mourned to sustain them in their effort. For several days after the
+action did they continue to hang upon the American rear, as the army
+again retired with its prisoners upon Detroit; but each day their attack
+became feebler and feebler, announcing that their numbers were fast
+dispersing into the trackless region from which they had been brought,
+until finally not a shot was to be heard disturbing the night vigils of
+the American sentinels.
+
+With the defeat of the British army, and the death of Tecumseh, perished
+the last hope of the Indians to sustain themselves as a people against
+the in-roads of their oppressors. Dispirited and dismayed, they retired
+back upon the hunting grounds which still remained to them, and there
+gave way both to the deep grief with which every heart was overwhelmed
+at the loss of their truly great leader, and to the sad anticipations
+which the increasing gloom that clouded the horizon of their prospects
+naturally induced.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+The interview so fatal in its results to Gerald's long formed
+resolutions of virtuous purpose was followed by others of the same
+description, and in the course of these, Matilda, profiting by her
+knowledge of the past, had the address so to rivet the chains which
+fettered the senses of her lover, by a well-timed, although apparently
+unintentional display of the beauty which had enslaved him, that so far
+from shrinking from the fulfilment of the dreadful obligation he had
+imposed upon himself, the resolution of the youth became more confirmed
+as the period for its enactment drew nigher. There were moments when,
+his passion worked up to intensity by the ever-varying, over-exciting
+picture of that beauty, would have anticipated the condition on which he
+was to become possessed of it for ever, but on these occasions the
+American would assume an air of wounded dignity, sometimes of deep
+sorrow; and alluding to the manner in which her former confidence had
+been repaid, reproach him with a want of generosity, in seeking to make
+her past weakness a pretext for his present advances.
+
+At length the day arrived when Gerald--the once high, generous and noble
+minded Gerald,--was to steep his soul in guilt--to imbrue his hands in
+the life blood of a fellow creature. The seducer of Matilda had arrived,
+and even in the hotel in which Grantham resided, the entertainment was
+to be given by his approving fellow citizens, in commemoration of the
+heroism which had won to him golden opinions from every class. It had
+already been arranged that the assassination was to take place on the
+departure of their victim from the banquet, and consequently at a moment
+when, overcome by the fumes of wine, he would be found incapable of
+opposing any serious resistance to their design. The better to
+facilitate his close and unperceived approach to the unhappy man, a pair
+of cloth shoes had been made for her lover by the white hands of
+Matilda, with a sort of hood or capuchin of the same material, to
+prevent recognition by any one who might accidentally pass him on the
+way to the scene of the contemplated murder. Much as Gerald objected to
+it, Matilda had peremptorily insisted on being present herself, to
+witness the execution of the deed, and the same description of disguise
+had been prepared for herself. In this resolution the American,
+independently of her desire to fortify the courage of her lover by her
+presence, was actuated by another powerful and fearful motive, which
+will be seen presently.
+
+The private residence of the officer was situated in a remote part of
+the town, and skirting that point of the circular ridge of hills where
+the lights in the habitation of Matilda had attracted the notice of
+Gerald, on the first night of his encounter. To one who viewed it from a
+distance, it would have seemed that the summit of the wood-crowned ridge
+must be crossed before communication could be held between the two
+dwellings which lay as it were back to back, on either side of the
+formidable barrier; but on a nearer approach, a fissure in the hill
+might be observed, just wide enough to admit of a narrow horse track or
+foot path, which wound its sinuous course from the little valley into
+the open space that verged upon the town, on gaining which the residence
+of the American officer was to be seen rising at the distance of twenty
+yards. It was in this path, which had been latterly pointed out to him
+by his guilty companion, that Gerald was to await the approach of the
+intended victim, who on passing his place of concealment, was to be
+cautiously followed and stabbed to the heart ere he could gain his door.
+
+Fallen as was Gerald from his high estate of honor, it was not without a
+deep sense of the atrocity of the act he was about to commit, that he
+prepared for its accomplishment. It is true that, yielding to the
+sophistry of Matilda's arguments, he was sometimes led to imagine the
+avenging of her injuries an imperative duty; but such was his view of
+the subject only when the spell of her presence was upon him. When
+restored to his calmer and more unbiassed judgment, in the solitude of
+his own chamber, conscience resumed her sway, and no plausibility of
+pretence could conceal from himself that he was about to become that
+vilest of beings--a common murderer. There were moments even when the
+dread deed to which he had pledged himself appeared in such hideous
+deformity, that he fain would have fled on the instant far from the
+influence of her who had incited him to its perpetration; but when the
+form of Matilda rose to his mental eye, remorse, conscience, every
+latent principle of virtue, dissolved away--and although he no longer
+sought to conceal from himself that what he meditated was crime of the
+blackest dye, his determination to secure entire possession of that
+beauty, even at the accursed price of blood, became but the more
+resolute and confirmed.
+
+The night previous to that fixed for the assassination was passed by the
+guilty Gerald in a state of dreadful excitement. Large drops fell from
+his forehead in agony, and when he arose at a late hour, his pale,
+emaciated features, and wavering step, betrayed how little the mind or
+the body had tasted of repose. Accustomed, however, as he had latterly
+been, to sustain his sinking spirits by artificial means, he was not
+long in having recourse to his wonted stimulants. He called for brandy
+to deaden the acuteness of his feelings, and give strength to his
+tottering limbs; and when he had drank freely of this, he sallied forth
+into the forest, where he wandered during the day, without other aim or
+purpose than to hide the brand of guilt, which he almost felt upon his
+brow, from the curious gaze of his fellow men. It was dark when he
+returned to the hotel, and as, on his way to his own private apartment,
+he passed the low large room chiefly used as an ordinary, the loud hum
+of voices which met his ear, mingled with the drawing of corks and
+ringing of glasses, told him that the entertainment provided for his
+unconscious victim had already commenced. Moving hastily on, he gained
+his own apartment, and summoning one of the domestics, he directed that
+his own frugal meal (the first he had tasted that day) should be brought
+up. But even for this he had no appetite, and he had recourse once more
+to the stimulant for assistance. As the night drew on he grew more
+nervous and agitated, yet without at all wavering from his purpose. At
+length ten o'clock struck. It was the hour at which he had promised to
+issue forth to join Matilda in the path, there to await the passage of
+his victim to his home. He cautiously descended the staircase, and, in
+the confusion that reigned among the household, all of whom were too
+much occupied with the entertainment within to heed the movements of
+individuals, succeeded in gaining the street without notice. The room in
+which the dinner was given was on the ground floor, and looked through
+numerous low windows into the street, through which Gerald must
+necessarily pass to reach the place of his appointment. Sounds of loud
+revelry mixed with laughter and the strains of music, now issued from
+these, attesting that the banquet was at its height, and the wine fast
+taking effect on its several participators.
+
+A momentary feeling of vague curiosity caused the degraded youth to
+glance his eye through one of the uncurtained windows upon the scene
+within, but scarcely had he caught an indistinct and confused view of
+the company, most of whom glittered in the gay trappings of military
+uniforms, when a secret and involuntary dread of distinguishing from his
+fellows the man whom he was about to slay, caused him as instantaneously
+to turn away. Guilty as he felt himself to be, he could not bear the
+thought of beholding the features of the individual he had sworn to
+destroy. As there were crowds of the humbler citizens of the place
+collected round the windows to view the revelry within, neither his
+appearance nor his action had excited surprise; nor, indeed, was it even
+suspected, habited as he was in the common garments of the country, that
+he was other than a native of the town.
+
+On gaining the narrow pass or lane, he found Matilda wrapped in her
+cloak, beneath which she carried the disguise prepared for both. The
+moon was in the last quarter, and as the fleecy clouds passed away from
+before it, he could observe that the lips and cheek of the American were
+almost livid, although her eyes sparkled with deep mental excitement.
+Neither spoke, yet then breathing was heavy and audible to each. Gerald
+seated himself on a projection of the hill, and removing his shoes,
+substituted those which his companion had wrought for him. He then
+assumed the hood, and dropping his head between his hands, continued for
+some minutes in that attitude, buried in profound abstraction.
+
+At length Matilda approached him. She seated herself at his side, threw
+her arms around his neck, called him in those rich and searching tones
+which were peculiarly her own--her beloved and affianced husband; and
+bidding him be firm of purpose, as he valued the lives and happiness of
+both, placed in his hand a small dagger, the handle of which was richly
+mounted in silver. Gerald clutched the naked weapon with a convulsive
+grasp, while a hoarse low groan escaped him, and again he sank his head
+in silence upon his chest.
+
+Nearly an hour had passed in this manner, neither seeking to disturb the
+thoughts of the other, nor daring to break the profound silence that
+every where prevailed around them. At length a distant and solitary
+footstep was heard, and Matilda sprang to her feet, and with her head
+thrown eagerly forward, while one small foot alone supported the whole
+weight of her inclined body, gazed intently out upon the open space, and
+in the direction whence the sounds proceeded.
+
+"He comes, Gerald, he comes!" she at length whispered in a quick tone.
+
+Gerald, who had also risen, and now stood looking over the shoulder of
+the American, was not slow in discovering the tall figure of a man,
+whose outline, cloaked even as it was, bespoke the soldier, moving in an
+oblique direction towards the building already described.
+
+"It is he--too well do I know him," continued Matilda, in the same eager
+yet almost inaudible whisper, "and mark how inflated with the incense
+which has been heaped upon him this night does he appear. His proud step
+tells of the ambitious projects of his vile heart. Little does he
+imagine that this arm--and she tightly grasped that which held the fatal
+dagger--will crush them for ever in the bud. But hist!"
+
+The officer was now within a few paces of the path, in the gloom of
+which the guilty pair found ample concealment, and as he drew nearer and
+nearer, their very breathing was stayed to prevent the slightest chance
+of a discovery of their presence. Gerald suffered him to pass some yards
+beyond the opening, and advanced with long yet cautious strides across
+the grass towards his victim. As he moved thus noiselessly along, he
+fancied that there was something in the bearing of the figure that
+reminded him of one he had previously known, but he had not time to
+pause upon the circumstance for the officer was already within ten yards
+of his own door, and the delay of a single moment would not only deprive
+him of the opportunity on which he had perilled all in this world and in
+the next, but expose himself and his companion to the ignominy of
+discovery and punishment.
+
+A single foot of ground now intervened between him and the unhappy
+officer, whom wine, or abstraction, or both, had rendered totally
+unconscious of his danger. Already was the hand of Gerald raised to
+strike the fatal blow--another moment and it would have descended, but
+even in the very act he found his arm suddenly arrested. Turning quickly
+to see who it was who thus interfered with his purpose, he beheld
+Matilda.
+
+"One moment stay," she said in a hurried voice; "poor were my revenge
+indeed, were he to perish not knowing who planned his death." Then in a
+hoarser tone, in which could be detected the action of the fiercest
+passions of the human mind, "Slanderer--villain--we meet again."
