diff options
Diffstat (limited to '43364-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 43364-0.txt | 10033 |
1 files changed, 10033 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/43364-0.txt b/43364-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6aa7b28 --- /dev/null +++ b/43364-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10033 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43364 *** + +[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this +text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant +spellings and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to +correct an obvious error is noted at the end of this ebook.] + + + + + How Canada was Won + + A Tale of Wolfe and Quebec + + BY + CAPTAIN F. S. BRERETON + + Author of "With Wolseley to Kumasi" "Jones of the 64th" + "With Roberts to Candahar" "A Soldier of Japan" + "Roger the Bold" &c. &c. + + _ILLUSTRATED BY WILLIAM RAINEY, R.I._ + + LONDON: BLACKIE & SON, LIMITED + THE COPP CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED + TORONTO + + +[Illustration: STEVE AND MAC CAPTURING THE FRENCH GUNS] + + + _Copyright, 1908, in the United States, America, + by H. M. Caldwell Co._ + + _Published simultaneously in Great Britain and + the United States._ + + + + +Contents + + + CHAP. Page + + I. THE CAMP ON THE RIVER 9 + + II. FRENCH OUTLAWS AND ROBBERS 25 + + III. FLIGHT BY NIGHT 43 + + IV. STEVE MAKES A SUGGESTION 61 + + V. JULES LAPON IS DISAPPOINTED 79 + + VI. LEFT IN CHARGE 97 + + VII. THE ALLEGHANY RAIDERS 115 + + VIII. A QUESTION OF TERRITORY 133 + + IX. GEORGE WASHINGTON SPEAKS 152 + + X. STEVE AND HIS BAND OF SCOUTS 174 + + XI. HELD UP! 194 + + XII. GENEROSITY TO THE FOE 215 + + XIII. A TRAITOR IN THE CAMP 238 + + XIV. STEVE MEETS AN OLD ENEMY 254 + + XV. OFF TO QUEBEC 275 + + XVI. THE RETURN OF THE HURONS 296 + + XVII. DOWN THE MIGHTY ST. LAWRENCE 315 + + XVIII. THE ATTACK ON LOUISBOURG 334 + + XIX. WOLFE MAKES HIS LAST ATTEMPT 359 + + XX. THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM 379 + + + + +Illustrations + + + Page + + STEVE AND MAC CAPTURING THE FRENCH GUNS _Frontispiece_ 220 + + "THE INDIAN WAS UPON HIM, HIS KEEN TOMAHAWK GLEAMING + IN HIS HAND" 36 + + "'COME NEARER THAT I MAY KILL YOU EASILY,' HE SAID" 65 + + "STEVE RESTED HIS BARREL IN THE FORK OF A DWARFED + TREE" 125 + + STEVE AND MAC DISCOVER THE WOUNDED FRENCH OFFICER 235 + + "WHEN HE CAME TO HIMSELF AGAIN, HE WAS BEING + CARRIED ON THE SHOULDERS OF FOUR INDIANS" 253 + + "WE SEEK A PALE FACE WHO HAS BROKEN AWAY FROM + THE CITY" 312 + + "IN ANOTHER SECOND HE HAD BAYONETTED THE FRENCHMAN" 349 + + + MAP OF CANADA AND OUR AMERICAN COLONY IN 1755 137 + + MAP OF THE TRIANGULAR ROUTE BETWEEN CANADA AND + OUR AMERICAN COLONY, 1755 335 + + MAP OF QUEBEC IN 1759 365 + + + + +Chapter I + +The Camp on the River + + +"Waal? What did yer see? Clear, I reckon." + +Jim Hardman looked up swiftly as a couple of tall figures came +silently into the clearing in the centre of which the camp fire +burned, and he paused for a moment in the task which occupied him. +He was squatting on his heels, after the fashion of the Indians and +of all backwoodsmen, and was engaged in cleaning the long barrel +of his musket, turning the weapon over with loving care, as if it +were a child to whom he was devoted. Indeed Jim had no more faithful +friend or servant. For this long musket had been his companion on +many and many a hunting and prospecting expedition during the past +twenty years. He scarcely ever laid it down, but carried it the day +long, usually ready in his hands, or when the times were peaceful and +quiet, slung across his slender shoulders. Jim could tell tales of +how this faithful weapon had brought down buffalo and deer and many +another animal, and had helped him to gather the stores of skins in +exchange for which he obtained those few luxuries which his simple +nature needed. In his more communicative moods he could narrate how +the bullets which he had moulded with the aid of a hot camp fire and +a supply of lead had been directed against men, against the fierce +Indian inhabitants of this Ohio valley, who for years past had waged a +ceaseless and pitiless warfare against all white invaders of their old +hunting grounds. + +Indeed, "Hunting" Jim, as he was styled and known by all the +backwoodsmen in those parts, had need to care for his weapon, for +without it he would be lost, and his life would be at the mercy of the +first redskin who crossed his path. + +"Waal?" he repeated, in his backwoods drawl, as he vigorously rubbed +at the shining barrel. "Reckon we're through 'em. There ain't a one in +sight. Ef there is, Steve and Silver Fox'll know all about 'em." + +He looked with approval at his weapon, and getting to his feet he +slung it across his shoulders. Then he stepped softly across to the +fire, and bending over it, pushed the long ramrod suspended over +the embers a little farther on to the forked sticks which held it. +A couple of pieces of bear meat were skewered upon the rod, and had +been frizzling there for the past quarter of an hour. Now, as they +were placed right over the heat they set up a low-voiced but merry +tune, while an appetizing odour assailed the nostrils of the two +who had come to the camp. One of these two was without doubt a Red +Indian, for he was decked elaborately after the custom of his race; +his face was freely daubed with paint, which gave him a hideous and +cruel appearance that a feathered head-dress served to increase. He +was a tall, broad-shouldered man, with long, sinewy arms and legs, and +gave one the impression that he was in perfect condition and trained +to stand the utmost hardship. He nodded to Jim, and took his place +in front of the fire, squatted on his heels, and stared silently at +the embers. A minute later he opened his lips and spoke in the Indian +tongue, his gaze still fixed on the fire. + +"My brothers can sleep and eat in peace and contentment," he said, +in tones which were dignified and not unmusical. "Silver Fox and the +pale-face youth whom you call Steve, but known to us as Hawk, for +his eyes are keen, keener even than are mine or my brother's,--have +been through the forest and have watched the river. Our enemies have +gone, vanished into the woods. We know this for certain, for we came +upon their track. They were journeying towards the head waters of the +river." + +It was a long speech for Silver Fox, and having delivered it, he +felt for the buckskin bag in which he carried his precious store of +tobacco, filled his pipe and set fire to the weed by taking one of the +burning sticks in his long, thin fingers and lifting it to the bowl. + +Meanwhile his companion, who had emerged with him from the thick +forest which surrounded the camp, advanced to the fire, sniffed +appreciatively, and glanced at the meat which frizzled over the +flames, in a manner which showed that the sight was a pleasant one. +Then he slipped his musket from his shoulders, and stood for a moment +to his full height, thoughtfully regarding Silver Fox and Hunting +Jim. He, too, was tall and lissom. From the top of his coon-skin cap +to the bottom of his soft moccasins he measured a good six feet. He +was dressed in a leather shirt elaborately fringed, as was the habit +with all hunters, while his legs were encased in fringed leather +leggings and in soft moccasins, all of which he had manufactured from +skins he himself had obtained. Stephen Mainwaring looked a typical +backwoodsman, and as the sun struck upon his well-developed figure, +upon his open face, all tanned with long exposure to the wind and the +weather, and upon his strong brown arms and hands, even his bitterest +enemy would have been forced to admit that he was a fine young fellow, +that there was as much strength in his face, in that square, resolute +chin, and in those steady, fearless-looking eyes as could well be +found, and that his whole appearance gave promise of honesty, a +sterling good nature, and a temper which was not to be easily ruffled. +Had there been any doubt on the last point Steve's joviality on this +fine summer's morning would soon have set the matter at rest. He might +only that moment have risen from his blanket, so fresh and gay was +he, and no one would have dreamed that he and Silver Fox had been +tramping the forest since night had fallen, scouting for an enemy +whom they and their comrades had good cause to fear. He sat down +suddenly, dragged off his soaked moccasins, and his coon-skin hat, +which glistened with the heavy dew that had fallen upon it, and placed +them close to the embers. Then he turned a jovial face to Jim. + +"Waal, I reckon you can smoke that ere pipe of yours with ease and +comfort, Jim," he sang out, imitating exactly the drawl of the +huntsman. "Reckon Silver Fox and I can eat jest all we're able to get +our fingers on, and can then put in a bit of sleep. There ain't no +Injuns this side of forty mile away." + +He laughed merrily as Jim looked severely at him, and taking the +ramrod in his hand, turned it so as to expose the farther side of the +meat to the heat. + +"All's clear," he went on suddenly, in his natural tones, speaking in +a manner which showed that though he looked a typical backwoodsman he +had had an education, and as regards his conversation, was fit to mix +with the gentry of New York, or those of Boston or Charlestown, or +even with those of London itself. + +"That's a lad for yer, Judge," said Jim, scowling playfully at Steve, +and then turning to one of the other figures standing or sitting about +the camp. "This Hawk gets born out in the settlements and gets took +straight away right into the backwoods. He larns to sit a scrawny pony +when he's no higher than a dozen piled-up dollars, and to shoot a gun +when he ain't got the strength to stand up to the jar one of these +muskets gives. Reckon I've seen him knocked endways with the kick many +and many a time." + +He looked for an answer, and waited while the broad-shouldered +backwoodsman whom he addressed sat up and stared thoughtfully back at +him and then at Steve, who squatted by the fire. "Judge" Mainwaring, +as he was usually styled, was a big-boned, burly man, bearded and as +rugged as the oaks which grew in the wood. His eyes were deep-set and +thoughtful, and he had the air of a man who reflects, who says little, +and that only after due consideration. Indeed Judge Mainwaring had a +reputation for wisdom in the backwoods. No man was more respected in +the neighbourhood of the Mohawk country, and there was no more skilful +hunter, no more courageous Indian tracker than this big man. He spoke +seldom, and then always to the point, and in a manner which proved +that he had at one time been very different from these rough, honest +fellows of the backwoods with whom he now spent his days. Jim and his +comrades had had a talk about Tom Mainwaring or the Judge, many and +many a time, and had even endeavoured to worm some of his history from +him. But always without success. + +"Reckon we'd better shut up," said Jim, after one of these many +conversations, when he and Judge and some five others had been +gathered at Tom Mainwaring's log hut in the backwoods. "He don't mean +to tell whar he's from, nor what he was, and small blame to him. He's +here, stout and plucky, a good shot, and jest the fiercest hater I +knows of them varmint of redskins. Reckon that's enough." + +"And need he's had to hate them too," another had added. "Reckon Judge +don't care for much after the boy, than to get even with them varmint." + +That was indeed the case. No one knew Tom Mainwaring's history, or +could even conjecture where he came from, what calling he had followed +or what his fortunes had been. To the many questions with which he had +at first been bombarded he had replied shortly and with perfect good +temper, but in such a manner that none of those who were so curious +were any the wiser. Yes, he knew Boston, and New York, and London. +He had lived in all three, and he knew France. That was as far as he +could or would go, and the settlers who had picked their holdings in +the Ohio valley, to the south of the giant lakes of Erie and Ontario, +had to be content. He had come to them one fine spring time, a silent +man, bringing a wife and a young son on the back of the one horse +which he led. He had set up his log hut like the rest, and had fished +and shot, and exchanged his pelts for the few necessaries required by +these pioneers of the American forests beyond the Alleghany Mountains. +His wife was French, that they knew for a fact; while Judge, and in +due course Steve also, could speak the language fluently. But where +he came from, why this educated man, who lacked nothing, not even +dollars, for it was an open secret that he had abundant means,--should +come to the backwoods and there bury himself and his wife and boy none +could imagine. But it was apparent that, whatever the reason was, Tom +Mainwaring had no need to be ashamed of it. His honest dealings with +others, his high principles, and the manner in which he had devoted +himself to the education of his boy had proved over and over again +that whatever the mystery, there was nothing about it that could call +a blush of shame to his cheeks. + +As to his undying hate of the Indians, that was easily explained. +After