+
+Startled by the sound of a familiar voice, the officer turned hastily
+round, and seeing all his danger at a single glance, made a movement of
+his right hand to his side, as if he would have grasped his sword--but
+finding no weapon there, he contented himself with throwing his left arm
+forward, covered with the ample folds of his cloak, with a view to the
+defence of his person.
+
+"Yes, Forrester," continued Matilda, in the same impassioned voice, "we
+meet again, and mark you," pulling back the disguise from Gerald, "'tis
+no vile slave, no sable paramour by whose hand you die, villain," she
+pursued, her voice trembling with excitement--"my own arm should have
+done the deed, but that he whose service I have purchased with the hand
+you rejected and despised, once baulked me of my vengeance when I had
+deemed it most secure. But enough! To his heart, Gerald, now that in the
+fulness of his wine and his ambition, he may the deeper feel the sting
+of death--strike to his heart--what! do you falter--do you turn coward?"
+
+Gerald neither moved nor spoke; his upraised hand had sunk at his side
+at the first address of Matilda to her enemy, and the dagger had fallen
+from his hand upon the sward, where it might be seen glittering in the
+rays of the pale moon. His head was bent upon his chest in abject shame,
+and he seemed as one who had suddenly been turned to stone.
+
+"Gerald, my husband!" urged Matilda, rapidly changing her tone into that
+of earnest persuasion, "wherefore do you hesitate? Am I not your wife,
+your own wife, and is not yon monster the wretch who has consigned my
+fair fame to obloquy for ever--Gerald!" she added, impetuously.
+
+But the spell had lost its power, and Gerald continued
+immoveable--apparently fixed to the spot on which he stood.
+
+"Gerald, Gerald!" repeated the officer, with the air of one endeavoring
+to recollect.
+
+At the sound of that voice Gerald looked up. The moon was at that moment
+unobscured by a single cloud, and as the eyes of the murderer and his
+intended victim met, their recognition was mutual and perfect.
+
+"I had never expected to see Lieutenant Grantham figuring in the
+character of an assassin," said Colonel Forrester, in a voice of deep
+and bitter reproach, "still less to find his arm raised against the
+preserver of his life. This," he continued, as if speaking to himself,
+"will be a bitter tale to recount to his family."
+
+"Almighty God, have mercy!" exclaimed Gerald as, overcome with shame and
+misery, he threw himself upon the earth at its full length, his head
+nearly touching the feet of the officer. Then clasping his feet--"Oh,
+Colonel Forrester, lost, degraded as I am, believe me when I swear that
+I knew not against whom my arm was to be directed. Nay, that you live at
+this moment is the best evidence of the truth of what I utter, for I
+came with a heart made up to murder. But _your_ blood worlds could not
+tempt me to spill."
+
+"I believe you," said the American feelingly. "Well do I know the arts
+of the woman who seems to have lured you into the depths of crime; yet
+low as you are fallen, Lieutenant Grantham--much as you have disgraced
+your country and profession, I cannot think you would willingly have
+sought the life of him who saved your own. And now rise, sir, and gain
+the place of your abode, before accident bring other eyes than my own to
+be witnesses of your shame. We will discourse of this to-morrow.
+Meanwhile, be satisfied with my promise that your attempt shall remain a
+secret with myself."
+
+While he spoke, Colonel Forrester made a movement as if to depart.
+Aroused by the apprehension of losing her victim, Matilda, who had
+hitherto been an impatient listener, called wildly upon Gerald, who had
+now risen, to fulfil his compact; but the youth turned from her with a
+movement of disgust, exclaiming, with bitterness--"leave me, woman,
+leave me!"
+
+Matilda looked after him for an instant with an expression of intensest
+scorn; then springing to, and snatching up the dagger, which lay
+glittering a few paces from the spot on which she stood, she advanced
+silently, but rapidly upon her retreating enemy. Colonel Forrester had
+gained his threshold, and had already knocked for admittance, when he
+heard the deep voice of Matilda at his ear, exclaiming, in a triumphant
+tone.
+
+"Think you twice, then, to escape your doom, traitor?"
+
+Before he could make an attempt to shield himself, the fatal steel had
+entered deep into his side. Uttering a groan, he sank senseless on the
+steps, whither Gerald, who had watched the action of his companion, had
+flown in the hope of arresting the blow. Confused voices, mingled with
+the tramp of feet, were now heard within the hall. Presently the door
+opened, and a crowd of servants, chiefly black, appeared with lights.
+The view of their bleeding master, added to the disguise of Gerald, and
+the expression of triumph visible in the pale countenance of Matilda, at
+once revealed the truth. By some the former was borne to his apartment,
+while the greater portion busied themselves in securing the two latter,
+who, however, made not the slightest effort at resistance, but suffered
+themselves to be borne, amid hootings and execrations, from the spot.
+
+The different groups we have described as being gathered together in
+front of the hotel, had dispersed on the breaking up of the party, which
+Colonel Forrester, in compliment to those who entertained him, had been
+one of the last to quit; so that on passing through the streets, not an
+idler was found to swell the sable crowd that bore the wretched
+prisoners onward to the common prison of the town. Just as they had
+arrived at this latter, and a tall and muscular negro, apparently
+enjoying some distinction in his master's household, was about to pull
+the bell for admission, a man came running breathlessly to the spot, and
+communicated to the negro just mentioned a message, in which the name of
+Colonel Forrester was distinctly audible to the ear of Gerald. A
+retrograde movement was the immediate consequence of this interruption,
+and the party came once more upon the open space they had so recently
+quitted. Stupified with the excess of abjectness in which he had
+continued plunged, from the moment of his discovery of the identity of
+his intended victim, Gerald had moved unconsciously and recklessly
+whithersoever his conductors led; but now that he expected to be
+confronted face to face with the dying man, as the sudden alteration in
+the movement of the party gave him reason to apprehend, he felt for the
+first time that his position, bitter as it was, might be rendered even
+worse. It was a relief to him, therefore, when he found that, instead of
+taking the course which led to the residence of Colonel Forrester, the
+head of the party, of which Matilda and himself were the centre,
+suddenly diverged into the narrow lane which conducted to the residence
+of that unhappy woman. Instead, however, of approaching this, Gerald
+remarked that they made immediately for the fatal temple. When they had
+reached this, the door was opened by the tall negro above described,
+who, with a deference in his manner not less at variance with the
+occasion than with the excited conduct of the whole party on their way
+to the prison, motioned both his prisoners to enter. They did so, and
+the lock having been turned and the key removed, they silently
+withdrew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+Hours passed away without either of the guilty parties finding courage
+or inclination to address the other. The hearts of both were too full
+for utterance--and yet did they acknowledge no sympathy in common.
+Remorse, shame, fear, regret, simultaneously assailed and weighed down
+the mind of Gerald. Triumphant vengeance, unmixed with any apprehension
+of self, reigned exclusively in the bosom of Matilda. The intense
+passion of the former, like a mist that is dissipated before the strong
+rays of the sun, had yielded before the masculine and practical display
+of the energetic hate of its object, while on the contrary she, whose
+beauty of person was now to him a thing without price, acknowledged no
+other feeling than contempt for the vacillating character of her
+associate. In this only did they agree, that each looked upon each in
+the light of a being sunk in crime--steeped in dishonor--and while the
+love of the one was turned to almost loathing at the thought, the other
+merely wondered how one so feeble of heart had ever been linked to so
+determined a purpose.
+
+The only light admitted into the temple was through the window already
+described, and this was so feeble as scarcely to allow of the more
+distant objects in the room being seen. Gradually, as the moon sunk
+beneath the forest ridge, the gloom increased, until in the end the
+darkness became almost profound. At their first entrance Matilda,
+enshrouding herself in the folds of her cloak, had thrown herself upon
+the sofa; while Gerald continued to pace up and down the apartment with
+hurried steps, and in a state of feeling it would be a vain attempt to
+describe. It was now for the first time that, uninfluenced by passion,
+the miserable young man had leisure to reflect on the past, and the
+chain of fatality which had led to his present disgraceful position. He
+recollected the conversation he had held with his brother on the day
+succeeding his escape from the storm; and as the pledge which had been
+given in his name to his dying father, that no action of his life should
+reflect dishonor on his family, now occurred to him in all its force, he
+groaned in agony of spirit, less in apprehension of the fate that
+awaited him, than in sorrow and in shame that that pledge should have
+been violated. By a natural transition of his feelings, his imagination
+recurred to the traditions connected with his family, and the dreadful
+curse which had been uttered by one on whom his ancestor was said to
+have heaped injury to the very extinction of reason--and associating as
+he did Matilda's visit to the cottage at Detroit, on the memorable night
+when he had unconsciously saved the life of Colonel Forrester, with the
+fact of her having previously knelt and prayed upon the grave that was
+known to cover the ashes of the unhappy maniac, Ellen Halloway, he felt
+a shuddering conviction that she was in some way connected with that
+wretched woman. In the intenseness of his new desire to satisfy his
+doubts--a desire which in itself partook of the character of the
+fatality by which he was beset--he overcame the repugnance he had
+hitherto felt to enter into conversation with her, and advancing to the
+couch, he seated himself upon its edge at her side.
+
+"Matilda," he said, after a few moments of silence, "by all the love you
+once bore me, I conjure you to answer me one question while there is
+time."
+
+"Fool," returned the American, "I never loved you. A soul like mine
+feels passion but once. Hitherto I have played a part, but the drama
+approaches to a close, and disguise of plot is no longer necessary.
+Gerald Grantham, you have been my dupe. You came a convenient puppet to
+my hands, and such I used you until the snapped wire proclaimed you no
+longer serviceable--no further."
+
+Shame, anguish, mortification, all the most humiliating sensations
+natural to man--for a moment assailed the breast of the unfortunate and
+guilty Grantham, rendering him insensible even to the greater evil which
+awaited him. In the bitterness of his agony, he struck his clenched hand
+against his forehead, uttering curses upon himself for his weakness, in
+one breath, and calling upon his God, in the next, to pardon him for his
+crime.
+
+"This is good," said Matilda. "To see you writhe thus, under the wound
+inflicted upon your vanity, is some small atonement for the base
+violation of your oath; yet what question would you ask, the solution of
+which can so much import one about to figure on the scaffold for a crime
+he has not even had the courage to commit?"
+
+The taunting manner in which the concluding part of the sentence was
+conveyed, had the effect of restoring Gerald in some degree to himself,
+and he said with considerable firmness:
+
+"What I ask is of yourself--namely, the relationship, if any, you bear
+to those who lie within the mound, on which I beheld you kneeling on the
+night of your first attempt on Colonel Forrester's life?"
+
+"The very recollection of that ill-timed intrusion would prevent me from
+satisfying your curiosity, did not something whisper to me that, in so
+doing, I shall add another pang to those you already experience,"
+returned the American, with bitter sarcasm.
+
+"You are right," said Gerald hurriedly. "My miseries need but the
+assurance of your connexion with those mouldering bones to be indeed
+complete."
+
+"Then," said Matilda eagerly, and half raising her head, "your cup of
+misery may yet admit of increase. My mother and my father's mother both
+sleep within that grave."