all, he did not differ very much in that from the few neighbours +who surrounded him. But he had undoubtedly more cause for hatred. +That same mystery which was for ever a source of wondering curiosity +to these rough pioneers of the forest, took Tom Mainwaring over the +Alleghany mountains once in a while in the direction of the American +coast. Perhaps he went to New York, perhaps to Boston, and it was +even possible, seeing that on occasion he had been absent for six +months, that he had been to England--wherever he went, one of these +journeys had caused him to leave his wife and child in the care of +friendly neighbours, and during his absence these unhappy people had +been raided by the relentless Indians, the women of the party had been +killed, while Steve and one other who happened to be picking berries +in the forest, had alone escaped. + +"Reckon that air enough to set any man who is a man agin the varmint," +Jim had said long ago. "Judge ain't been the same sence he come back +to find the boy alone, and the wife killed and scalped. He's got +kinder hard and fierce, and don't them Injuns know it! And now that +Steve's got big and grown, and able to look for hisself, the log hut +ain't no more use to Judge. Reckon he's happier on the trail." + +"There's a lad for yer, Judge," repeated Jim. "Listen to his sauce. +He ain't no respect for his betters now that he's got the knack of +shootin'." + +"It's his spirit, Jim," replied Tom Mainwaring, looking with kindling +eye at Steve, and relaxing so far as to smile. "He can use his tongue +as well as he can shoot. So all is clear, Steve?" + +"Yes, all clear, father. Silver Fox and I trailed round the camp far +out, and never came upon a track till early. That hunting tribe that +got on to our trace yesterday has given the matter up, and there's +no one to harm us anywhere near. We struck a party of Mohawks up the +river. They're watching the borders." + +"And good need they'll have, too," said Tom with emphasis. "I think +there was never such a time as this for raids and murders. We have to +thank the French and their Indians for that." + +There was silence for a while in the camp, Steve nodding to Silver Fox +and chatting in low tones as soon as the meat was cooked, while Jim +and Tom stared at the embers, both engrossed with their own thoughts. +And while the two at the fire discuss their breakfast of bear's +meat, and the two sturdy backwoodsmen stare at the embers and think, +let us take a closer look at the camp to which we have already been +introduced, and at its surroundings. + +It was pitched in a small natural clearing on the Mohawk river, a +little before its junction with the Hudson, at the mouth of which New +York is situated. Not the New York of to-day, with its regular streets +and avenues, its towering buildings, well-named "sky-scrapers," +its gigantic hotels, its tenement dwellings and its mansions where +millionaires hide from the inquisitive eyes of the people; but the +New York of the year 1756, with many Dutch among the inhabitants, who +still clung to the city which had once been theirs, but at that time +belonged to the English. New York with its smaller and, compared with +modern days, unpretentious dwellings above which the only thing that +towered was the steeple of the church. South and west of the camp +where Steve and his comrades rested was Albany, an up-country Dutch +settlement, which boasted many wealthy and aristocratic Dutch, and +offered always a means whereby the hunters and trappers of English +descent could barter the pelts which they had collected during the +previous winter. It was whispered, too, that here, in this quiet +Albany, tenanted by Puritan Dutch, French _voyageurs_, and _coureurs +de bois_, the backwoodsmen and trappers of that portion of Northern +America then owned by France, and now known as Canada, were able to +sell the loot obtained from the numerous English settlements which +they and their Indian helpers had attacked and captured. + +For there was war between the colonial French and the colonial +English, and for some little time now the two nations had been engaged +in a cruel frontier struggle. In Europe, however, France and England +were outwardly at peace, so far as those in America knew, though +the spring of the year above mentioned saw England's patience at +last destroyed, and a formal declaration of war made. Still, these +backwoodsmen had no notion of that, nor had the numerous French +_voyageurs_ and soldiers who had come across Lake Erie and had marched +down into the valley of the Ohio. That was the disputed ground, where +the bold English pioneers had settled their log huts and taken up +holdings, believing themselves to be on British soil. And now hordes +of French, accompanied by their priests and by thousands of Indians, +were pushing south and west, were expelling the British colonists, and +too often were exterminating them. + +No wonder Hunting Jim and Judge Mainwaring and their comrades took +precautions against surprise. They were in a country which was overrun +by enemies, and since they had set out from their settlement ten days +before, they had observed the greatest caution. The huge birch bark +canoe in which they had paddled down the Mohawk had never left the +centre of that stream, save when night had fallen, and always two of +the party had had their eyes glued on the tree-covered banks. In rear +of them, piled high in a second canoe, which was attached to the one +they paddled, were their pelts, a big store of valuable skins, for +which they hoped to obtain a good exchange. It was guarded by one of +the two Mohawk Indians who accompanied them, and who sat at the stern, +musket in hand. + +And so for ten days they had travelled, their camp settled in some +clearing at night, sometimes without a fire, for the smoke or the +glare would have brought a host about them, and always with two of +their number out in the woods keeping careful guard. But now they were +safe. It was seldom that French _voyageurs_ had penetrated into the +English settlements as far as this, while their Indian allies stood +in fear of the six united tribes of redskins situated hereabouts, and +known as the Iroquois. + +About the camp trees clustered thickly, pines and oaks, maple and +birch, while scattered here and there amongst the trunks were +whortleberry and cranberry bushes, honeysuckle, wild rose trees and +bracken. In many and many a spot the scarlet tupelo and the sumac +grew bright against the green, with purple asters and balm, and the +delicate blue flower of the gentian to keep them company. + +A narrow exit led to the Mohawk river, glistening in the sun, and +reflecting the deep green of its forest boundaries in deep pools, +where the stream ran sluggishly, and where the surface was broken +every now and again by the sudden rising of a fish. Wild rice grew +in banks at the water's edge, while clusters of the resin plant and +of wild lilies could be seen by those who cared to look for them. No +wonder that Steve Mainwaring looked fresh and jolly, for these were +the surroundings in which he had passed his seventeen years, without +a care, save the loss of his mother, which he was too young at the +time to realize, and with that spice of danger about him which has +drawn men of every race and creed to such parts. Steve knew the forest +by heart, could tell the difference between the sharp call of the +chickadee and the blue bird, and the howl of fox or wolf. No Indian +was more conversant with the secrets of nature than he, and none +was more at home in the heart of these forest wildernesses. It was, +indeed, his home, and he was never happier than when on the trail. + +"Reckon ef we get away within an hour we'll fetch up at Albany before +the dark comes," said Jim at length, as he watched Steve and Silver +Fox eating. "We'll give yer that time for a smoke, young feller, and +then strike camp. Jest raise Mac and that 'ere Talkin' Baar." + +He nodded across the camp to the far corner where two figures lay +beneath blankets, sleeping lightly. That they were easily roused was +clear, for as Steve and his companion had come into the clearing +they sat up, only to snuggle under their blankets again. But as Jim +called out the name of Talking Bear, one of the figures started into a +sitting position, followed by the second. + +"We'll be on the road in an hour," explained Jim. "Reckon you two have +had a sleep, and ken help me and Judge to get the canoes afloat and +the pelts packed into 'em. Rouse yerself, Mac. Never did see such a +man for sleep." + +"And, faith, niver did Oi set eyes on a man what spoke so much. Sleep +did ye say? Sure it's these last two hours Oi've been lyin' alongside +of Talking Bear, wid me eyes tight shut, thrying to get off and drame. +But ye talk so much, Huntin' Jim. Ye'd kape a regimint awhake, so ye +would." + +The Irishman roused himself with a growl, and throwing off his +blanket, strode over to Jim and shook his fist in his face, a broad +grin setting his lips wide asunder, and showing a set of strong teeth +which were somewhat blackened with constant use of his pipe. He was +short and sturdy, and in spite of the severeness of his hunting dress, +which was identical with those worn by his comrades, he presented a +comical appearance. His skin cap had fallen off, and showed a shock +head of very brilliant red hair, continuing down his cheeks to his +chin, where it ended in a straggling beard of the same vivid colour. +Indeed, Mac was not good-looking, but he had a pair of genial, +kindly eyes, and was a merry fellow, whose jests and laughter kept +the spirits of his fellows from falling. Once upon a time he had +worn a uniform, and had fought for his country. Then he had come to +America, and by degrees had drifted to the Alleghany settlements, from +which his fondness for danger and adventure had attracted him to the +backwoods. And here he was, boon companion to Jim and the Judge, a +staunch man in the fight, as merry and as light-hearted as a child. + +"Will ye niver larn to keep yer tongue in betwixt yer teeth, Huntin' +Jim?" he asked, severely, shaking his fist within an inch of the black +bowl which Jim held between his teeth. "Begorra! Take a lisson from +the Judge. Reckon he's that silent folks can sleep and take their +rest. Git up wid yerself and lind a hand." + +He made a sudden dive at Jim's shoulder, and swung him to his feet, +for Mac was very powerful. Then, still shaking his fist at the +grinning backwoodsman, he hustled him down to the banks of the river. +And from there their laughter and their shouts came back to the camp, +while Steve watched their antics. Then Silver Fox handed him his +tobacco, and soon they were smoking and staring at the embers, now and +again exchanging words in the Mohawk language. Presently a shout from +Mac told that the canoes were laden, and at the summons Silver Fox +and his brother, a painted and bedecked Indian like himself, gathered +their blankets about their shoulders, took up their muskets, and +trailed off down to the bank, leaving Steve and his father to stamp +out the fire, to look round for any forgotten trifle, and then to +follow. + +"Talkin' Baar's turn for the canoe with the pelts," said Jim, taking +the lead. "Me and you'll paddle, Judge, while this 'ere critter of +yours and Silver Fox keeps an eye on the banks. Hop in easy thar. Mac, +I quite forgot you war there. Slip in in front of me. Now, off we go." + +They pushed out into the river, and took to their paddles. That +evening, just before darkness fell, they pulled into the shore where +the township of Albany was situated, and having found a suitable spot, +made for the land. A fire was soon blazing, and within a little while +they were eating. When the moon got up that night and rode high in the +heavens above them, it looked down upon a silent camp, upon the dying +embers of a fire, and upon five silent figures stretched on the ground +and hidden beneath their blankets. Within a few feet of their heads +stood one solitary figure, erect and motionless, swathed in a blanket. +The long barrel of a musket stood up stark against the moon, while +the brilliant light showed up the features of Talking Bear, alert and +watchful, as careful here of the safety of his pale-face brothers as +he would have been in the heart of a hostile country. + + + + +Chapter II + +French Outlaws and Robbers + + +"We won't waste no time in gettin' rid of them pelts," said Hunting +Jim, early on the following morning, as the little party sat about +their fire, which was close to the bank of the Hudson river and within +a few yards of the nearest house. "I don't reckon Albany's much of a +place fer us jest now. There's the French up by Lake George, and a +Dutchman I struck at sunrise, a chap as round as a barrel; guessed +that they or their Injuns might hop in here any time. What do yer say, +Judge?" + +"We need not fear them," was the calm answer, given after more than a +minute's silence. "They will hardly dare to raid this place, for at +the present time they are doing their utmost to conciliate the Dutch +and win them over to their own side. The same may be said of the +Indians. You see, boys, we colonists are far more numerous than the +French, though they are far better led and organised. Our people seem +to devote all their time to squabbling amongst themselves." + +"While the poor white critters out in the woods gets scalped by +fifties and hundreds. Reckon that's a shame," growled Jim. "But about +these pelts." + +"Lave it to Steve," burst in Mac, putting his strong fingers through +his shock head of tousled hair. "He's our shopman, so he is, and faith +he'll get as big a price as any. Bigger, me bhoy, so lave it to him." + +"You're right, Mac. Steve's the boy," Jim agreed, with a nod, while +Tom Mainwaring smiled approvingly as his son's name was mentioned. +"Yer see, that thar feller Schiller's as hard as a stone I reckon, +and when it comes to a deal with me, or you, Mac, he jest twists us +kinder round his finger. He knows we ain't got no other market, and so +he jest offers what'd be a fair price for a dozen of the skins. Then, +if we looks disgusted, as like as not he'll put a little extry to his +price as a kind of bait. Reckon he's 'cute. He knows we've got to take +his stuff or well nigh starve before we reach another settlement. I've +felt often that I was being robbed by the skunk, but what air a man to +do? Refuse did yer say, Mac?" + +"That's so, me bhoy. Indade ye wouldn't be giving the pelts away, so +ye wouldn't." + +"Then jest you try that 'ere game," exclaimed Jim, somewhat hotly. +"That chap Schiller's got the broadest back and the coolest temper +I ever saw. It's what he offers or nothing. If you ain't pleased, +he jest gets up from his chair and starts to walk into his house. +Reckon a fellow can't stand that. He's got to soften and give way. But +Steve's the boy. Steve, will yer trade with this 'ere Schiller?" + +"Ready and willing, Jim," was the tall lad's eager answer. "I did it +last time, and I'll try again on this occasion. But mind you, you must +back me up." + +"We'll do that," sang out Jim. "Then bring them pelts along." + +They went to the pile of skins, and each taking a load, marched into +the town of Albany, leaving Tom Mainwaring and the Indians to guard +the camp. And a strange procession they made as they came along the +wide street, past the prosperous Dutch houses and the well-dressed and +comfortable-looking owners. Not that they attracted much attention, +for hunters and trappers were a common sight in the streets of Albany +in those days, and pelts often exchanged hands there. + +To the trapper, the tough and hardy woodsman who had been scouring +the forest during the winter and late summer before, hunting game +and caring for the skins, this visit to Albany was one of no small +importance. This expedition and the stores he would obtain were a +source of interest and expectation during the long cold months, and +the trade he could do was of no small importance. For each skin meant +so much in the way of powder, so much lead, or perhaps a new musket. +With the goods he obtained he went back to his log hut, and by dint of +great care managed to eke them out over the winter. As for the trader +who took the pelts, he found an eager market for them in New York, and +made a huge profit over the transaction. + +Bearing their pelts on their shoulders, with their muskets in full +evidence, and the blades of their keen tomahawks glittering beneath +their belts, the three trappers marched down the street sturdily, +their heads in the air, looking what they were, a thoroughly +independent and hardy trio. And presently they came to Hans Schiller's +house, and saw the negro servants of the trader bustling about the +place. Dropping their pelts on the stone flagging of the _stoep_, +Steve and his comrades squatted down on the steps. + +"Hi, there, my black lady," sang out Jim, "reckon we want that Dutch +master o' yours. Fetch the boy along." + +The negro servant giggled, stared with open admiration in her big eyes +at the sturdy backwoodsman, and then departed into the house. They +heard her call out in broken Dutch, and soon a heavy tread within +showed that someone was coming. + +"Now, Steve, reckon you've got to best this 'ere Schiller," said Jim +in a warning voice. "Yer did the trade for us last year, and there +ain't a doubt as he was more liberal than ever before. See what yer +can do this time. H-hush! it's the old gal. He's trying the same old +game." + +As he spoke an exceedingly fat and unwieldy woman waddled to the open +door of the house and pushed her head out. She looked calmly, almost +contemptuously at the trio seated on the _stoep_, and then called out +in very broken English. + +"Hans Schiller," she called, "there's mens here." Then turning again +to the trappers she cried, "Vot for yo vant?" + +Steve tapped the piled-up skins. "Pelts for exchange, madam," he said, +with a little bow. "We are waiting to see Hans Schiller. Ah, here he +is. Fill up your pipes, boys." + +Steve had been to Hans Schiller before, and had gone all through +the excitement of trading with him. He remembered that on the last +occasion he was constantly interrupted by Jim or by Mac, and thought +that a pipe might help them to remain silent. + +"That's the sort, boys," he said. "And just remember, a man can trade +best when he's left to himself. Keep a hold on your tongues. Howd'y +Mr. Schiller? It's a fine summer." + +The Dutchman, who had just emerged from the doorway, thrust out a hot +and very fat hand, and allowed Steve to grip it, wincing as the strong +fingers squeezed him. + +"Stop! These men are wild beasts," he exclaimed beneath his breath, +and in somewhat better English than his wife boasted. "He squeeze +my hand so last time, and the others always the same. Good day, +gentlemens. You vant me? Ah, you have some skins. That is sad, ver +sad." + +He cast a swift look at the piled-up pelts as he exchanged a handshake +with Jim and Mac; and Steve, who watched him carefully, noticed that +a covetous look came over his fat face. But Hans was quick to smother +it. + +"Ver sad indeet," he repeated, shaking his bald head. "You come to +Albany ver late. All the trapper come and gone perhaps month ago. I +hab bought many skin this summer." + +"Then we'll not trouble you, Mr. Schiller," said Steve quickly, giving +Jim a knowing wink. "We came straight to you because we have always +been here. But if you've already bought as much as you want--why, +mates, we'll get on further." + +It was ludicrous to watch the expression on the various faces. Mac, +with the quick wit of his race, grasped Steve's meaning and intention +in an instant, and puffing clouds of smoke from his pipe, rose to his +feet and shouldered one of the bales. But Jim possessed a somewhat +slower intelligence in such matters. He was no trader, and knew +nothing of the subtleties of bargaining. His mouth opened wide in his +consternation. + +"Thunder!" he began. "Blest ef the lad----" + +"Jim, what are you waiting for?" asked Steve suddenly. "Can't you +hear? Mr. Schiller's bought all he wants, and now we're off down the +town to the other folks. Bustle up. We want to get out of this as soon +as possible." + +"Not so quick, frens," exclaimed Hans, putting a restraining hand on +Steve's shoulder and speaking in somewhat anxious tones. "I can buy +more if they are good. Sit down and let me see them. Gretchen!" + +The three trappers returned to their seats, and the trading was +begun. Steve had a very good notion of the value of the skins, and he +knew that high prices were to be obtained for them in New York. He was +also aware that the trapper as a rule bore all the fatigue and risk of +getting the pelts, and was miserably rewarded. He was not avaricious, +but at the same time he knew the needs of his comrades, and, unlike +them, had the courage to face a possible failure in the negotiations. + +"I shall be ruint! Indeet, you will take all that I hab," grumbled +Hans, when all the skins were displayed, and Steve had demanded more +than double the amount of powder, lead, and other commodities which +the Dutchman offered. "I shall be ruint! Nod anoder dollar's worth do +you hab. Dat is all. De last cent." + +Steve smiled one of his easiest smiles and looked coaxingly at the +trader. + +"Come, Mr. Schiller," he said pleasantly, "don't let it be said that +you lost such a chance. This is the finest lot of skins that you have +seen, that you admit. A pity if you let it go to the others farther +down the street. Come now, make another offer." + +Not for one moment did he become flurried or lose that air of +confident assurance which he had worn from the very first. And after a +little while the deal was settled and the trio rose to go. + +"Reckon you're the 'cutest feller as ever I set eyes on," said Jim, as +they trudged back to the camp, half a dozen of the Dutchman's negro +servants in their wake bearing sundry bales and boxes. "That 'ere +deal war the finest as ever I listened to, and, shucks! ain't you a +cool 'un! I didn't jest dare to look at yer too often, nor at Mac nor +Hans. I jest sat and smoked, gripping at me pipe ter keep meself from +splitting with laughter. Reckon it war better nor an Injun palaver, +and that 'ere Hans knew he was beat. Yer watched him give a gasp when +you was for movin'?" + +"I did," answered Steve. "You can be sure that Hans Schiller lives and +grows fat on his earnings. He need never stir out of his house till +late in the summer. Then he floats down the Hudson in a flat-bottomed +boat, and trades his skins at New York for dollars. A few of those buy +the stuff he needs for trading with the trappers, and back he comes, +with a sack and more of dollars, and with nothing to do but smoke his +pipe all through the winter." + +"We've had some friends enquiring after us," said Steve's father when +the three had returned to the camp. "A couple of Indians have been +questioning Silver Fox and Talking Bear. See them over there." + +They swung round, and looking in the direction he indicated, caught +sight of a couple of feathered heads peeping from behind the trees. + +"I don't like them fellers," said Jim quickly, staring at the heads +till they were withdrawn. "What air they after?" + +"What do they and their sort generally want?" was Tom's rejoinder. + +"Scalps and lead, and sich things as we've jest brought here," Jim +answered swiftly. "Reckon we'll have to keep an eye round for them +varmint. What do yer say, Silver Fox?" + +He suddenly broke into the Mohawk tongue, which all understood, and +for a little while all joined in an earnest and low-toned conversation. + +"They ain't after no good, I'll swear," said Jim, with emphasis. +"Reckon we'll have to go careful, mates." + +"Then I vote that we give it out that we are staying here till +to-morrow or the next day," broke in Steve. "That will make them +keep a careless watch upon us perhaps, and to-night we can slip away +unseen." + +It was a good suggestion, and brought a grunt of approval from Jim. + +"It air a good idea, young feller," he said, as he smoked his pipe. +"Jest get out something to eat and pass it round. After that we'll put +in a sleep, as if we was fixed to stay here best part of a week. Ef +any one comes axin' questions, jest tell 'em what we've arranged." + +At such a time all knew well that they could not be too careful, +for though a large number of French and their Indian allies would +not have ventured to Albany, seeing that this was undoubted British +territory, and the Dutch were partisans of the colonists, still the +sleepy little trading town was just the place where a roving band +of small dimensions might take up its quarters, or rather in its +immediate neighbourhood, sending some of their scouts into the town +to gather information. And a small band, such as Steve and his friends +comprised, with their store of powder and other trade goods, would be +a very valuable capture. They could not therefore be too careful, and +in order to make it appear as if they were intending to stay for a day +or more, Steve and Silver Fox lay down to sleep, while Tom and the +others lounged about the camp. + +"Reckon I'll stroll along the houses," said Jim, after a while. "Maybe +I'll see some more of these 'ere fellows." + +He rose to his feet without another word, and was on the point of +leaving the camp when Steve sat up. + +"I'll come too, Jim," he cried out. "I can't sleep, and a little +exercise will do me good." + +"Then hop along, young 'un. One of these days, when you've grown older +and ha' got more larnin', you'll find it's a wise man who puts in +sleep when he's the chance. Pick up that 'ere gun. Yer never knows +when a bullet won't be useful." + +They left their friends lolling about the camp, and strolled into the +town. There were one or two stores to be found, and they hung about +these for a little while, staring with all a backwoodsman's curiosity +at the goods displayed for sale. + +Then they strolled on again till they reached the far end of the +street. + +"Reckon ther's one of them skunks a watchin'," said Jim, suddenly +stopping and calmly filling his pipe. "Jest you walk on, Steve, while +I get a light. It'll give me a chanst to turn round." + +He sought for his tinder and steel, and began to strike the flint, +turning his back to the wind and to his young companion, who strolled +on. Two minutes later he had come up to Steve again. + +"Jest stroll on as we air, easy like," he said in low tones. "I war +right. One of them redskin varmint's got his eyes on us." + +"Then we'll slip into