+
+"How knew you this?" demanded Gerald quickly. "Instinct could not have
+guided you to the spot, and by your own admission you were taken from
+the place of your home while yet a mere child."
+
+"Not instinct, but my father Desborough, pointed out the spot, as he had
+long previously acquainted me with the history of my birth."
+
+"One question more--your grandmother's name?"
+
+"Mad Ellen she was called, an English soldier's wife, who died in giving
+birth to my father--and now that you are answered, leave me."
+
+"Almighty Providence!" aspirated Gerald in tones of inconceivable agony,
+"it is then as I had feared, and this woman has Destiny chosen to
+accomplish my ruin."
+
+He quitted the sofa, and paced up and down the room in a state of mind
+bordering on distraction. The past crowded upon his mind in all the
+confused manner of a dream, and, amid the chaos of contending feelings
+by which he was beset, one idea only was distinct--namely, that the
+wretched woman before him had been but the agent of Fate in effecting
+his destruction. Strange as it may appear, the idea, so far from
+increasing the acerbity of his feelings, had the tendency to soften his
+heart towards her. He beheld in her but a being whose actions had been
+fated like his own--and although every vestige of passion had fled, even
+although her surpassing beauty had lost its subjugating influence, his
+heart yearned towards her as one who, wrecked on the same shore, had
+some claim to his sympathy and compassion. All that was now left them
+was to make their peace with God, since with man their final account
+would be so speedily closed; and with a view to impress her with a sense
+of the religious aid from which alone they could hope for consolation,
+he again seated himself at her side on the edge of the sofa.
+
+"Matilda," he said, in a voice in which melancholy and sternness were
+blended, "we have been the children of guilt--the victims of our own
+evil passions; but God is merciful, and if our penitence be sincere, we
+may yet be forgiven in Heaven, although on earth there is no hope--even
+if after this we could wish to live. Matilda, let us pray together."
+
+There was no answer--neither did the slightest movement of her form
+indicate consciousness that she was addressed. "Matilda," repeated
+Gerald--still there was no answer. He placed his hand upon her cheek,
+and thought the touch was cold--he caught her hand, it too was cold and
+but for the absence of rigidity he would have deemed her dead.
+
+Scarcely knowing what he did, yet with an indefinable terror at his
+heart, he grasped and shook her by the arm, and again, but with greater
+vehemence, pronounced her name.
+
+"Who calls?" she said, in a faint but deep tone, as she raised her head
+slowly from the cushion which supported it. "Ha! I recollect. Tell me,"
+she added more quickly, "was not the blow well aimed. Marked you how the
+traitor fell. Villain, to accuse the woman whose only fault was loving
+him too well, with ignominious commerce with a slave!"
+
+"Wretched woman," exclaimed Gerald with solemn emphasis, "instead of
+exulting over the evil we have done, let us rather make our peace with
+Heaven, during the few hours we have yet to live. Matilda
+Desborough--daughter of a murderer; thyself a murderess--the scaffold
+awaits us both."
+
+"Coward--fool--thou liest," she returned with suddenly awakened energy.
+"For one so changeling as thyself the scaffold were befitting, but know,
+if I save had the heart to do this deed, I have also had the head to
+provide against its consequences--see--feel--."
+
+One of her cold hands was extended in search of Gerald's. They met, and
+a vial placed in the palm of the latter, betrayed the secret of her
+previous lassitude and insensibility.
+
+Even amid all the horrors which environed him, and called so largely for
+attention to his own personal danger, Gerald was inexpressibly shocked.
+
+"What! poisoned?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Yes--poisoned!" she murmured, and her hand again sank heavily at her
+side.
+
+Gerald dashed the vial away from him to the farther end of the
+apartment, and taking the cold hand of the unhappy woman, he continued:
+
+"Matilda--is this the manner in which you prepare yourself to meet the
+presence of your God. What! add suicide to murder?"
+
+But she spoke not--presently the hand he clasped sank heavily from his
+touch. Then there was a spasmodic convulsion of the whole frame. Then
+there burst a piercing shriek from her lips, as she half raised herself
+in agony from the sofa, and then each limb was set and motionless in the
+stern rigidity of death.
+
+While Gerald was yet bending over the body of his unfortunate companion,
+shocked, grieved and agitated beyond all expression, the door of the
+temple was unlocked, and a man enveloped in a cloak, and bearing a small
+dark lantern, suddenly appeared in the opening. He advanced towards the
+spot where Gerald, stupified with the events of the past night, stood
+gazing upon the corpse, almost unconscious of the presence of the
+intruder.
+
+"A pretty fix you have got into, Liftenant Grantham," said the well
+known voice of Jackson, "and I little calculated, when I advised you to
+make love to the Kentucky gals to raise your spirits, that they would
+lead you into such a deuced scrape as this."
+
+"Captain Jackson," said Gerald imploringly; "I am sufficiently aware of
+all the enormity of my crime, and am prepared to expiate it; but in
+mercy spare the bitterness of reproach."
+
+"Now as I'm a true Tennessee man, bred and born, I meant no reproach, and
+why should I, since you could'nt help her doing it, and he pointed to
+Matilda, yet you know its sometimes dangerous to be found in bad
+company. Every body might'nt believe you so innocent as we do."
+
+"Innocent! Captain Jackson," exclaimed Gerald, losing sight of all other
+feelings in unfeigned surprise--"I cannot say that I quite understand
+you."
+
+"Why, the meaning's plain enough, I take it. Others might be apt, I say,
+to think you had something to do with the thing as well as she, and
+therefore its just as well you should make yourself scarce. The Colonel
+says he would'nt on any account, you should even be suspected."
+
+"The Colonel says--not suspected," again exclaimed Gerald with
+increasing astonishment--then, suddenly recollecting the situation of
+the latter--"tell me," he continued, "is Colonel Forrester in danger--is
+his life despaired of?"
+
+"Worth a dozen dead men yet, or you would'nt see me taking the thing so
+coolly. The dagger certainly let the daylight into him, but though the
+wound was pretty considerably deep, the doctors say its not mortal. He
+thinks it might have been worse if you had not come up, and partly
+stopped her arm when she struck at him."
+
+Gerald was deeply affected by what he had just heard. It was evident
+that Colonel Forrester had, with a generosity to which no gratitude of
+his own could render adequate justice, sought to exonerate him from all
+suspicion of participation in the guilty design upon his life, and as he
+glanced his eye again for a moment upon the lifeless form of his
+companion, he was at once sensible that the only being who could defeat
+the benevolent object of his benefactor had now no longer the power to
+do so.
+
+"She sleeps sound enough now," said Jackson, again pointing to the
+ill-fated and motionless girl, "but she'll sleep sounder yet before
+long, I take it."
+
+"She will never sleep sounder than at this moment, Captain Jackson,"
+said Gerald, with solemn emphasis.
+
+"Why, you don't mean to say she has cheated the hangman, Liftenant."
+
+As he spoke, Jackson approached the sofa, and turning the light full
+upon the face, saw indeed that she was dead. Gerald shuddered as the
+rays from the lamp revealed for the first time the appalling change
+which had been wrought upon that once beautiful countenance. The open
+and finely formed brow was deeply knit, and the features distorted by
+the acute agony which had wrung the shriek from her heart at the very
+moment of dissolution, were set in a stern expression of despair. The
+parted lips were drawn up at the corners in a manner to convey the idea
+of the severest internal pain, and there was already a general
+discoloration about the mouth, betraying the subtle influences of the
+poison which had effected her death.
+
+Gerald after the first glance, turned away his head in horror from the
+view, but the Aide-de-camp remained for some moments calmly regarding
+the remains of all that had once been most beautiful in nature.
+
+"She certainly is not like what she was when Colonel Forrester first
+knew her," he said, in the abstracted tone of one talking without
+reference to any other auditor than himself; "but this comes of
+preferring a nigger to a white man. Such unnatural courses never can
+prosper, I take it."
+
+"Captain Jackson," said Gerald, aroused by his remark, and with great
+emphasis of tone, while he laid his hand impressively on the shoulder of
+the other, "you do her wrong. Guilty as she has been, fearfully guilty,
+but not in the sense you would imply."
+
+"How do you know this?" asked the Aide-de-camp.
+
+"From her own solemn declaration at a moment when deception could avail
+her not. Even before she swallowed the fatal poison, her horror at the
+imputation, which drove her to the perpetration of murder, was expressed
+in terms of indignant warmth that belong to truth alone."
+
+"If this be so," said Jackson, musingly, "she is indeed a much injured
+woman, and deep I know will be the regret of Colonel Forrester when he
+hears it, for he himself has ever believed her guilty. But come,
+Liftenant Grantham, we have no time to lose. The day will soon break,
+and I expect you must be a considerable way from Frankfort before
+sunrise."
+
+"I--from Frankfort--before sunrise!" exclaimed Gerald, in perfect
+astonishment.
+
+"Why, it's rather short warning to be sure; but the Colonel thinks you'd
+better start before the thing gets wind in the morning; for so many of
+the niggers say you wore a sort of a disguise as well as the poor girl,
+he fears the citizens may suspect you of something more than an
+intrigue, and insult you desperately."
+
+"Generous, excellent man!" exclaimed Gerald, "how can I ever repay this
+most unmerited service?"
+
+"Why, the best way I take it, is to profit by the offer that is made you
+of getting back to Canada as fast as you can."
+
+"But how is this to be done, and will not the very fact of my flight
+confirm the suspicion it is intended to remove?"
+
+"As for the matter of how it is to be done, Liftenant, I have as slick a
+horse waiting outside for you as man ever crossed--one of the fleetest
+in Colonel Forrester's stud. Then as for suspicion, he means to set that
+at rest, by saying that he has taken upon himself to give you leave to
+return on parole to your friends, who wish to see you on a case of life
+and death, and now let's be moving."
+
+Oppressed with the weight of contending feelings, which this generous
+conduct had inspired, Gerald waited but to cast a last look upon the
+ill-fated Matilda; and then with a slow step and a heavy heart for ever
+quitted a scene fraught with the most exciting and the most painful
+occurrences of his life. The first rays of early dawn beginning to
+develope themselves as they issued from the temple, Jackson extinguished
+his lamp, and leading through the narrow pass that conducted to the
+town, made the circuit of the ridge of hills until they arrived at a
+point where a negro (the same who had led the party that bore Matilda
+and himself to the temple) was in waiting, with a horse ready saddled
+and the arms and accoutrements of a rifleman.
+
+The equipment of Gerald was soon completed, and with the shot-bag and
+powder-horn slung over his shoulder, and the long rifle in his hand, he
+soon presented the appearance of a backwoodsman hastening to the theatre
+of war.
+
+When he had seated himself in the saddle, Jackson drew forth a well
+filled purse, which he said he had been directed by Colonel Forrester to
+present him with to defray the expenses of his journey to the frontier.
+
+Deeply affected by this new proof of the favor of the generous American,
+Gerald received the purse, saying, as he confided them to the breast of
+his hunting frock--
+
+"Captain Jackson, tell Colonel Forrester from me, that I accept his
+present merely because in doing so I give the best evidences of my
+appreciation of _all_ he has done for me on this trying occasion. In his
+own heart, however, he must look for the only reward to which this most
+noble of actions justly entitles him."
+
+The frank-hearted Aide-de-camp promised compliance with this parting
+message, and after pointing out the route it would be necessary to
+follow, warmly pressed the hand of his charge in a final grasp, that
+told how little he deemed the man before him capable of the foul
+intention with which his soul had been so recently sullied.
+
+How often during those hours of mad infatuation, when his weakened mind
+had been balancing between the possession of Matilda at the price of
+crime, and his abandonment of her at that of happiness, had the
+observation of the Aide-de-camp, on a former occasion, that he "was
+never born to be an assassin," occurred to his mind, suffusing his cheek
+with shame and his soul with remorse. Now, too, that conscious of having
+fallen in all but the positive commission of the deed, he saw that the
+unsuspecting American regarded him merely as one whom accident or
+intrigue had made an unwilling witness of the deadly act of a desperate
+woman, his feelings were those of profound abasement and self-contempt.
+
+There was a moment, when urged by an involuntary impulse, he would have
+undeceived Captain Jackson as to his positive share in the transaction;
+but pride suddenly interposed and saved him from the degradation of the
+confession. He returned the pressure of the American's hand with
+emphasis, and then turning his horse in the direction which he had been
+recommended to take, quitted Frankfort for ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+In October of the same year, a numerous body of Americans, principally
+troops of the line, had been collected under the orders of General Van
+Rensselaer, and advantage was taken of an extremely dark night to push
+them across the river, with a view to the occupation of the commanding
+heights above the village of Queenston. In this, favored by
+circumstances, the enemy were eminently successful. They carried the
+batteries, and at day-break the heights were to be seen covered with
+their battalions, before whom were thrown out a considerable body of
+riflemen. At the first alarm, the little detachment stationed at
+Queenston marched out to dislodge them; but such was the impatient
+gallantry of General Brock, who had succeeded to the command on this
+line of frontier, that without waiting for the main body from Fort
+George to come up, he threw himself at the head of the flank companies
+of the Forty-Ninth, and moving forward in double quick time, soon came
+within sight of the enemy.
+
+Among the General's aides-de-camp, was Henry Grantham, who, having
+succeeded in making his escape at the fatal defeat of the Moravian
+Village, with a few men of his company, had in the absence of his
+regiment (then prisoners of war), and from considerations of personal
+esteem, been attached as a supernumerary to his staff. With him at this
+moment was the light-hearted De Courcy, and as the young men rode a
+little in rear of their Chief, they were so rapt in admiration of his
+fine form and noble daring (as he still kept dashing onward, far in
+advance even of the handful of troops who followed eagerly and rapidly
+in his rear), that they utterly forgot the danger to which he was
+exposed.
+
+On arriving at the ascent, the General for a moment reined in his
+charger, in order to give time to the rear to close in, then removing
+and waving his plumed hat.
+
+"Hurrah, Forty-Ninth!" he exclaimed, in language suited to those he
+addressed. "Up these heights lies our road--on ourselves depends the
+victory. Not a shot till we gain the summit--then three cheers for old
+England--a volley--and the bayonet must do the rest!"
+
+So saying, he resumed his hat; and wheeling his horse, once more led his
+gallant little band up the hill.
+
+But it was not likely that the Americans would suffer the approach of so
+determined an enemy without attempting to check their progress in the
+most efficient manner. Distinguished from those around him by his
+commanding air, not less than by the military insignia that adorned him,
+the person of the General was at once recognised for one bearing high
+rank, and as such became an object of especial attention to the
+dispersed riflemen. Shot after shot flew past the undaunted officer,
+carrying death into the close ranks that followed noiselessly in his
+rear, yet without harming him. At length he was seen by his
+aides-de-camp, both of whom had kept their eyes upon him, to reel in his
+saddle. An instant brought the young men to his side, De Courcy on his
+right and Grantham on his left hand. They looked up into his face. It
+was suffused with the hues of death. A moment afterwards and he fell
+from his horse, with his head reclining upon the chest of Henry
+Grantham. There was a momentary halt in the advancing column; all were
+dismayed at the dreadful event.
+
+De Courcy and Grantham, having abandoned their horses, now bore their
+beloved leader to the side of the road, and sought some spot out of
+reach of the enemy's fire, where he might breathe his last moments in
+peace.
+
+As Henry Grantham glanced his eye towards an old untenanted building,
+that lay some fifty yards off the road, and which he conceived fully
+adapted to the purpose, he saw the form of a rifleman partly exposed at
+a corner of the building, whose action at the moment was evidently that
+of one loading his piece. The idea that this skulking enemy might have
+been the same who had given the fatal death-wound to his beloved Chief,
+added to the conviction that he was preparing to renew the shot, filled
+him with the deepest desire of vengeance. As the bodies of several men,
+picked off by the riflemen, lay along the road (one at no great distance
+from the spot on which he stood), he hastened to secure the nearest
+musket, which, as no shot had been fired by the English, he knew to be
+loaded.
+
+Leaving De Courcy to support the head of the General, the young
+Aid-de-camp moved with due caution towards the building; but ere he had
+gone ten paces, he beheld the object of his pursuit issue altogether
+from the cover of the building, and advance towards him with his rifle
+on the trail. More and more convinced that his design was to obtain a
+near approach, with a view to a more certain aim, he suddenly halted and
+raised the musket to his shoulder. In vain was a shout to desist uttered
+by the advancing man--in vain was his rifle thrown aside, as if in token
+of the absence of all hostile purposes. The excited Henry Grantham
+heeded not the words--saw not the action. He thought only of the danger
+of his General, and of his desire to avenge his fall. He fired--the
+rifleman staggered, and putting his hand to his breast--
+
+"My brother! oh, my unhappy brother!" he exclaimed, and sank senseless
+to the earth.
+
+Who shall tell the horror of the unfortunate young Aide-de-camp, at
+recognising in the supposed enemy his long mourned and much loved
+Gerald! Motion, sense, life, seemed for the instant annihilated by the
+astounding consciousness of the fratricidal act: the musket fell from
+his hands, and he who had never known sorrow before, save through those
+most closely linked to his warm affections, was now overwhelmed, crushed
+by the mountain of despair that fell upon his heart. It was some moments
+before he could so far recover from the stupor into which that dear and
+well-remembered voice had plunged him, as to perceive the possibility of
+the wound not being mortal. The thought acted like electricity upon each
+stupified sense and palsied limb; and eager with the renewed hope, he
+bounded forward to the spot where lay the unfortunate Gerald, writhing
+in his agony. He had fallen on his face, but as Henry approached him, he
+raised himself with one hand, and with the other beckoned to his brother
+to draw near.
+
+"Great God, what have I done!" exclaimed the unhappy Henry, throwing
+himself, in a paroxysm of despair, upon the body of his bleeding
+brother. "Gerald, my own beloved Gerald, is it thus we meet again? Oh!
+if you would not kill me, tell me that your wound is not mortal. Assure
+me that I am not a fratricide. Oh, Gerald, Gerald! my brother, tell me
+that you are not dying."
+
+A faint smile passed over the pale, haggard features of Gerald: he
+grasped the hand of his brother and pressed it fervently, saying:
+
+"Henry, the hand of fate is visible in all this; therefore condemn not
+yourself for that which was inevitable. I knew of the attempt of the
+Americans to possess themselves of the heights, and I crossed over with
+them under favor of this disguise, determined to find death, combatting
+at the side of our gallant General. Detaching myself from the ranks, I
+but waited the advance of the British column to remove from my
+concealment--you know the rest. But oh, Henry! if you could divine what
+a relief it is to me to part with existence, you would not wish the act
+undone. This was all I asked: to see you once more--to embrace you--and
+to die! Life offered me no hope but this."
+
+Gerald expressed himself with the effort of one laboring under strong
+bodily pain; and as he spoke he again sank exhausted upon the ground.
+
+"This packet," he continued, taking one from the breast of the
+hunting-frock he wore, and handing it to his brother, who, silent and
+full of agony, had again raised his head from the ground and supported
+it on his shoulder--"this packet, Henry, written at various times during
+the last fortnight, will explain all that has passed since we last
+parted in the Miami. When I am no more, read it; and while you mourn
+over his dishonor, pity the weakness and the sufferings of the unhappy
+Gerald."
+
+Henry was nearly frantic. The hot tears fell from his burning eyes upon
+the pale emaciated cheek of his brother, and he groaned in agony.
+
+"Oh God!" he exclaimed, "how shall I ever survive this blow?--my
+brother! oh, my brother! tell me that you forgive me."
+
+"Most willingly; yet what is there to be forgiven? You took me for an
+enemy, and hence alone your error. It was fate, Henry. A dreadful doom
+has long been prophesied to the last of our race. We are the last--and
+this is the consummation. Let it however console you to think, that
+though your hand had not slain me another's would. In the ranks of the
+enemy I should have found--Henry, my kind, my affectionate brother--your
+hand--there--there--what dreadful faintness at my heart--Matilda, it is
+my turn now--Oh, God have mercy, oh----"
+
+While this scene was passing by the roadside between the unfortunate
+brothers, the main body of the British force had come up to the spot
+where the General still lay expiring in the arms of De Courcy, and
+surrounded by the principal of the medical staff. The majority of these
+were of the regiment previously named--veterans who had known and loved
+their gallant leader during the whole course of his spotless career, and
+more than one rude hand might be seen dashing the tear that started
+involuntarily to the eye. As the colors of the Forty-ninth passed before
+him, the General made an effort to address some language of
+encouragement to his old corps, but the words died away in indistinct
+murmurs, and, waving his hand in the direction of the heights, he sank
+back exhausted with the effort, and resigned his gallant spirit for
+ever.
+
+For some minutes after life had departed, Henry Grantham continued to
+hang over the body of his ill-fated brother, with an intenseness of
+absorption that rendered him heedless even of the rapid fire of musketry
+in the advance. The sound of De Courcy's voice was the first thing that
+seemed to call him to consciousness. De Courcy had heard the cry
+uttered by the latter on receiving the fatal shot, and his imagination
+had too faithfully portrayed the painful scene that had ensued. A friend
+of both brothers, and particularly attached of late to the younger from
+the similar nature of their service, he was inexpressibly shocked, but
+still cherishing a hope that the wound might not be attended with loss
+of life, he expected to find his anticipations realized by some
+communication from his friend. Finding however that the one rose not,
+and remarking that the demeanor of the other was that of profound
+despair, he began at length to draw the most unfavorable conclusion, and
+causing the body of his commander to be borne under cover of the
+building, until proper means of transport could be found, he hastened to
+ascertain the full extent of the tragedy.