the wood up here, as if for a stroll, and when +we're hidden we'll turn and watch. What do you say, Jim?" + +"That's the ticket, lad. Easy does it." + +A little while later the two were making their way through the wood, +which grew densely close up to the houses at this end of Albany. +They threaded their way in amongst the trees in single file, each +unslinging his musket as he stepped out of sight of the road. When +they had gone a quarter of a mile Jim came to a sudden halt. + +"Jest take cover, Steve," he said softly. "I'll get ahead, so as to +let that Injun guess we're still movin'. When he comes along, stand up +in his way. That'll put a stop to his little game for to-day at any +rate, and'll let him see as we're awake." + +A moment later the crash of brushwood being swept aside told that Jim +was pushing on into the wood, making far more noise then he would +otherwise have done. Steve took his stand in a dense mass of bush, +and stepping on to the trunk of a fallen tree, kept a careful watch +on the track which they had just covered. And very soon he caught a +fleeting glimpse of a feathered head, and of the tip of a barrel. +Within three minutes a painted redskin suddenly came into full view, +his eyes glued on the track. He was stepping along at a rapid pace, +his nostrils distended, his feet making not a sound as he trod, and +all his senses engaged in tracking those who had preceded him. As +he came opposite the bush, Steve stepped out without so much as a +rustle and confronted the man, causing him to come to a sudden stop. +For once the coolness of an Indian was upset. He gave a low grunt of +astonishment, and in a twinkling his musket was presented at Steve's +head. For just one brief instant our hero stared into the barrel, and +then, quick as thought, he ducked. There was a loud report, a tongue +of flame and smoke spurted almost into his face, and his coon-skin cap +was lifted from his head and carried into the bush behind. Then, long +before he could use his own weapon, the Indian was upon him, his keen +tomahawk gleaming in his hand. Lucky it was for Steve that the stock +of his musket caught the blade of the Indian's weapon, for had it not +done so, his head would have been crushed by the blow. But though +taken unawares, fortune was on his side, and an involuntary movement +warded off the blow. Then he dropped his musket, grasped the Indian's +arm, and in an instant they were rolling on the ground in a death +struggle, the redskin making frantic efforts to strike with his +tomahawk, while Steve gripped the red-painted throat with his fingers, +and clung there with all his strength. Not a cry did either give. It +was one of those silent and desperate contests which the backwoods had +often seen, and nothing but the gasping breaths of the combatants told +what was happening. + +[Illustration: "THE INDIAN WAS UPON HIM, HIS KEEN TOMAHAWK GLEAMING IN +HIS HAND"] + +"Reckon that war a close shave, young 'un," said Jim, in his quiet +voice, some few minutes later, staring at Steve as he lay breathing +heavily on the ground. "That 'ere varmint was out to kill, and didn't +reckon as you'd get a grip of his throat so early. Take a word from +Jim. When you've got the best of an Injun, never feel safe till he's +dead. There ain't nothing in this world to touch 'em for cunnin'. He +knew you was holding his tomahawk arm, and in another half minute he'd +have been strangled. So he dropped his blade and used his two hands to +shake yer off. Lucky I come along." + +Jim had indeed arrived just in the nick of time, and it was well for +Steve that his tomahawk had put a sudden end to the contest. + +"Reckon it'll be a case of walk quick," said Jim, after a few moments' +silence. "We can hide this here critter for a few hours, maybe a day +or more. But they'll find him sure enough, and then there'll be a +howl. Best get back to the camp." He then picked the dead man up, +and stepping some yards away into the thickest bush, placed the body +beside a fallen trunk. + +"They'd find that as easy as walk," he said, as he returned, "but +we'll put 'em off the trail. Come along, young 'un. We'll get back to +the camp." + +"And what about the other Indian?" said Steve suddenly. "He's watching +there, isn't he?" + +"Reckon that's so, Steve." + +"Do you think that he and this man were alone, Jim?" asked our hero. + +"You ain't so 'cute by half as I thought yer," was the answer. "Reckon +there's a band of 'em that has made Albany their station. Like as not +they've wiped out a power of small trading trappers. These here chaps +air their scouts." + +"Then let's find the band and take a look at them. Look here, Jim, +we'll make through the wood till close to the camp, and pick up the +tracks of these scouts. Then we'll----" + +It was comical to watch Jim as he grasped his young companion's +intentions. He swept his skin cap from his head, and darted a keen +look at him. + +"That air 'cute," he said. "Reckon I withdraws what I've said. That +air the movement for us." + +Without further conversation they struck off into the forest, Steve +following closely in the wake of the hunter, and neither making +so much as a sound. Presently, when they judged that they were +approaching their own camp, they came to a halt. + +"I've been thinkin' of that 'ere gun shot," said Jim. "But these trees +has made it safe. Reckon no one at this end has heard the sound. Let's +divide." + +A quarter of an hour later, when they came together at the same spot, +Steve was able to report that he had come upon a trail in the forest, +and that the marks showed plainly that it had been used by two men at +least, and probably by half a dozen. + +"It's been in use for a couple of months, I should say, Jim, and I +think that quite a number must have been along it. There are fresh +marks of two moccasined feet." + +"Then we'll strike along it and see where it takes us, young feller," +was the answer. "We've dropped upon somethin' as may save our scalps. +Jest strike off for it. I seed that other varmint keepin' watch on the +camp. He ain't got a thought that his brother has gone to the happy +huntin' grounds. That 'ere shot never come to his ears, or else he'd +have been looking into the matter by now. Reckon the strong wind and +the trees drowned it." + +They stood for a few moments preparing their muskets, each powdering +the pan afresh, and looking to the flint, for a misfire might have +disastrous consequences. Then Steve led the way, and in a little while +they had struck into the trail which he had found. An hour's fast +walking took them some six miles into the forest, when, seeing that +the trail still went on, they broke into a dog trot, which both were +well able to keep up for hours at a time. As it happened, however, +another hour took them to some rising ground, where the forest grew as +thick as ever, and where other tracks, many of them quite fresh ones +too, told them that they were in the immediate neighbourhood of a camp. + +"That air the whiff of terbacca," said Jim, raising his voice barely +to a whisper, and sniffing at the air like a dog. "We're makin' up +wind, Steve, and ef I ain't right, why----" + +"It's smoke," answered Steve with conviction. "Let's get on." + +Stealing forward with their bodies close to the ground, it was not +long before the two came in sight of the camp. It was similar to any +other trapper's camp in its surroundings. There was a fire in the +centre of a narrow clearing, and three or four rough skin shelters +were erected under the shadow of the trees. Lounging round the fire +were some twenty redskins, while a squaw was busily engaged in tending +some cooking pots which swung over the flames. + +"This air a find," whispered Jim, squeezing Steve's arm. "These here +critters has come to stay, and I reckon there ain't any other redskins +within miles, or else this camp would ha' been discovered long ago. A +hul tribe might camp under the noses of these fat Dutchmen without a +one bein' the wiser." + +"And just look at their stores," whispered Steve, pointing to a number +of barrels and sacks and bales piled up beneath one of the skin +shelters. + +"The critters!" growled Jim. "That air the trade of many a small band +of trappers same as us. Reckon them chaps has plenty of scalps. Look +thar!" + +This time there was an unusual amount of emphasis in his words, while +his long brown hand shot out, and a finger pointed to the other side +of the camp, where one solitary figure was seated. Steve followed his +finger, saw the man and watched with dilating eyes as he rose and +turned towards them. He was a pale face, a white man like themselves, +tanned and weather-beaten, and some twenty-five years of age. He was +decked as an Indian, and resembled them exactly, save for the fact +that his face was not painted. + +An exclamation of dismay burst from Steve. He crouched still lower +in the bushes, and then silently withdrew, fearful lest this white +man should see him. Jim, too, slid silently away, and very soon the +two were speeding back to their own camp at a fast trot, their senses +fully alert and their thoughts occupied with the white man and the +band of Indians whom they had just discovered. A little later they +turned to the left, crept undetected into the town, and strolled in +the most casual way into the camp. No one looked up as they entered, +but all had been anxiously awaiting them, that was evident, for the +eyes of their comrades stole across in their direction, their long +absence having roused the fears of the others. + +"Air dinner ready?" asked Jim casually. "Then suppose we set down to +it." + +"We're in a muss," he said some little while later, as all squatted +about the fire. "One of them critters that was watchin' followed us +through the town and into the wood. It war almost a case with Steve. +But we dropped the man. After that we struck the track at the back of +this camp, and come upon the band. Boys, there air twenty of 'em at +least, and wuss than all there's a Frenchman leadin'. It's that 'ere +Jules from over the water." + +An exclamation of amazement and dismay burst from the listeners, for +Jules Lapon had won an unenviable reputation during the past three +years. During that period hundreds of peaceful settlers and backwoods +people had been butchered by the Red Indians, hounded on by the +French, and in many cases French colonists and regular soldiers had +been with them. Bands of desperadoes had ranged the forests, and of +these there was none more cruel, more successful and more feared than +that of Jules Lapon, a young Frenchman who had settled some years +before within a few miles of Tom Mainwaring's quarters. No wonder that +the small band of trappers stared aghast at Jim for some few minutes. +Then they found their voices, and began to discuss their future +movements. + +"Reckon there ain't any doubt as to what's to be done," said Jim. "Ef +we stay here till the winter falls, they'll still be waitin'. These +here Dutchmen can't give no protection, so we're bound to look to +ourselves. We'll have to git, and the sooner the better." + + + + +Chapter III + +Flight by Night + + +As the dusk came and settled down upon the peaceful town of Albany, +it found the little band of trappers seated about their camp fire, +smoking heavily and discussing the question of their flight in earnest +and low-pitched tones. They had already taken their evening meal, and +were ready to set out at any moment. But so far there was not a sign +of preparation. To the casual or the curious onlooker, the little +party seemed to have every intention of remaining overnight, more +particularly as the sky was overcast, and the rude leather shanty +which they had been busily erecting showed that they expected rain, +and had prepared a shelter. + +"You wouldn't think that there was a question of danger or of our +clearing out, boys," said Judge Mainwaring, as he stared round at his +comrades. "This town of Albany looks as peaceful as possible, and +yet----" + +"And yet the facts are clear," burst in Steve. "I suppose that if +Albany were filled with Englishmen it would be a different matter." + +"That it would, young 'un," chimed in Jim, taking the stem of his +black pipe from between his teeth. "And there ain't no sayin' that +these Dutchmen wouldn't help us ef we went to 'em. But they ain't here +to fight. Reckon they're fer trade. Ef it was our own people, why we'd +get 'em together, and them varmint out in the woods would soon be +scattered." + +"As it is there is no chance of doing that," said Tom Mainwaring +quietly. "I've been thinking this out, boys. If we went to the Dutch +I doubt very much that they would move to help us. They are traders, +as Jim says, and though I believe they are certainly on our side and +opposed to the French and their Indians, yet at the present time even +that is not too certain. We've got to depend on ourselves. We might +wait here for a week, but this rascal Lapon will wait also, and he +will watch us like a hawk. We must move, and this very night too, for +at present they think no doubt that we do not know of the existence of +this band. If we wait they may suspect us----" + +"There's the scout we killed," ventured Steve. + +"True, there is the scout. They will find him by to-morrow morning, +and then they will watch us all the