+
+The horror and dismay depicted in his friend's countenance were speedily
+reflected on his own, when he saw that the unfortunate Gerald, whose
+blood had completely saturated the earth on which he lay, was indeed no
+more. Language at such a moment would not only have been superfluous,
+but an insult. De Courcy caught and pressed the hand of his friend in
+silence. The unfortunate young man pointed to the dead body of his
+brother, and burst into tears. While these were yet flowing in a fulness
+that promised to give relief to his oppressed heart, a loud shout from
+the British ranks arrested the attention of both. The sound seemed to
+have an electric effect on the actions of Henry Grantham. For the first
+time he appeared conscious there was such a thing as a battle being
+fought.
+
+"De Courcy," he said, starting up, and with sudden animation, "why do we
+linger here? The dead"--and he pointed first to the body of the General
+in the distance, and then to his brother--"the wretched dead claim no
+service from us now."
+
+"You are right, Henry, our interest in those beloved objects has caused
+us to be heedless of our duty to ourselves. Victory is our own--but
+alas! how dearly purchased!"
+
+"How dearly purchased, indeed!" responded Henry, in a tone of such
+heart-rending agony as caused his friend to repent the allusion. "De
+Courcy, keep this packet, and should I fall, let it be sent to my uncle,
+Colonel D'Egville."
+
+De Courcy accepted the trust, and the young men mounted their horses,
+which a Canadian peasant had held for them in the meantime, and dashing
+up the ascent, soon found themselves where the action was hottest.
+
+"Forward! victory!" shouted Henry Grantham, and his sword was plunged
+deep into the side of his nearest enemy. The man fell, and writhing in
+the last agonies of death, rolled onward to the precipice, and
+disappeared for ever from the view.
+
+The words, the action--had excited the attention of a tall, muscular,
+ferocious-looking rifleman, who, hotly pursued by a couple of Indians,
+was crossing the open ground at his full speed to join the main body of
+his comrades. A ball struck him just as he had arrived within a few feet
+of the spot where Henry stood, yet still leaping onward, he made a
+desperate blow at the head of the officer with the butt end of his
+rifle. A quick movement disappointed the American of his aim, yet the
+blow fell so violently on the shoulder, that the stock snapped suddenly
+asunder at the small of the butt. Stung with pain, Henry Grantham
+turned to behold his enemy. It was Desborough! The features of the
+settler expressed the most savage and vindictive passions, as, with the
+head of the rifle upraised and clenched in both his iron hands, he was
+about to repeat his blow. Ere it could descend Grantham had rushed in
+upon him, and his sword, still reeking in the blood it had so recently
+spilt, was driven to the very hilt in the body of the settler. The
+latter uttered a terrific scream in which all the most infernal of human
+passions were wildly blended, and casting aside his rifle, seized the
+young officer in his powerful gripe. Then ensued a contest the most
+strange and awful, the settler using every endeavor to gain the edge of
+the precipice, the other struggling, but in vain, to release himself
+from his hold. As if by tacit consent, both parties discontinued the
+struggle, and became mere spectators of the scene.
+
+"Villain!" shouted De Courcy, who saw with dismay the terrible object of
+the settler, whose person he had recognised--"if you would have quarter,
+release your hold."
+
+But Desborough, too much given to his revenge to heed the words of the
+Aide-de-camp, continued silently, yet with advantage, to drag his victim
+nearer and nearer to the fatal precipice; and every man in the British
+ranks felt his blood to creep, as he beheld the unhappy officer borne,
+notwithstanding a desperate resistance, at each moment nigher to the
+brink.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, men, advance and seize him," exclaimed the terrified
+De Courcy, leaping forward to the rescue.
+
+Acting on the hint, two or three of the most active of the light
+infantry rushed from the ranks in the direction taken by the officer.
+
+Desborough saw the movement, and his exertions to defeat it became,
+considering the loss of blood he had sustained from his wounds, almost
+herculean. He now stood on the extreme verge of the precipice, where he
+paused for a moment as if utterly exhausted by his previous efforts. De
+Courcy was now within a few feet of his unhappy friend, who still
+struggled ineffectually to free himself, when the settler, suddenly
+collecting all his energy into a final and desperate effort, raised the
+unfortunate Gerald from the ground, and with a loud and exulting laugh,
+dashed his foot violently against the edge of the crag, and threw
+himself backward into the hideous abyss.
+
+Their picked and whitened bones may be seen even to this day, confounded
+together and shining through the gloom that pervades every part of the
+abyss, and often may be remarked an aged and decrepit negro, seated on a
+rock a few feet above them, leaning his elbows upon his knees, and
+gazing eagerly as if to distinguish the bones of the one from the bones
+of the other.
+
+AND THUS WAS THE FEARFUL PROPHECY OF ELLEN HALLOWAY, THE MOTHER OF
+DESBOROUGH BY WACOUSTA, FULFILLED!
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
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+
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+been to reduce me in flesh, and to render me liable to no little nerve
+prostration and sleeplessness, especially after preaching or any special
+mental effort. The use of Gluten Suppositories, made by the Health Food
+Co., 74 Fourth Avenue, New York, has relieved the constipated habit, and
+their Gluten and Brain Food have secured for me new powers of digestion,
+and the ability to sleep soundly and think clearly. I believe their
+food-remedies to be worthy of the high praise which they are receiving
+on all sides."--Rev. John H. Paton, Mich.
+
+"I cannot speak too highly of the Health Food Company's Gluten
+Suppositories, as they have been a perfect God-send to me. I believe
+them superior to anything ever devised for the relief of constipation
+and hemorrhoids. I have suffered from these evils more than twenty
+years, and have at last found substantial relief through the use of the
+Gluten Suppositories."--Cyrus Bradbury, Hopedale, Mass.
+
+"I prescribe the Gluten Suppositories almost daily in my practice and am
+often astonished at the permanent results obtained."--J. Montfort
+Schley, M.D., Professor Physical Diagnosis Woman's Medical College, New
+York City.
+
+"I have used a part of a box and found relief."--Josiah Morris, Salem,
+N. J.
+
+"I have been using them with excellent results."--F. H. Williams, M.D.,
+Trenton, N. J.
+
+"Have used a half dozen and never had anything give me so much
+satisfaction."--A. P. Charlton, M.D., Jenneville, Pa.
+
+"I find your Gluten Suppositories an excellent remedy for
+constipation."--Charles B. Easeman, 169 Montrose Avenue, Brooklyn.
+
+"I have used your Gluten Suppositories in my family with great
+satisfaction."--S. B. Cowles, President Pacific Bank, Clarks, Nebraska.
+
+"I have had some very satisfactory experience in the treatment of
+constipation with your Wheat Gluten Suppositories."--Charles W.
+Benedict, M.D., Findlay, Ohio.
+
+DESCRIPTIVE CIRCULARS MAILED FREE TO ALL.
+
+  HEALTH FOOD COMPANY.
+  74 4th Avenue, New York City.
+
+
+
+
+A WONDERFUL BOOK.
+
+MRS. SPARKS OF PARIS.
+
+  A REALISTIC NOVEL.
+  By A. CURTIS BOND.
+
+
+The history of a hopeless love and a desperate crime; a study of woman
+in her better and her worst phase; a stripping of falsity from
+femininity, and an insight into the causes that lead woman to passionate
+love and the abyss of passionate forgetfulness. One of the most
+remarkable and interesting studies of the season; a character-reading
+that every one should be familiar with; a psychological and natural
+picture of life as it is, but as it is seldom regarded.
+
+Beautifully written in the style of the best examples of early French
+work, a reminder of the diction of Abbe Prevost, with the unjarring ease
+of "Manon Lescaut," it has a pleasant rhythmic flow which carries the
+reader spell-bound by the unusual interest of its mystery.
+
+
+=ONE VOLUME, 12MO.=
+
+  =Paper Cover, Price              30 Cents.=
+  =Bound in Cloth Extra, Price        $1.00.=
+
+
+  POLLARD & MOSS, PUBLISHERS,
+  42 Park Place and 37 Barclay St., New York.
+
+For sale by all book and news dealers, or sent by mail, postage prepaid
+upon receipt of the price by the publishers.
+
+
+
+
+_The Big-Type Editions of_ DICKENS _from $6_
+
+
+  (A) in fifteen volumes, cloth         $6
+  (B) same, better paper and binding    $9
+  (C) same as (B), half-calf           $18
+  (D) in thirty volumes, cloth         $15
+  (E) same as (D), half-calf           $40
+
+  NEW YORK:
+  POLLARD & MOSS,
+  42 Park Place and 37 Barclay Street.
+  1888.
+
+
+[Illustration: "AND SOLOMON DAISY, WITH A LIGHTED LANTERN IN HIS HAND,
+DASHED INTO THE ROOM." Barnaby Rudge.]
+
+
+Our New Dickens is the edition of all others for the library. It is
+better illustrated and is the largest-faced type used.
+
+
+(DAVID COPPERFIELD)
+
+was defying my aunt to such a furious extent, that he couldn't keep
+straight, but barked himself sideways. The more my aunt looked at him,
+the more he reproached her; for, she had lately taken to spectacles, and
+for some inscrutable reason he considered the glasses personal.
+
+Dora made him lie down by her, with a good deal of persuasion; and when
+he was quiet, drew one of his long ears through and through her hand,
+repeating thoughtfully, "Even little Jip! Oh, poor fellow!"
+
+"His lungs are good enough," said my aunt gaily, "and his dislikes are
+not at all feeble. He has a good many years before him, no doubt. But if
+you want a dog to race with, Little Blossom, he has lived too well for
+that, and I'll give you one."
+
+"Thank you, aunt," said Dora, faintly. "But don't, please!"
+
+"No?" said my aunt, taking off her spectacles.
+
+"I couldn't have any other dog but Jip," said Dora. "It would be so
+unkind to Jip! Besides, I couldn't be such friends with any other dog
+but Jip; because he wouldn't have known me before I was married, and
+wouldn't have barked at Doady when he first came to our house. I
+couldn't care for any other dog but Jip, I am afraid, aunt."
+
+"To be sure!" said my aunt, patting her cheek again. "You are right."
+
+"You are not offended," said Dora. "Are you?"
+
+"Why, what a sensitive pet it is!" cried my aunt, bending over her
+affectionately. "To think that I could be offended!"
+
+"No, no, I didn't really think so," returned Dora; "but I am a little
+tired, and it made me silly for a moment--I am always a silly little
+thing, you know; but it made me more silly--to talk about Jip. He has
+known me in all that has happened to me, haven't you, Jip? And I
+couldn't bear to slight him, because he was a little altered--could I,
+Jip?"
+
+Jip nestled closer to his mistress, and lazily licked her hand.
+
+"You are not so old, Jip, are you, that you'll leave your mistress yet,"
+said Dora. "We may keep one another company a little longer!"
+
+My pretty Dora! When she came down to dinner on
+
+
+PARTICULARS
+
+All these five editions are from the same plates, which are the newest
+plates of Dickens; and the printing is good.
+
+Page 2 of this sheet is a specimen illustration--there are one hundred
+and eighty from Cruikshank, Brown (Phiz), Barnard, Stone, Fildes and
+Mahoney.