closer. It will rain soon, and we +must move." + +"Hold hard," said Jim suddenly. "We've got to git, that's as clear as +this fire, but thar's that 'ere redskin watchin'. It 'ud take him an +hour perhaps to get back to his camp and then the hull lot 'ud be down +on us." + +That was a point which none had considered, and for a little while +they sat staring into the embers, doubtful how to act. In these days +of peace, when the neighbourhood of Albany is as secure as that of New +York or of London, and when the banks of the Hudson and the Mohawk and +the country adjacent are comparatively thickly populated, it is hard +to believe that a party of trappers could be in danger of attack. But +in the year 1756 it was very different. Thick forest spread over the +land, with very few settlements, and still fewer log huts. In time +past many and many a pioneer and trapper had forced his way far on +into the valley of the Ohio, that promised land, and had there erected +his rough shelter. But there were competitors in the field. France +was not content with that huge stretch of America to the north of the +St. Lawrence and the great lakes. She was pushing south, building +forts and peopling the land. For some years, as the reader will have +already gathered, these hardy French soldiers and _voyageurs_, with +their fierce Indians, had been pressing south and west, exterminating +the helpless British colonists. The man who dared to step outside the +towns and plunge into the forests took his life in his hands. Bands +of desperadoes wandered hither and thither, and the old calling of +the trapper was almost extinct. It was therefore not so wonderful to +find danger threatening Steve and his friends on the very outskirts of +Albany. + +"Oi'd loike to hear what Silver Fox and Talkin' Bear has to say," +sang out Mac, thrusting his red head into the full light of the fire. +"They have sat there loike two logs of wood, and sure they've not yit +opened their mouths. Let thim spake and we'll listen." + +"Then what shall we do, Fox?" demanded Jim, breaking into the Mohawk. +"You know what's happening." + +"It will rain to-night, my brothers," was the answer, "and we must go. +But this scout must die before we venture from the camp. Talking Bear +and Silver Fox will see to this matter." + +He glanced round at each one of the party, grunted and nodded to his +countryman. + +"It is well spoken, brother. He must die," was the short answer. + +"Then we'll turn in," said Jim. + +One by one the white men of the party stood up, looked about them and +then crept into the "shanty," for rain had already begun to fall. And +soon Silver Fox joined them, while outside, swathed in his blanket, +motionless, stood Talking Bear, guarding the camp during the first +hours of the night. His figure was hardly distinguishable even against +the dull light of the fire, but all knew that the Indian watcher +had his eyes on him. And so two hours passed, till the embers were +drenched, and the night was very dark. Not till then was there a +movement in the tiny shanty. Steve sat up beside Silver Fox, returned +the pressure of his hand and slipped from the cover. Crawling across +the camp he touched Talking Bear, and in an instant they had changed +places. Steve was now the sentry, swathed in a blanket, tall and +erect. Almost at the same instant there was the hoot of an owl away in +the forest. + +"Them 'ere critters has jest the finest eyes," growled Jim. "Reckon +though that they heard somethin'. There goes Silver Fox. We'll give +him an hour." + +But less than half an hour had passed before the silence of their camp +was disturbed. First came the loud hoot of an owl, and then away in +the forest was heard the sound of a conflict. Branches snapped, there +was a dull thud, and then silence again. + +"We have failed. The scalp of this scout who watched the camp hangs at +my belt, but he had two others with him. They are gone." + +Silver Fox had made not so much as a sound on his return, and his +voice was the first thing that warned the occupants of his presence. +They sat up with a start while various exclamations burst from them. + +"There is not a moment to be lost," said Tom, with decision. "We must +pack and paddle for our lives. That band will never rest till they +have the scalps of every one of this party." + +There was unusual bustle in the camp at once, the members of the party +going about their work with method and in perfect silence. Mac and +Steve soon had the leather shelter stripped and folded, and by the +time they had carried it down to the canoes, the others had placed +all their goods in the smaller one. Then they took their places, and +at a word from Tom they pushed out from the bank, Steve sitting in +the second canoe, his musket across his thighs and his eyes glued on +the bank. The five in the leading canoe grasped their paddles and +used them with a will, Tom setting the time, and pushing the water +back with lusty arms which aided not a little in their progress. They +swung up the centre of the stream, turned to their left and entered +the Mohawk. Morning found them many miles on their way, still paddling +steadily up the centre of the river. + +"It were well to consider, my brothers," said Silver Fox, speaking +for the first time since they had left Albany. "The sky is clearer, +and the rain no longer falls. At present the mist hides us, but in a +little while the warmth will suck it up and then we shall be seen." + +"And yer think them critters is after us?" demanded Jim. + +"They left their camp within the hour of our departure," was the slow +answer. "They are now well on their way." + +Jim had had no need to ask that simple question. As an old and +experienced trapper he knew well enough that the alarm must have +reached the camp of the enemy within a very little while of their own +departure, and it needed no consideration to tell him that they would +make up the Mohawk river. + +"They kin tell as we ain't got no business towards New York," he +growled, "and this here route air the only one that's left. Reckon +the varmint air well on the road. They'll have canoes hid somewhere's +within reach, and it won't be long afore they're out on the river. +Boys, we've got to choose between holdin' on to those paddles or +takin' to the woods." + +"Lose all our stores!" demanded Mac, indignantly. "Sure if we take to +the forest we'll have to lave these canoes and the things, and for +what is the use of that? Arrah! Lit's kape to the paddles, and if they +follow we'll use our guns." + +"You forget one thing," said Tom Mainwaring, in his quiet and judicial +tones. "We have paddled through the night. These rascals have been +walking and running. Their arms will be unwearied. They will certainly +overhaul us. There is nothing for it, I fear, but to strike across to +the south bank, hide our canoes and stores as well as we are able, and +then take to the trail." + +There was, indeed, little else to be suggested, and it was with sad +hearts therefore that the little party turned the bows of the canoe +towards the far bank. It was lighter now, though the mist still hid +them, an occasional gust of wind blowing a portion of it away, for all +the world as if it were a curtain, and disclosing something of their +whereabouts, the surface of the silent river, the far bank, or the +forest on that side for which they were making. + +"Steady a minute. Stop!" + +It was Steve's voice which broke the silence, and as they craned +their necks to look back at him, they saw the long figure of the young +trapper stretched in the small canoe, his musket still across his +thighs and one hand upon it. The other shaded his eyes, as if the mist +worried him. + +"Stop!" he called again in the lowest tone. "Wait while I come up with +you." + +There was a paddle beside him, placed there to enable him to steer +if occasion should make that necessary, and while his friends backed +water, he drove his paddle into the river and swung his canoe round +till it lay alongside the other. To have endeavoured to bring it up +directly would have been useless, for a short tow rope connected the +two. + +"You said that they would have canoes somewhere within reach," he +said. "I overheard it, and I believe I have seen the very spot. The +wind blew the mist aside suddenly, and I saw a tiny inlet. It is +blocked with weeds and osiers, and they too were disturbed by the +wind. I am sure that I got a glimpse of the bow of a canoe." + +"Jupiter! That's a find," burst out Jim, while Tom and Mac nodded +approvingly. "Reckon we'll git across to them boats and break 'em up. +Boys, that air our ticket." + +He plunged his paddle into the water, followed by the others, and +would have swung the canoe round had not Steve still clung to the side. + +"One moment, Jim," he said easily and quietly, for he had inherited +his father's quiet and judicial manner. "Supposing you smash their +canoes. What then?" + +Jim gasped. "What then! Why, they're fixed, young 'un. Thought you was +'cute. They ain't got no way left of followin', unless they runs like +dogs along the bank, and for that we don't care nothin'." + +"That is, supposing they have no other canoes," answered Steve +quickly. "But is that likely. They know that if their boats are +discovered they are helpless. It seems to me that they may very well +have divided them. That's what we should do. In that case they would +still have a chance of reaching us." + +"That 'ere lad air doin' his best to get even with the Judge," +exclaimed Jim with a shake of his head. "Reckon, boys, that what he +says air true as gospel. Them critters will never have put all their +boats in one place. We'd best make for the forest straight." + +Once more he would have swung the canoe away from Steve, but the lad +still clung to the side. + +"We might try a surprise," he said eagerly. "These men will follow us +right away to the settlement, for Jules Lapon lives near there. We +can't go on like this for the next ten days, and if we don't stop them +they will be close to us before to-day is past. Let us wait and have +it out with the rascals." + +This time there was no attempt to break away from him. All stared +eagerly into his sun-tanned face, while an exclamation burst from Jim. + +"The boy has an idea," said Tom. "Out with it, Steve." + +There was no time to waste, for even as they had hung in the stream, +drifting with the current, the mist had lifted still further. The sun +would be up very soon, and at any moment it might be clear from shore +to shore. Steve leaned over the side of his canoe and spoke swiftly +and in little more than a whisper. + +"I've been thinking it over as we came along," he said. "We've no +chance unless we can stop them now, for they are many, and will follow +closely, and never give us a moment's rest. We shall be shot down and +scalped one after another. I thought of their boats and what we might +do. Then I suddenly caught sight of the bows of the one of which I +spoke. Listen! This wind and the rustling of the leaves will have +drowned the sound of our paddles. Even if the redskins are now on the +far bank I doubt whether they have heard us. But they are not there. +We have come faster than a man can walk, and you must remember that +they will have had to make their way through the forest. Let us get +over to their boats, slip ashore without leaving tracks, and hide up +under cover. Once we're there one of us can slip back to this bank +with our canoes, and can hide them, just leaving the bows of one to +show, as if by accident." + +"Thunder! The lad's got it, Judge. Reckon you ain't in it with Steve. +Boys, he's told us what to do." + +Jim sat up stiffly in his astonishment, while Silver Fox, who could +understand English, gave a grunt of assent. + +"He was always a calculating, thoughtful youngster," said Tom, a note +of triumph in his voice. "The lad has suggested a brilliant plan." + +Trappers were in the habit of making up their minds in a rapid manner. +Often enough there was no opportunity for discussion, and even when +there was they were not over talkative. Jim was perhaps the exception. +But now there was no need for chatter, and little time for delay. The +paddles plunged into the stream again, Steve pushed out from the large +canoe, and in a trice they were surging through the stream in the +direction of the opposite bank. A little later they were in sight of +it, and were paddling along beneath the overhanging trees. + +"Jest about here?" asked Jim, his voice hardly a whisper, while his +hand pointed to the bank. + +Steve stood up carefully in his frail support. His eyes were glued on +the bank and for some minutes he remained without movement, while the +canoes slid along through the water. Then, suddenly, his hand went +up. There was a bank of reeds and osiers, with a patch of wild rice +clinging to the edge, and a gust of wind happening to blow across the +water at that moment all saw the nose of an Indian canoe. Standing +still higher Steve was able to get a better view than his comrades, +and caught sight of four other canoes, all nestling in the osiers. + +"We can't land here," he sang out softly. "The bank is bare of brush +and all trampled. Backwater and strike higher up the river." + +Round swung the canoes and paddles sent the water frothing alongside +the frail vessels, for