+
+Page 3 is a specimen type-page.
+
+The paper this is printed on is the paper of the $6 edition. The other
+editions are of superior paper and wider margins.
+
+All the bindings are unusually plain, even that of the $6 edition. We
+wonder that publishers persist in flashy bindings.
+
+A sample volume (our choice of title) of any edition in cloth will be
+sent for (A) 40 cents, by mail 58 cents; (B) 75 cents, by mail 93 cents;
+(D) 50 cents, by mail 62 cents. Sets, of course, go cheaper by express.
+
+The Books are arranged as follows:
+
+     _Vol. I--American Notes, Pictures from Italy, The Mystery of Edwin
+     Drood, Master Humphrey's Clock, Hunted Down, Holiday Romance and
+     George Silverman's Explanation--972 pages._
+
+     _Vol. II--Barnaby Rudge, and Hard Times--978 pages._
+
+     _Vol. III--Bleak House--950 pages._
+
+     _Vol. IV--Christmas Stories and Great Expectations--892 pages._
+
+     _Vol. V--Christmas Books and An Uncommercial Traveller--968 pages._
+
+     _Vol. VI--David Copperfield--946 pages._
+
+     _Vol. VII--Dombey & Son--956 pages._
+
+     _Vol. VIII--Little Dorrit--922 pages._
+
+     _Vol. IX--Martin Chuzzlewit--926 pages._
+
+     _Vol. X--Nicholas Nickleby--908 pages._
+
+     _Vol. XI--Old Curiosity Shop, and Reprinted Pieces--900 pages._
+
+     _Vol. XII--Oliver Twist, and A Child's History of England--874
+     pages._
+
+     _Vol. XIII--Our Mutual Friend--916 pages._
+
+     _Vol. XIV--Pickwick Papers--878 pages._
+
+     _Vol. XV--Sketches by "Boz," and A Tale of Two Cities--916 pages._
+
+In the thirty-volume editions each of the above volumes is made into
+two.
+
+
+
+
+THE HEART OF A WOMAN
+
+MY MARRIAGE
+
+A DOMESTIC NOVEL
+
+
+  =One Volume, 12mo, paper cover,                      25 Cents.=
+  =Bound in extra cloth, full gilt side and back,      50 Cents.=
+
+
+_EXTRACTS OF PRESS NOTICES._
+
+"There is a fascination in the pages of this book that, once opened and
+begun, will not permit it to be laid aside till the last page is
+finished, and the reading of it pays for the time, too."--_Cincinnati
+Times._
+
+"It is the story of a woman's heart. The woman herself is neither better
+nor worse than a thousand others, but every true heart is precious and
+worth saving."
+
+"It is a story of love after marriage; the story of a woman who has
+married without love, whose husband has married her with full knowledge
+of that fact, but with the conviction that the needed love will come to
+the heart of the wife in due time. How it came is what the story is
+written to tell. It is told in the first person by the wife, and told
+very pleasantly. The novel is an agreeable one to read, full of
+sweetness and delicacy, picturesque and graceful in style, and winning
+in its tone."--_N. Y. Evening Post._
+
+"'My Marriage' is a domestic novel, issued anonymously, but the author,
+whoever he or she may be, shows a deep knowledge of life that is more
+than theory, and a fine gift of story telling."
+
+
+_The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United
+States or Canada, on receipt of the price._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  =THE
+  P. & M. 12mos.=
+
+
+The best and most attractively bound series of popular works in every
+branch of literature; always commanding a better price for retail sales
+than any competing editions in existence, owing to their superior
+excellence. Bound in extra cloth, full gilt side and back, with
+ornamental ink stamping.
+
+=Price per volume, only Fifty cents.=
+
+
+  =  1. Allan Quatermain.= Haggard. =2. King Solomon's Mines.= Haggard.
+  =  3. She:= A Mystery. Haggard. =4. East Lynne.= By Mrs. Henry Wood.
+  =  5. A Modern Circe.= By the "Duchess." =6. Robinson Crusoe.= D. De
+      Foe.
+  =  7. Pilgrim's Progress.= Bunyan. =8. Lays of Ancient Rome.=
+      Macaulay.
+  =  9. Paul and Virginia.= By St. Pierre.
+  = 10. Lay of the Last Minstrel, Marmion, and Lady of the Lake.=
+  = 11. History of Charles XII.= Voltaire. =12. Life of Nelson.=
+      Southey.
+  = 13. Classic Tales.= Maria Edgeworth. =14. Vicar of Wakefield.=
+      Goldsmith.
+  = 15. The Usurper.= Judith Gautier. =16. Dr. Jacob.= M. B. Edwards.
+  = 17. Realities of Irish Life.= W. S. Trench. =18. My Marriage.=
+  = 19. Love's Madness.= Mathilde Blind. =20. The Rose Garden.= Miss
+      Peard.
+  = 21. Unawares.= Miss Peard. =22. The Squire's Daughter.= Miss Peard.
+  = 23. The Crime of Chance.= Miss Peard. =24. Trench's Wives.=
+  = 25. Dickens' Child's History of England.=
+  = 26. Irving's Sketch-Book.= =27. Christmas Tales.= Dickens.
+  = 28. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.= By Jules Verne.
+  = 29. The Fur Country.= Verne. =30. Five Weeks in a Balloon.= Verne.
+  = 31. The Mysterious Island.= By Jules Verne.
+  = 32. Tour of the World in 80 Days.= By Jules Verne.
+  = 33. Great Expectations.= Dickens. =34. Oliver Twist.= Dickens.
+  = 35. The Scottish Chiefs.= Porter. =36. Thaddeus of Warsaw.= Porter.
+  = 37. Children of the Abbey.= By R. M. Roche.
+  = 38. The Uncommercial Traveller.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 39. Arabian Nights' Entertainments.= =40. Jane Eyre.= Bronte.
+  = 41. Old Curiosity Shop.= Dickens. =42. Ivanhoe.= Sir Walter Scott.
+  = 43. Christmas Stories.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 44. Last of the Mohicans.= By J. Fenimore Cooper.
+  = 45. John Halifax, Gentleman.= By Miss Mulock.
+  = 46. Uarda.= By George Ebers.
+  = 47. A Tale of Two Cities.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 48. Romola.= By George Eliot.
+  = 49. Christmas Books.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 50. AEsop's Fables.=
+  = 51. Russian Fairy Tales.=
+  = 52. Hauff's Fairy Tales.= Translated by E. L. Stowell. Illustrated.
+  = 53. Grimm's Popular Tales.=
+  = 54. The Red Camelia=; or, The Chevalier Casse-Cou. By Fortune
+      Du Boisgobey.
+  = 55. The Search for Ancestors.= By Fortune Du Boisgobey.
+  = 56. Barnaby Rudge.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 57. Edwin Drood.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 58. Andersen's Fairy Tales.=
+  = 59. Gulliver's Travels.=
+  = 60. The Swiss Family Robinson.=
+  = 61. Last Days of Pompeii.=
+  = 62. Picciola and Undine.=
+  = 63. Rasselas.= By Dr. Johnson.
+  = 64. A Terrible Temptation.= By Charles Reade.
+  = 65. Sketches by Boz.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 66. As in a Looking-Glass.= (It is upon this novel Mrs. Langtry's
+      play is based.)
+  = 67. The Book of Praise.= Selected and Arranged by Roundell Palmer.
+  = 68. American and Italian Notes.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 69. Old Christmas.= By Washington Irving.
+  = 70. Lafitte=; or, The Pirate of the Gulf. By Prof. J. H. Ingraham.
+  = 71. Theodore, Child of the Sea=; Adopted Son of Lafitte. By J. H.
+      Ingraham.
+  = 72. George Barnwell.= A Novel. By T. S. Surr.
+  = 73. Hard Times.= By Charles Dickens.
+  = 74. Christine=; or, Woman's Trials and Triumphs. By Laura J. Curtis.
+  = 75. Camille=; or, The Fate of a Coquette. By Alexandre Dumas.
+  = 76. Our Cousin Veronica.= By Miss M. E. Wormeley.
+  = 77. The Tenant House=; or, Embers from Poverty's Hearthstone.
+  = 78. Masaniello=; or, The Fisherman's League. By Alexandre Dumas.
+  = 79. Hot Corn=; or, Street Scenes of New York City Life. By Solon
+      Robinson.
+  = 80. Wacousta=; or, The Prophecy. By Maj. Richardson.
+  = 81. Matilda Montgomerie=; or, The Prophecy Fulfilled. By Maj.
+      Richardson.
+  = 82. Tom Brown's School-Days.= By Thomas Hughes.
+  = 83. Ecarte=; or, The Salons of Paris. By Maj. Richardson.
+  = 84. Canonbury House=; or, The Queen's Prophecy. By G. W. M.
+      Reynolds.
+  = 85. Ada Arundel=; or, The Secret Corridor. By G. W. M. Reynolds.
+  = 86. Olivia=; or, The Maid of Honor. By G. W. M. Reynolds.
+  = 87. Hardscrabble=; or, The Fall of Chicago. By Major Richardson.
+  = 88. The Miser's Will=; or, The Doom of the Poisoner. By G. W. M.
+      Reynolds.
+  = 89. The Beggar of Nimes.= A Novel of exciting interest. By Alex.
+      Dumas.
+  = 90. The Creole Wife=; or, Secret Register of the Prefect of Police.
+      By Dumas.
+  = 91. The Marchioness=; or, A Marriage by Will. By Octave Feuillet.
+  = 92. Edith Dayton.= A Novel. By J. Gordon Bartlett.
+  = 93. Scenes from the Note-Book of a New York Surgeon.=
+  = 94. Out of the Streets.= A Story of New York City Life. By Charles
+      Gayler.
+  = 95. Thackeray's Ballads and Poems.= Illustrated.
+  = 96. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.= By R. L.
+      Stevenson.
+  = 97. Rivingston=; or, The Young Hussar. By Prof. J. H. Ingraham.
+  = 98. Captain Kyd=; or, The Wizard of the Seas. By Prof. J. H.
+      Ingraham.
+  = 99. Kate Penrose=; or, Life and its Lessons. By Mrs. Hubbeck.
+  =100. Jessie Cameron.= A Highland Story. By Lady Rachel Butler.
+  =101. Rebels and Tories=; or, The Blood of the Mohawk. By J. F.
+      Cooper.
+  =102. The Count's Niece=; or, The Veteran of Marengo. By Paul Preston.
+
+On receipt of the advertised price, =fifty cents per volume=, will send
+by mail, postage prepaid, _to any address in the United States_, any of
+the =books= enumerated in the above list. Remittances can be made in
+two-cent postage-stamps or postal money order.
+
+
+
+
+The Echo Series.
+
+A Weekly Library of Standard Fiction.
+
+
+Books marked * are subject to a special discount.
+
+
+  =No. 1 Allan Quatermain.= By H. Rider Haggard               =.25=
+  = "  2 King Solomon's Mines.= By H. Rider Haggard           =.25=
+  = "  3 My Marriage.= '_THE HEART OF A WOMAN._' A Domestic
+          Novel                                               =.25=
+  = "  4 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.= By R.