excitement was high, and all were eager to get +under cover. + +"Them 'ere varmint might come along any time," said Jim impatiently. +"Reckon this air a find!" + +"We can land there," whispered Tom, pointing to the bank. "There is a +rock, and perhaps deep water beside it." + +A few strokes of the paddles settled the question. There were quite +three feet of water beside the rock, which was bare and brown. It ran +up on to the bank for some ten feet, and then gave place to dense +forest. + +"Step ashore," said Jim, huskily. "Gently. Don't let the canoe strike +agin the rock, nor a paddle splash it. Them varmint'd spot it in a +jiffy. Talkin' Baar, reckon you're the one to git over to the other +bank." + +In rapid tones he explained the movement required of him to the silent +Indian, speaking in the Mohawk tongue. There was a nod of approval, +and without a word the feathered redskin took up his paddle again and, +pushing out from the rock, made off across the river, the smaller +canoe with its load of stores trailing after him. In a little while +he was lost in the mist, while none could hear the dip of his paddle. +But presently, as the sun rose and sucked up the vapours lying like a +pall over forest and river, Steve and his comrades could see just the +tip of a canoe protruding from a thick mass of bush which clothed the +opposite bank. + +"Reckon a baby Injun'd spot that," said Jim. "To look at it you'd say +as the wind or the wash of the water had shook it loose from the mud +and floated it out. These critters will see it right off, and will try +to slip over without a sound, so as to fall upon our party. Reckon +there'll be a surprise. Now, what's the ticket?" + +"Let the boy tell us," whispered Tom, looking proudly at Steve. "We +owe this movement to him, and I think we all agree that he has had +good experience of the forest and of these Indians. Now, lad, where +are we to take up our stations?" + +For answer Steve placed his musket on the rock, and, stepping softly +across it, swung himself into a tree, a branch of which overhung their +position. They watched him as he clambered up still higher and waited +patiently for him to descend. + +"I vote that we divide," he said, as he dropped on to the rock again. +"When the enemy arrive and see the canoe over yonder they will be +all keenness to cross. They will think that we are lying hid in the +forest, and will guess that once they are out in the river they will +be seen. But remember that our canoes are supposed to be hidden away. +If we were over yonder, lying up in the bushes, we should keep under +cover and watch, hoping to escape discovery. These Indians will reckon +that, and I think will paddle down the far side, staring into the +bank. As soon as they get opposite our canoes, they will paddle in +with a rush." + +"Thet air reason," exclaimed Jim. "What then?" + +"My argument proves that they will be careful to get aboard on this +side without making too much noise. They will try to let it appear +that they have not seen our canoe. They will enter their own and push +out stealthily, for they are cunning." + +"Cunnin'!" Jim clenched a huge brown fist, and would have growled out +something more had not Tom's warning hand restrained him. + +"That will be our time. The bank of osiers is big, and they have +hidden up their canoes almost in the centre. So there will be room for +one gun in that direction. Then this tree commands their boats, and +has the advantage of being very thick. Supposing we divide forces, two +going into the reeds, and three into the tree? The three can swing +themselves up without leaving a trace, while the two who make for the +reeds can wade through the water." + +"The boy is right. Even you or I could not have made better +suggestions," exclaimed Tom. "Let us get into our places." + +At any moment now the enemy might put in an appearance, and fearful of +being discovered the whole party went to their places at once, Steve +swinging himself into the tree after his father and Silver Fox, while +Jim and Mac lowered themselves very silently into the river, which +came to their waists, and wading along entered the reeds. There they +took up a position which enabled them to command the canoes, while +they could see, and be seen by, their friends. And as they crouched +in their lairs the sun rose higher and higher, while the heat grew +greater. The air over forest and river became motionless, what breeze +there had been dying down entirely. Not a leaf stirred, while the +hundreds of birds which had heralded the morning with their bright +song seemed to have gone to roost again. + +"Hist! That bird flew from down stream," whispered Tom, suddenly, as a +pigeon darted over the water and flew past their hiding place. "We can +expect the enemy. Watch the banks carefully." + +But half an hour passed without another disturbance, and though all +strained their ears nothing could be heard. From his leafy perch +Steve saw Jim crouching in the osiers, and noticed that the cunning +backwoodsman turned towards the far bank, leaning in that direction +in a listening attitude. But evidently he heard nothing, for within a +minute he was engaged with the near bank, his eyes peering between the +osiers and the reeds. This was not the first time that Steve had been +pursued by the redskins, and his adventurous life in the woods had +taught him to maintain his coolness. But on this occasion, do what he +would, his heart would thump heavily against his ribs, while his pulse +throbbed in an unusual and disturbing manner. He stood in the lowest +fork of the tree, his back supported by the trunk, his musket in his +hands, and his eye roaming hither and thither. His lips were slightly +parted, and there was a determined look on his sun-browned features. +He felt no actual fear, only unusual excitement, and a vague wonder as +to what would be the end of this conflict. All through the night as +he lay in the canoe he had been thinking the matter out. He and all +his comrades were well aware of the evil reputation of Jules Lapon's +band, and to Steve it had become abundantly clear that, strive as +they might, they could not hope to reach their journey's end without +molestation. The enemy were too many. They travelled light, while he +and his friends carried stores, to which they were absolutely bound to +cling, for without them they could not exist through the winter. Then +surely it would be better to meet this band of rascals now, while they +too were fresh, and do their best to beat them. + +"I am sure it is the right movement," he said to himself. "We have +a good chance of taking them by surprise, and an ambush is just the +thing to upset these redskins. If we can kill a few the rest may give +up the attempt. What is that?" + +He started and leaned forward to look at Jim. The old trapper had +turned right round and was again staring at the far bank. Steve saw +him grip his musket barrel, and then signal to those in the tree. A +second later he had swung round once more, and was looking to the +opposite bank. Then Steve saw something of what was happening. A +minute earlier the tip of the bows of their own canoe was alone +showing, a bait to catch the enemy. But now the whole canoe was in +sight, and there was Talking Bear, stripped of his blanket, his paddle +in his hand, pushing out into the river with all his strength. And +after him floated the canoe laden with the precious possessions for +which they were being hunted. + +Steve was dumfounded. He stared with wide-open eyes at the redskin, +and then swung round to Jim. The trapper crouched in the osiers like a +wild cat, and as Steve looked he signalled with his hand to those in +the tree. His long finger shot out, and for a few seconds he pointed +to the forest on their own side, warning them as well as he could by +means of sundry waves and nods to be in full readiness. Then he turned +to the river and repeated the signals. + +"They're both sides of the Mohawk," gasped Tom. "Look there." + +Stealing through the forest, and making for the canoes as rapidly as +was possible were four painted redskins, while away on the far side +a hurried glance shewed Steve the hideous heads of two more of their +enemies. Had there been any doubt on the matter it was set at rest +within a very few seconds, for the peace of the river was suddenly +startled by a sharp and loud report, which sent the birds soaring from +the branches. A bullet flew from the far side of the river and long +before the report had died down Talking Bear crumpled up as if he had +been struck on the head with an enormous hammer, and sprawled out in +the bottom of the canoe. Then the war whoop of the redskins burst from +the trees, that whoop which had set hundreds of white men and women +trembling. Some twenty heads burst from the trees on the farther bank, +and in a trice one of the painted warriors had leaped into the water +and struck out for the drifting canoes. + +"He will get aboard and row them back," thought Steve, the meaning +of it all flashing across his brain. "Then they will embark, and no +matter how many of the men on this side are killed, the others will be +able to reach us." + +It was clear, in fact, that on the possession of those two helpless +canoes depended the result of this momentous engagement. If they were +taken the little band of trappers would have the whole howling band +about them within a very few minutes, and then what chance would they +stand? + +Steve did not hesitate. There was a stout twig growing close by his +hand, and in an instant his musket dangled from it by means of the +sling. His tomahawk flew from his belt to his mouth, where he gripped +it between his teeth. Then, light and active as a cat, he dropped +on to the rock beneath, his moccasins making not a sound, and ere +his father could gather his intentions the gallant young fellow had +entered the water. + + + + +Chapter IV + +Steve makes a Suggestion + + +Two strides from the rocky bank took Steve into deep water, where he +struck out for the drifting canoes, his long and powerful strokes +cleaving a path for him through the river. Behind him he left his +father and Silver Fox dumfounded at his sudden action, and almost +inclined to follow. But they had another matter to occupy their +attention, for Steve had been very wary. He had soon realised that the +enemy were in two parties, and guessed that the four redskins making +for the hidden canoes were unaware of the presence of the trappers. +It was important that they should still remain in ignorance, and, +mindful of this, the young fellow had made not a sound as he departed. +The bush and the thick leaves of the tree had hidden him from the +keen eyes of the enemy, while his presence in the water was hidden by +the thick bank of osiers. So careful had he been, in fact, that the +redskins had no suspicions, and as their brothers on the far bank set +up their hideous war-whoop, the four who were stealing towards the +canoes sent back answering whoops, and thinking that longer caution +was unnecessary, they dashed towards the bank of reeds. + +Crash! They were met with a volley, aimed from the tree and the reeds, +and hardly had the reports died down when Jim's voice was heard. + +"Two of the varmint's down," he bellowed. "After the others." + +Like a hound let loose from the leash this active trapper threw down +his musket and dashed through the reeds, his tomahawk in his hand, +while Mac went bounding after him, his coon-skin cap fallen from his +head, and his red hair blowing out behind him. + +"Afther thim, the blackguards!" he cried, waving to Jim. + +"Steady! Take the man to the right," shouted Tom suddenly, swinging +his smoking musket over his shoulder and reaching out for the weapon +which Steve had suspended to the tree. Up went the heavy stock to his +shoulder, the barrel poked out through the leaves and for one brief +second followed the crouching figure of one of the redskins, who was +making off through the forest. A loud report startled the silence, and +as Tom dropped the barrel the Indian leaped into the air, a discordant +shriek burst from his lips, and in a second he was rolling over and +over in the long grass and brambles for all the world like a rabbit +which has been shot when bolting. + +"My brother has the eye of a hawk, even as has his son," said Silver +Fox, busily ramming down a fresh charge and powdering the pan of his +long musket. "Three of our number picked out one of these enemies, +and he died at once. Another was struck by a single bullet, and he +lies there, close to the reeds. The fourth will be slain within a +little while. Listen, my brother, there is noise on the far side of +the river." + +There was indeed a commotion. For a little while the twenty or more +warriors over there had kept up their awful whooping, and as their +comrades on the near side had responded, the shouts and whoops became +even greater. But now that the rifles of the trappers had spoken +so suddenly and unexpectedly, the babel became even worse. Painted +redskins showed up openly on the bank, frantically waving their +muskets, while two stood in the water ready to reinforce the man who +was swimming out to the drifting canoes. + +"They are as much startled and taken aback as are we," said Tom +Mainwaring. "Keep steady here, Silver Fox, and