+          L. Stevenson                                        =.15=
+  = "  5 She: A History of Adventure.= By H. Rider Haggard    =.25=
+  = "  6 A Modern Circe.= By the "Duchess"                    =.25=
+  = "  7 The Red Camellia.= By Fortune du Boisgobey           =.25=
+  = "  8 As in a Looking-Glass.= By F. C. Philips             =.25=
+  = "  9 The Marchioness; or, A Marriage by Will.= By Octave
+          Feuillet, author of "The Romance of a Poor
+          Young Man"                                          =.25=
+  = " 10 The Search for Ancestors.= By Fortune du Boisgobey   =.25=
+  = " 11 Dr. Jacob.= A Novel. By M. Betham Edwards            =.25=
+  = " 12 Realities of Irish Life.= By W. Steuart Trench       =.25=
+  = " 13 The Crime of Chance.= By Frances M. Peard            =.25=
+  = " 14 Trench's Wives; or, The Carrington Mystery=          =.25=
+  = " 15 The Rose Garden.= A Love Story. By Frances M. Peard  =.25=
+  = " 16 The Usurper.= By Judith Gautier                      =.25=
+  = " 17 Love's Madness; or, The Tarantula's Sting.= A Romance
+          of Baffled Plot and Wasted Passion. By Mathilde
+          Blind.                                              =.25=
+  = " 18 Unawares; or, The Notary's Plot.= By Frances M.
+          Peard                                               =.25=
+  = " 19 The Squire's Daughter; or, The Mystery of Thorpe
+          Regis=                                              =.25=
+  = " 20 Camille; or, The Lady with the Camellias.= By Dumas  =.25=
+  = " 21 Lafitte; or, The Pirate of the Gulf.= By Prof. J. H.
+          Ingraham                                            =.25=
+  = " 22 Christine; or, Woman's Trials and Triumphs.=
+          By Laura J. Curtis                                  =.25=
+  = " 23 Out of the Streets.= A Powerful Story of New York
+           City Life. By Charles Gayler                       =.25=
+  = " 24 Christmas Tales.= By Charles Dickens                 =.25=
+  = " 25 George Barnwell.= By T. S. Surr                      =.25=
+  = " 26 The Tenant House; or, Embers from Poverty's
+          Hearth-Stone=                                       =.25=
+  = " 27 Wacousta; or, The Prophecy.= By Richardson           =.25=
+  = " 28 Matilda Montgomerie; or, The Prophecy Fulfilled.=
+          By Richardson                                       =.25=
+  = " 29 Our Cousin Veronica; or, Scenes and Adventures
+          over the Blue Ridge=                                =.25=
+  = " 30 Masaniello; or, The Fisherman's League.=
+          By Alexandre Dumas                                   =.25=
+  = " 31 Ecarte; or, The Salons of Paris.= By Major
+          Richardson =.25=
+  = " 32 Oliver Twist.= By Charles Dickens                    =.25=
+  = " 33 Canonbury House; or, The Queen's Prophecy.= By
+          Reynolds                                            =.25=
+  = " 34 Ada Arundel; or, The Secret Corridor.= By Reynolds   =.25=
+  = " 35 Olivia; or, The Maid of Honor.= By G. W. M.
+          Reynolds                                            =.25=
+  = " 36 The Beggar of Nimes.= By Alexandre Dumas             =.25=
+  = " 37 John Barlow's Ward.= A powerful novel of Society.    =.25=
+  = " 38 Captain Kyd; or, The Wizard of the Seas.= By Prof.
+          J. H. Ingraham                                      =.25=
+  = " 39 * The Man Outside.= By Professor Clarence M.
+          Boutelle. Illus.                                    =.50=
+  = " 40 * Mrs. Sparks of Paris; or, The Crime at
+          Vintimiglia.= A Realistic Novel. By A.
+          Curtis Bond                                         =.30=
+  = " 41 * Reveries of an Old Maid.= Including her Hints to
+          Young Men
+          Intending to Marry. "A perfect Cyclone of Fun."
+          40th edition. Illustrated                           =.30=
+  = " 42 Hardscrabble; or, The Fate of Chicago.= A Tale of
+          Indian Warfare. By Major Richardson                 =.25=
+  = " 43 Edith Dayton.= A Novel by J. Gordon Bartlett         =.25=
+  = " 44 The Dingy House at Kensington.= An Exciting Novel
+          of English Life. By Lady Helen Cameron              =.25=
+  = " 45 The Miser's Will; or, The Doom of the Poisoner.=
+          By Geo. W. M. Reynolds                              =.25=
+  = " 46 Mary Glentworth; or, The Forbidden Marriage.=
+          By Geo. W. M. Reynolds                              =.25=
+  = " 47 Jessie Cameron.= A Highland Story of Love and
+          Adventure. By Lady Rachel Butler                    =.25=
+  = " 48 Rory O'More.= A National Romance. By Samuel Lover    =.25=
+  = " 49 Paul Ferroll.= A Novel with a Mystery.               =.25=
+  = " 50 Geoffrey Trethick; or, The Vicar's People.= A Tale
+          of the Cornish Mines. By George Manville Fenn       =.25=
+  = " 51 Kate Penrose; or, Life and its Lessons.= By Mrs.
+          Hubback                                             =.25=
+  = " 52 Hot Corn: Life Scenes in New York.= By Solon
+          Robinson                                            =.25=
+  = " 53 Clare's Fantasy; or, A Cry in the Night.= A Novel by
+          Mary Cruger                                         =.25=
+  = " 54 Joaquin= (the Claude Duval of California); =or,
+          The Marauder of the Mines.=                         =.25=
+  = " 55 * Mr. Meeson's Will.= By H. Rider Haggard.
+          Twenty-four full-page illustrations.                =.25=
+
+=POLLARD & MOSS, Publishers, 42 Park Place, New York.=
+
+
+
+
+THE CRIME OF CHANCE.
+
+  BY
+  Miss Frances M. Peard,
+
+Author of "The Rose Garden," "Unawares, or the Notary's Plot," "The
+Squire's Daughter, or the Mystery of Thorpe Regis," etc.
+
+  =One Volume, 12mo, paper cover,=                  =25 Cents.=
+  =Bound in extra cloth, full gilt side and back,=  =50 Cents.=
+
+
+_EXTRACTS FROM PRESS NOTICES._
+
+"The book is finely written, and exceptionally high in tone, and shows
+in the character of Rachel a keen sense of humor, which reminds the
+reader of some of George Eliot's earliest works."
+
+"It is a story of sadness, love, and ultimate joy, and a thoroughly good
+one in its teaching, having the charm of novelty, freshness, and
+interest, that few novelists can impart. The 'Crime of Chance' belongs
+to the higher type. In some respects it presents not a bad imitation of
+the style and fidelity to nature of George Eliot."
+
+"The characters are firmly, admirably drawn, and the story is one which
+must easily appeal to the sympathies of all readers of finer
+sensibilities. The two children, the hero, Rachel and Hestor, are
+painted with a brush handled with excellent judgment and
+skill."--_Traveller._
+
+"The 'Crime of Chance' is one of those quiet stories of English country
+life that imperceptibly win upon the reader's regard, and finally leaves
+him thoroughly fascinated. It opens with a description of an old farm
+and its quaint inhabitants, and the impression they make on a little
+city boy who, having lost his parents, comes there to live with his
+uncle, Mr. Philip Oldfield. Philip Oldfield's sad history is the chief
+subject of the book. The remorse that weighs him down, his unhappy love
+and seemingly blighted life, are all brought gradually before the
+reader, in the most natural and unsensational manner, deeply moving his
+sympathies and interest. Some charming bits of nature are sketched in,
+rendering the work altogether a most readable and desirable one."
+
+"The story is English, and has some account of poachers and gypsies, and
+uses a little waif from their resorts as an instrument in Philip's
+recovery. His character is studied psychologically in the vein and force
+Hawthorne showed in the 'Scarlet Letter,' and his posthumous novel. The
+description of life and scenery is pleasing, there is no straining after
+effect, and the tale has the merit of strong and absorbing interest in
+its perusal, and deserves nothing but the highest praise."
+
+
+_The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United
+States or Canada, on receipt of the price._
+
+
+
+
+REALITIES OF IRISH LIFE.
+
+BY W. STEUART TRENCH.
+
+
+  =One Volume, 12mo, paper cover,                       25 Cents.=
+  =Bound in extra cloth, full gilt side and back,       50 Cents.=
+
+
+_EXTRACTS FROM PRESS NOTICES._
+
+"These sketches of Irish life have attracted much attention and elicited
+the highest praise for their fidelity to nature, and the simplicity,
+pathos, and power by which they are marked. No recent work has appeared
+which so vividly presents the condition of Ireland, suffering under sore
+political and social grievances, and distracted by contending factions.
+The author has spent his life in intimate acquaintance with the Irish
+heart as it beats in the cabins of the poor, and while the stories he
+tells of Irish life illustrate sometimes that truth is stranger than
+fiction, the reader will find in them a spell of interest which fiction
+rarely possesses. We have not in a long time read aught that is more apt
+to moisten the eyes than the chapter devoted to the simple story of
+'Mary Shea.'"--_Buffalo Courier._
+
+"Many of the incidents herein narrated have already been published in
+one form or another, but never have they been more effectively related
+than here--the history of the Ribbon Code and some of the results of its
+system, the outrages perpetrated upon the landlords or their agents, are
+dramatically told, and while the faults of the Irish disposition are not
+concealed, their virtues are equally revealed, and show the genuine
+Irish heart, which is capable of so much that is noble. The book reads
+like a novel, full of exciting events and truthful characterization, and
+cannot fail to be read with interest by those to whom the question of
+the land tenure in Ireland has come to be regarded as one of the most
+serious which engages public attention."
+
+"It is so written that the painful element of Irish life is not
+protruded, while there is no glossing of facts or extravagance of
+national pride. 'Manly' is the title that best describes its spirit,
+while its literary power, expressed without effort or consciousness,
+surpasses much of the work of thoroughly-trained skill. It would be well
+for Ireland if it had many more within its borders like Mr. Trench, for
+in that case it would avoid the neglect and selfishness that cause
+distress on the one hand, and the factious and unreasoning bitterness
+that result from it on the other."
+
+"A strongly dramatic series of pictures, the scope of which is apparent
+in its title, being founded upon actual observation, and sure to hold
+the reader's rapt attention."
+
+
+_The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United
+States or Canada, on receipt of the price._
+
+
+
+
+HAGGARD'S NEW BOOK.
+
+THE ONLY ILLUSTRATED EDITION.
+
+Mr. Meeson's Will.
+
+by
+
+[Illustration: H Rider Haggard]
+
+  WITH TWENTY-FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS,
+  _Drawn Expressly for this Edition_,
+
+By Philip G. Cusachs.
+
+ONE VOLUME, 12mo, PAPER COVERS, 25 Cents.