let us see what we can +do for the young hawk. My son will reach the canoes almost at the same +time as that redskin, and a bullet from us might help. Ah, they are +firing." While he spoke he rammed fresh charges into the two muskets +with feverish energy, his eyes all the time roaming from the surface +of the river to the figures on the far bank. As he had said, it seemed +more than likely that Steve would reach the canoes as soon as the +redskin, for his long powerful strokes were taking him through the +water at a rapid pace, and as if fortune had decided to help him a +slight breeze which had since got up came sweeping along the river and +drifted the two craft towards him. + +"Stay here, my brother," whispered Silver Fox suddenly. "There are +others who are attempting to reach the canoes. Silver Fox will help +the young Hawk." + +He dropped from the tree as light as a feather, and when Tom looked +down there was the Indian stealing along through the trees, his musket +trailing and one hand busily engaged in sweeping the ground before +him. This redskin had not lived the life of his race for nothing. He +knew that even in the excitement of all that was occurring there would +be ears on the far side of the river listening for sounds of an enemy, +and he was well aware that a broken branch, the crushing of some +piece of brittle drift wood, would give the enemy on the far shore +an inkling of what was happening. To him it was as simple as playing +to creep through the forest like a snake. Even Tom, who knew his +intentions and the direction he had taken, could not follow his track. +There was not even a swaying branch to show where he was. + +Meanwhile Steve had made good progress, and was within a few strokes +of the canoes. Could he reach the one in which Talking Bear lay before +the Indian came up with it? No! There was a commotion in the water +on the far side of the frail craft, a red hand gripped the gunwale, +and as he looked the hideous painted face of the Indian came into +full view. His leg was thrown over the edge, and in a twinkling he had +taken his place, panting with his exertions, the water dripping from +his body and streaming from his scalp-lock and his feathered headdress. + +[Illustration: "COME NEARER THAT I MAY KILL YOU EASILY," HE SAID] + +"Come nearer that I may kill you easily," he said, gripping his +tomahawk and leaning towards Steve. "Come nearer, pale face, for if +you would flee I will dive in after you." + +Steve made no answer, and indeed took little notice of the man. +Without pausing in his course, he surged nearer to the canoe, and then +suddenly dived beneath the water as if he were making for the farther +side. And very fortunately for him the rain of the previous night had +coloured the river a deep brown, so that it was almost impossible to +detect the whereabouts of anyone beneath the surface. The Indian stood +upright for a moment, staring into the water. Then he leaned one hand +on the far side of the canoe, and waited, his keen tomahawk poised in +the air, ready to strike the instant the pale face appeared. + +"He will come up just beneath me," he said in guttural tones. "I will +see how far I can cleave this pale face. Pah! who but a pale face +would attempt such a manoeuvre? By taking his eyes from me for even a +second he throws his life away. His scalp is mine and shall hang from +my belt ere his comrades have time to fire at me. Ah! That was one of +their bullets." + +A look of scorn passed across his ferocious features as a missile sent +from Silver Fox's weapon screamed past his ear. A miss was a miss to +this redskin warrior. He had no time for sentiment, for consideration +as to how near he had been to losing his life. + +"Surely the pale face will rise," he exclaimed, his equanimity +somewhat upset by the fact that Steve had not yet appeared. "It is +long since he dived. His breath cannot last much longer. Ah! Perhaps +he turned back towards the bank when under the water." + +He swung round to the other side, his draggled feathers and hair +swishing a cascade of water on to the surface of the river. But there +was no sign of Steve, nothing to tell where he had got to, nothing but +the frantic calls of his comrades on the bank. + +"Look behind you. Look to the smaller canoe," they bellowed, for +their keen eyes had been watching the contest, and not a movement had +escaped them. "Dive! Leave the canoe!" + +The Indian started, swung his head round, and then stood as if +transfixed. For the cunning of a redskin had for once been outmatched +by the astuteness and coolness of a pale face. Steve knew well enough +that the man who reached the canoe first would have the game in his +hands, and realised that were he to venture to the surface on either +side of the craft taken possession of by the Indian he would be +immediately tomahawked. An instant before he plunged beneath the +water a better plan had flashed across his brain. + +"There is a spare musket in the store canoe," he said to himself. "If +I can only reach it." + +Two strokes beneath the surface took him under the larger canoe and +away to the stern of the smaller one. He rose silently to the surface, +and as the redskin peered into the river, expecting him to rise at any +instant, our hero gripped the gunwale, lifted his head and shoulders +clear of the stream and groped with one hand for the musket. It was +there, just where he had left it, and in a very little while he had it +to his shoulder. It was not the place he would have chosen for a shot, +for it is no easy matter to hang to a frail canoe with the gunwale +tucked as it were beneath one arm, and lift a heavy musket to the +shoulder. However, Steve was not the lad to miss such an opportunity, +particularly when the safety and lives of his companions depended on +his success. He steadied himself with an effort, brought the barrel +in a line with the Indian, and as the latter threw his hands over his +head and leaped for the water, he took a steady pull on the trigger. +Instantly a frantic cheer burst from the near bank, while Steve slid +from the store canoe and clambered into the other. + +"Well done, boy! Bravely done, Steve. Look out for those other +redskins. Paddle in if you can." + +"Git yer fire iron filled," bellowed Jim. "Yer can't paddle away from +the critters. Ram in a charge." + +But the backwoodsman had forgotten that Steve had been under the +water. Everything on him was thoroughly drenched, and no doubt some +moisture had leaked into his powder horn. He looked down at it, saw +that it was useless to reload, and then plunged a paddle into the +water. + +"Cover me with your guns," he shouted. "If they come up I will club +them with the butt. My powder is saturated. Ah, here come the bullets." + +Something screeched past his nose, and as he listened he heard the +mass of lead thud with a dull and heavy sound against a tree on the +bank. Then followed a dozen shots, one of which penetrated the side +of the canoe, while a second chipped a big corner from the end of his +paddle. A third lodged on the rock by which he and his comrades had +disembarked, and, ricochetting from it, flew off into the forest with +a scream which was even more disconcerting than was the sound made by +the bullets which had been so near to striking him. + +"Bend low! Keep under as much as you can," shouted Tom. "Now, boys, +pick off some of those rascals." + +The burly backwoodsman had taken his stand beside a small tree, +keeping the trunk between himself and the enemy, and now his musket +shot up to his shoulder; he took a steady aim at one of the figures +on the far bank and calmly pulled the trigger; for Judge Mainwaring +was not the man to lose his accustomed coolness, even though his only +son was in danger. Jim and Mac followed his example, while Silver +Fox stared for a moment at the foremost of the two redskins swimming +towards Steve. He dropped his musket suddenly, fell on his face and +slid down the steep bank into the water. None of those on the far side +saw his figure as he carried out the movement, and the wary native +gave them no opportunity after that till he had covered many yards. +Then as his head popped up from the surface the enemy on the farther +side set up a deafening howl, shouting warnings to their brother. + +"Keep up the firing," said Tom, coolly. "Silver Fox will settle that +fellow and Steve will get clear. Hah! I doubt whether they are in time +to warn the rascal." + +"They ain't," responded Jim, shortly. "He don't hear. The water's in +his ears and I reckon he ain't a notion what's happening." + +It appeared indeed that this was actually the fact, for in spite of +the bellows of the redskins on the far bank their comrade still forced +his way through the water, evidently unaware that he would soon have a +second opponent to deal with. Suddenly the water swirled in front of +him, a hand shot out of the muddy depths and the fingers closed about +the tomahawk which the man carried between his teeth. Then, as the +draggled feathers of Silver Fox's head-dress emerged from the water, a +blade gleamed in the air. There was a dull crash, a shrill cry and the +contest was over. Silver Fox was swimming back to his friends, the +third Indian having meanwhile retreated to the other bank. + +"Jest keep on pepperin' the varmint," sang out Jim. "They've given us +a good chance, and I reckon we've made a few of the critters sit up. +Keep at it, boys, so that they can't fire too strong at Steve and Fox." + +Five minutes later Steve steered the leading canoe into the gap made +in the big bed of osiers, and having pulled in the second, with its +precious store of trade goods, leaped lightly ashore. + +"I rather fancy we have had the best of that little action," he said +with a smile. "Talking Bear is the only one who has suffered. He was +hit in the head, and must have been killed instantaneously. + +"That's one to them 'ere varmint, then," growled Jim. "How many air we +to put down on our side?" + +"The two who swam out, and three others on the far bank, that makes +five," said Tom, counting them on his fingers. + +"Sure, have ye forgotten the others?" asked Mac. "There was two kilt +by the first volley, and one that Tom fetched over with Steve's gun." + +"There was that," admitted Jim, grimly. "Then there was the other +fellow. He skipped through the forest at a powerful rate, and I doubt +that we should ha' got him ef it hadn't been for this here Mac. Tell +'em how you worked it, lad." + +Thus called upon, the short and sturdy Irishman pulled his cap from +his head and flushed as red as his own hair. + +"Sure, Oi've a way of runnin'," he said. "Whin this redskin took off +through the forest Oi wint afther him as quick as Oi was able." + +"And?" questioned Tom. + +"And that's all. Sure Oi was up wid him before ye could wink, and thin +we rushed at one another. Thrust an Oirishman to pick up a bhit of +sthick whin a row's in the air. Oi caught holt of a fallen branch as +Oi ran, and when he jumped at me wid his tomahawk, faith I laid him +flat with the branch. He's kilt." + +Very carefully did the little band check off the number of the slain, +their pleasure damped by the thought that only nine had fallen. For +the reader must recollect that these constant conflicts between pale +face and redskin were waged without mercy. To expect it from any of +the unfriendly tribes was to expect something which no redskin had +ever possessed. These inhabitants of the forest wildernesses were +trained to ferocity. The history of their tribal wars, of their +contests with French and English colonists, is one long tale of +atrocities, of frightful cruelties, of sudden attacks upon absolutely +defenceless settlements, of merciless butchery of women and children, +and of unheard of tortures practised on any who might happen to be +spared for a while. Was it wonderful that the white man, with his +natural inclination to peace and goodwill, and his abhorrence of +unfair fighting and of torture, should be driven in time to fight as +did these redskin fiends? Mercy on their part to a fallen enemy was a +mistaken virtue. Clemency was rewarded in the majority of cases by the +foulest treachery. The redskin who was set free to return to his tribe +after an unsuccessful attack too often would turn upon his deliverer +when danger was unsuspected, and within an hour of receiving kindness +from him, would murder him and his defenceless family, and make off +through the woods, triumphant at the thought of scalps so easily +obtained. + +No. This was always war to the death. A wounded man was as good as +dead, for no quarter was asked for or given. Every additional man +brought to the ground was an advantage to the weaker side, and a +greater inducement to those who had lost him to wreak vengeance on +those who had brought about his downfall. Such was the barbarous +nature of forest warfare when Steve went on the trail. + +"Jest nine of the skunks," said Jim, staring across at the farther +bank. "That leaves the critters jest about twenty. Reckon we ain't out +of this here muss yet." + +"But we are better off by far," cried Tom. "Supposing the division of +these redskins had been the other way. Supposing there had been some +twenty-five on this side, and only four on the other." + +"We hadn't a chance. Reckon we should ha' been wiped