+
+[Illustration: "My word, Miss, but you have a beautiful pair of
+shoulders! I never had such a bit of material to work on afore. Hang me
+if it ain't almost a pity to mark 'em!"]
+
+COPYRIGHTED, 1888, BY POLLARD & MOSS.
+
+The only Profusely Illustrated Edition of this Work in the Market.
+
+SEND IN YOUR ORDERS AT ONCE, AND IN ORDERING NOTE THE EDITION No. 55,
+ECHO SERIES.
+
+  Address    POLLARD & MOSS, Publishers,
+        42 Park Place and 37 Barclay Street, New York.
+
+
+
+
+THE CELEBRATED
+
+SOHMER
+
+GRAND, SQUARE, AND UPRIGHT
+
+[Illustration]
+
+PIANOS
+
+  ARE AT PRESENT THE MOST POPULAR
+  AND PREFERRED BY THE LEADING ARTISTS.
+
+The SOHMER Pianos are used in the following Institutions:
+
+  Convent of the Sacred Heart, Manhattanville, N. Y.
+  Vogt's Conservatory of Music.
+  Arnold's Conservatory of Music, Brooklyn.
+  Philadelphia Conservatory of Music.
+  Villa de Sales Convent, Long Island.
+  N. Y. Normal Conservatory of Music.
+  Villa Maria Convent, Montreal.
+  Vassar College, Poughkeepsie.
+  And most all of the leading first-class theatres in New York
+  and Brooklyn.
+
+THE WONDERFUL BIJOU GRAND
+
+(lately patented) by =SOHMER= & CO., the Smallest Grand ever
+manufactured (length only 5 feet), has created a sensation, among
+musicians and artists. The music-loving public will find it in their
+interest to call at the warerooms of =SOHMER= & CO. and examine the
+various Styles of Grand, Upright, and Square Pianos. The original and
+beautiful designs and improvements in Grand and Upright Pianos deserve
+special attention.
+
+_Received First Prize Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876._
+
+_Received First Prize at Exhibition, Montreal, Canada, 1881 and 1882._
+
+  =SOHMER & CO.=,
+  MANUFACTURERS OF GRAND, SQUARE, AND UPRIGHT PIANO-FORTES
+  WAREROOMS: 149, 151, 153, 155 EAST 14th ST., N.Y.
+
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Throughout this work many end-of-line hyphens, either omitted in
+printing or no longer visible, were assumed to be present and the
+corresponding word-halves rejoined, without further note.
+
+Many punctuation marks that were mistyped in printing or unreadable
+have been changed, without further note.
+
+Aide-de-camp and Aid-de-camp both used by the author, as are
+Amherstburgh and Amherstburg, along with Girty and Girtie.
+
+It's and its used interchangeably by author; this usage retained.
+
+Several compound and hyphenated words appear in varying form, for
+example "artillery men" and "artillerymen"; "bear skin" and
+"bear-skin"; "mid-day" and "midday"; etc. Usage retained.
+
+Spelling, including possible typographical errors, has been retained
+as it appears in the original publication except as follows:
+
+  Page 009: Typo "lappel" changed to "lapel" (button of the lapel)
+  Page 011: Typo "oppposite" changed to "opposite" (from the
+    opposite extremity)
+  Page 014: Typo "Graham" changed to "Grantham" (question,
+    Mr. Grantham)
+  Page 015: Typo "Molinex" changed to "Molineux" (Molineux, had
+    so pained)
+  Page 015: Duplicate "in" removed (as in the former)
+  Page 016: Typo "ln" changed to "in" (confidence in his young)
+  Page 018: Typo "aparent" changed to "apparent" (apparent a
+    single shot)
+  Page 021: Extra space in "young ladyyour niece" removed. Space may
+    have indicated omitted comma
+  Page 030: Typo "narrration" changed to "narration" (narration
+    of the anecdote)
+  Page 049: Punctuation after "coolly observed Grantham" unclear in
+    the text
+  Page 052: Typo "padler" changed to "paddler" (paddler, and
+    prostrated)
+  Page 053: Typo "he" changed to "the" (fortunate for the former)
+  Page 056: Typo "unproarious" changed to "uproarious" (because
+    his least uproarious, mood)
+  Page 056: Typo "inbibed" changed to "imbibed" (imbibed enough of
+    his favorite)
+  Page 063: Usage of punctuation by author intentionally retained
+    (asked Captain Molineux?)
+  Page 064: Typo "coroborate" changed to "corroborate" (Villiers can
+    corroborate)
+  Page 074: Typo "Desboroug" changed to "Desborough" (Desborough, I
+    continued)
+  Page 075: Typo "no" changed to "do" (displeasure, "I do not)
+  Page 076: Typo "momentry" changed to "momentary"(however momentary--a)
+  Page 083: Typo "neice" changed to "niece" (his niece, the parties in)
+  Page 084: Typo "were" changed to "where" (where the General still)
+  Page 093: Typo "disposess" changed to "dispossess" (may dispossess of
+    homage,)
+  Page 094: Typo "anticipiatory" changed to "anticipatory" (so
+    anticipatory of coming)
+  Page 094: Typo "shrapnell" changed to "shrapnel" (with shrapnel and
+    grape.)
+  Page 098: Typo "idependently" changed to "independently" (mistaken,
+    for, independently, of)
+  Page 099: Typo "aparently" changed to "apparently" (apparently much
+    greater)
+  Page 100: Typo "mattrass" changed to "mattress" (mattress, lay the
+    form)
+  Page 105: Usage of punctuation by author intentionally retained (in
+    the same breath?)
+  Page 106: Typo "teminated" changed to "terminated" (where the river
+    terminated)
+  Page 106: Typo "depatched" changed to "despatched" (prisoners been
+    despatched)
+  Page 112: Typo "preceeded" changed to "proceeded" (proceeded, while
+    her breathing)
+  Page 112: Typo "inacessibility" changed to "inaccessibility" (wonted
+    inaccessibility to impressions)
+  Page 112: Typo "rediculous" changed to "ridiculous" (guilty of a
+    ridiculous)
+  Page 117: Typo "day" changed to "days" (A few days)
+  Page 122: Typo "add" changed to "and" (from thence, and he)
+  Page 123: Typo "litttle" changed to "little" (the little dependence)
+  Page 123: Typo "asumed" changed to "assumed" (her voice assumed)
+  Page 125: Typo "piqant" changed to "piquant" (piquant a seduction)
+  Page 125: Typo "contibuted" changed to "contributed" (water--all
+    contributed)
+  Page 128: Typo "Manwhile" changed to "Meanwhile" (Meanwhile, although
+    nothing)
+  Page 130: Typo "grangway" changed to "gangway" (gangway, from which,
+    however)
+  Page 132: Typo "eaaliest" changed to "earliest" (One of the earliest)
+  Page 136: Typo "Desborrough" changed to "Desborough" (for Desborough
+    to avow)
+  Page 143: Typo "posess" corrected to "possess" (property I possess)
+  Page 144: Typo "ascessory" changed to "accessory" (some degree
+    accessory)
+  Page 157: Typo "onrselves" changed to "ourselves" (solemnly pledged
+    ourselves)
+  Page 158: Typo "she" changed to "he" ("Henry," he said)
+  Page 164: Typo "wit" changed to "with" (fast quitting, with)
+  Page 164: Typo "oject" changed to "object" (siege. The object)
+  Page 164: Typo "situate" changed to "situated" (the Americans
+    situated)
+  Page 166: Typo "morover" changed to "moreover" (He had moreover)
+  Page 167: Typo "prsceed" changed to "proceed" (the latter to proceed)
+  Page 168: Typo "alloted" changed to "allotted" (to the task allotted)
+  Page 171: Omitted word "a" changed to "was a man"
+  Page 172: Typo "dis" changed to "his" (Gentlemen," addressing his)
+  Page 173: Typo "Kildeer" changed to "Killdeer" (Killdeer I confess)
+  Page 174: Typo "since" changed to "Since" (Gerald said, "Since)
+  Page 174: Typo "your" changed to "you" (to know, but you)
+  Page 177: Duplicate "what" removed (snivelling, as "what)
+  Page 178: Typo "accelarated" changed to "accelerated" (vain, as to any
+    accelerated)
+  Page 179: Typo "prssive" changed to "passive" (passive assent to the)
+  Page 181: Typo "posssible" changed to "possible" (possible to
+    himself,)
+  Page 184: Typo "deperate" changed to "desperate" (desperate
+    grudge--the)
+  Page 185: Typo "grapling" changed to "grappling" (his enemy grappling)
+  Page 186: Typo "resistence" changed to "resistance" (the power of
+    resistance)
+  Page 186: Typo "trottled" changed to "throttled" (throttled, maddened
+    with pain)
+  Page 186: Typo "uncontrolable" changed to "uncontrollable"
+    (uncontrollable, until his anxiety)
+  Page 186: Typo "assassssin" changed to "assassin" (assassin-like
+    in the)
+  Page 187: Typo "beqind" changed to "behind" (behind his back,)
+  Page 192: Typo "indistnct" changed to "indistinct" (indistinct
+    outline, which)
+  Page 192: Typo "exhibted" changed to "exhibited" (who thus exhibited)
+  Page 193: Typo "Gereld" changed to "Gerald" (noise made by Gerald)
+  Page 194: Typo "aentence" changed to "sentence" (uttered the last
+    sentence)
+  Page 197: Typo "fierceet" changed to "fiercest" (arm you with the
+    fiercest)
+  Page 201: Duplicate word "an" removed (an hour too advanced)
+  Page 203: Typo "admited" changed to "admitted" (admitted as an excuse)
+  Page 204: Typo "coo" changed to "cool" (myself to a cool)
+  Page 208: Typo "faught" changed to "fought" (fought with determined
+    bravery,)
+  Page 218: Typo "acuse" changed to "accuse" (to accuse the woman)
+  Page 219: Typo "Tenessee" changed to "Tennessee"; although
+    "Tenessee" is an historical spelling variation, author uses modern
+    spelling in all other instances. (Tennessee man, bred and born,)
+  Page 220: Typo "prefering" changed to "preferring" (this comes of
+    preferring)
+  Page 220: Typo "Fankfort" changed to "Frankfort" (Frankfort--before
+    sunrise!")
+  Page 220: Typo "fight" changed to "flight" (very fact of my flight)
+  Page 221: Typo "massage" changed to "message" (with this parting
+    message,)
+  Page 222: Typo "Queenstown" changed to "Queenston" (stationed at
+    Queenston)
+  Page 224: Typo "Bt" changed to "But" (But oh, Henry!)
+  Page 226: Typo "efferts" changed to "efforts" (by his previous
+    efforts)
+  Page 227: Address at bottom of "47 4th Avenue changed to
+    "74 4th Avenue"; this matches usage in a previous paragraph,
+    and 19th century news articles.
+  Page 235: Typo "Fortune" changed to "Fortune" (Fortune Du Boisgobey)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Matilda Montgomerie, by Major (John) Richardson
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MATILDA MONTGOMERIE ***
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