clean out by +this," said Jim, with emphasis. "Yer can't shoot down twenty-five, +however well yer may be posted. They'd have rushed us, most likely, +and then it would have been all up. As it air we're well out so far, +and I say as we owe it to this here Steve and to Silver Fox. Ef this +young feller hadn't slipped into the river and swum to the canoes, +them varmint would have been over here by now. I reckon it war a 'cute +idea to get a hold of that musket and shoot. How'd yer come to do it, +Steve?" + +"Well, I didn't see a chance of getting possession of the canoes in +any other way," said Steve modestly. "If I had come up alongside after +diving, he would have killed me." + +"As easy as you'd kill a fly," cried Jim. "You may take that as +sartin." + +"Then I thought of the gun, and struck out under the water in the +direction of the smaller canoe." + +"There was never a more astonished Indian," interrupted Tom. "Steve, +you've done well. All here agree with what I say. I'm glad you've +shown such 'cuteness. It does credit to my teaching, and I've done my +best to let you learn the life of a backwoodsman. But let us talk of +something else. We are not cut of the mess yet, by a long way. But we +have a litt'e time in which to breathe and look round. What will those +rascals do now, and how are we to get away up the river?" + +He turned to Jim, as the most experienced of the hunters, and waited +patiently for him to answer. It was, indeed, a question which required +consideration, and even an experienced hunter and trapper, such as +Hunting Jim undoubtedly was, could not come to an instant decision. + +"Reckon it air one of them points as wants a deal of figuring," he +said, as he scratched his head and stared across the river. "Yer may +bet as them critters is watchin'. They've got under cover, 'cos they +found as our firin' was better'n they thought. But they're thar. Them +bushes covers the hul crowd of 'em. Suppose we get to work at their +canoes first of all, and that'll give me a chanst to think out this +here matter." + +Setting Silver Fox to watch the opposite side of the river, the four +trappers crossed to the osiers, taking good care to keep well out of +sight. They found the five canoes lying side by side, and at once drew +their tomahawks with a view to cutting holes in the sides and bottoms. +In fact, they were about to commence on the work when Steve gave a +sudden exclamation. + +"Suppose we wait a little, father," he said eagerly. + +"Wait! Supposin' them critters cross higher up?" + +It was the wily Jim who asked the question, staring at Steve with +a grim smile on his lips. "Ah. Them varmint wants to make us think +they're stayin' over yonder. Them bullets came close." + +Three reports rang out from the far bank as he spoke, and the shots +flew through the osiers, stripping a shower of flat leaves from the +reeds. + +"Perhaps they guess we are about to destroy their canoes," whispered +Tom. "But I admit that they are likely to attempt to swim across +unseen, and come down upon us. We should make nothing of such a +crossing, and you may be sure that they would not. They would cut +down a few reeds to carry their muskets and their powder, and would +soon get to this side. If they try that game, we must slip away at +once, and we can rely on Silver Fox to give us a warning. Look for +yourselves. The river runs without a bend for a very long way, and our +look-out would detect any such movement." + +"That air right. Reckon you've put it square, Judge," said Jim. +"What's this young Steve got to say? You was supposin'." + +"I suggested that we should leave these canoes for a time. At any +moment we can destroy them, for a few slashes with a tomahawk will do +all that is required." + +"That air so. What then?" + +"One moment," answered Steve. "Supposing we were to get aboard our +canoes and put out into the river, what would happen?" + +"Happen? Reckon you'd soon hear from them ere critters. Ef yer think +of doin' a thing like that, Steve Mainwarin', why you ain't the son +of Judge here. Ef yer want to get killed so badly, best paddle clean +across an' invite them fellers to wipe the hul party out properly. It +ain't in reason," he went on, hotly. "Ef we was aboard, all packed +together, they'd pick us off like birds." + +"If they could see us," ventured Steve, smiling at Jim's excitement. + +"Ef they could see us! Thunder! Do yer think there's a redskin as +wouldn't be able, even at night. 'Sides, the moon'll be up soon after +the night comes, and with the light they'd have, shootin' would be +easier. Jest shake yerself, Steve." + +He looked severely at the young trapper, and then turned as Tom broke +in upon the silence which had followed the old backwoodsman's words. + +"You wait a little, Jim," said the burly Englishman. "Steve has given +us a hint more than once in the past twenty-four hours. Try him again. +I'll be bound he's got something under that hunting cap of his. He's a +regular young conspirator. What is it, Steve?" + +"Just this. We are stranded here I take it. We cannot move into the +river, for the Indians would shoot us down. They cannot easily cross, +for we have their canoes, and I am sure that they have no others +hidden along the river. That is why they sent four men along this +side, with instructions to paddle the whole lot across. Until the +night comes they can do very little. But once it is dark they will +send half their number over, and then we shall be in danger of attack. +So it comes to this. They can afford to wait, and, in fact, must do +so. We cannot. If we wait they will be across before the night is an +hour old, and then with a party on either side, even though they have +no canoes, they will have us." + +Tom nodded emphatically, while Jim scratched amongst the osiers with +the soft toe of his moccasin. + +"That air so," he drawled. "Then what's the ticket?" + +"We must move. I thought that with these canoes to help us we might +manage to get away. Now, Jim, don't open your mouth as if you would +like to swallow me. Do you think these reeds would keep out a bullet +if piled fairly close together?" + +For a second the trapper looked closely at the osiers, feeling them +with his hand. He tore one out by the roots, and then gripped it +between his teeth. + +"They're soft and pulpy inside," he said, a light gathering on his +face. "Reckon, as they stand, a bullet would rip through 'em as if +they was only cotton. See that! Ain't I right?" + +Another series of reports had suddenly rung out from the far side, and +again the leaden messengers tore through the osiers. + +"Jest as ef they was cotton," he repeated. "But ef yer was to pile +'em close together, then I reckon a bullet would find it hard to get +through. Steve, you ain't such a duffer as I thought, not by a long +way. What're yer after?" + +"Just this," laughed Steve, for his nimble brain had hit upon a plan +which might help the whole party. "We have five canoes here. We can +break up two of them, and by jamming the sides into two of the others +can raise the gunwales from the water. Then we can pack them with +reeds. They'll take a lot without sinking, for these stalks are very +light and buoyant. Once we're ready we can float them out between us +and the redskins, and then they can fire till they're tired." + +Jim threw his cap in the air, and, unmindful of the fact that the +action immediately brought a shower of bullets, danced and capered +in the reeds. He was a queer and light-hearted trapper. For all his +sagacity and cunning, he was but a boy, and behaved like one when +anything out of the way happened. + +"Cap'n," he cried, gripping Steve by the hand. "I ain't fit to lead +this party no longer. Reckon you've won the place. Boys, we air goin' +ter do as Steve says, and get the laugh on them critters." + + + + +Chapter V + +Jules Lapon is Disappointed + + +Steve Mainwaring had suddenly leaped higher in the estimation of his +comrades, and even Tom Mainwaring, who was apt to look upon his son +with the proud eye of an indulgent father, now regarded him with eyes +which shone with strange enthusiasm. For Steve had done well. Even +when he was only a little mite he had shown courage, and as he grew +bigger and stronger, and mastered the ways of the backwoodsmen and +the habits of the Indians, amongst some of whom he was often thrown, +his elders had seen that he was a promising pupil, while the redskins +themselves had christened him the Hawk, no small compliment from such +a race. Then Steve had a great advantage. While learning the ways of +the backwoods, he had had an excellent education from his father, +which added something to his astuteness. And now, little by little, +these grizzled veterans of the forest were beginning to discover his +worth. They had already found in him a lad who could barter their +pelts far better than they could. Hitherto they had been always able +to rely upon his sagacity, his courage, and his shooting, and now---- + +"Cap'n," repeated Jim again, pushing his coon-skin cap back from +his bald head and gripping Steve's hand. "That 'ere plan air 'cute. +Thunder! One of these here redskin skunks wouldn't ha' thought of it, +and when they see us come out from the bank, why----" + +The thought was too much for the old hunter. He stood staring into +Steve's face, taking closer stock of the lad perhaps than he had +ever done before, for familiarity with a person often makes us slow +to discover virtues, which, after all, are only buried beneath the +surface. Good points, which are hardly skin deep, and which have +escaped our notice hitherto, only become apparent when some unusual +incident brings them prominently before our eyes. + +"That air a lad to be proud of, Judge," he said, wiping the +perspiration from his forehead. "Reckon he's lain quiet up to this, +or else we should ha' found him out. He's got a bit of your way of +stayin' quiet, and openin' his mouth only when he's axed a question or +when there's need for a lawyer or a cap'n. It's sartin he's got the +hang of this matter, and I votes that he leads till we're home agin. +'Twon't do no harm to us. What do yer say, red head?" + +Mac doubled an enormous fist, shook it in Jim's face and grinned, a +grin which set his lips back from his teeth, and exposed a cavity +reaching almost from ear to ear. It was the grin of a man who has +suddenly heard good news, and who has had a load taken from his mind. + +"Red head! Bedad, 'tis mesilf as will choke the loife out of ye, +Huntin' Jim. 'Twould be aisier for ye to stand out there and ax some +of thim varmint to put a bullet into ye, so it would. Red head!" + +The knuckles of his tanned and brawny fist rested against Jim's nose, +but provoked not a movement. + +"Waal, what do yer say?" Jim growled, his eyes flashing. + +"Say? Sure that Oi'll be onaisy if Steve don't take over the place. +Faith, 'tis his idea, and a man should have the chanst of carryin' it +out." + +"It is an honour, and one which the boy will appreciate," said Tom, +solemnly. "Steve, we appoint you the captain. Give your orders." + +"Yes, give the orders, lad," cried Jim, his kindly features lighting +up with real pleasure, while he continued to stare at this tall young +hunter, noticing his good looks, his fearless and alert appearance, +and the good temper which lurked in every line of his sun-tanned face. +"You've settled about them canoes. Git along with the job." + +Steve was somewhat overcome at the turn events had taken, but a glance +at his father and at his old companions soon assured him that they +were in earnest, and would support him. + +"I feel too young for the task," he said, "but I grant the experience +will be a fine one, and may some day be of the utmost use to me. Then +we'll set to work. Take your hunting knives and slit two of the canoes +down through the centre of the bow and stern. Mac, get along and +cut a few vine tendrils, and keep that red head down. The redskins +couldn't miss you." + +There was a roar at that, a hearty laugh which showed that Steve's +plan had encouraged the whole party, and had shown them a method by +which they might extricate themselves from a very awkward and serious +predicament. And to hear this young fellow commence his command by a +little good-humoured banter delighted them. + +"Arrah, now, Masther Steve. Is that the way ye'd reward me?" cried the +jovial Mac, as he powdered the pan of his heavy musket. "Have a care, +me bhoy. 'Tis yerself as will be howlin' for mercy if Mac gets a holt +of ye." + +Steve waved him away, and while the Irishman went to get the tendrils, +he and the others splashed through the oozy bed of the river, pushing +their way through the reeds till they came to the canoes hidden there +by their pursuers. Every now and again a report rang out on the far +side of the river, and a bullet whistled through the reeds, but +fortunately without hitting any of them, though some came very near. +Indeed, on one occasion they were in the greatest danger, for one of +the enemy, suspecting that they were amidst the reeds, crept higher +up the far bank, till he could get a full view of the nose of the +canoe which had first caught Steve's eye. He reckoned that if the pale +faces were there they would be in amongst the craft, and levelling his +barrel to what he thought must be the correct position, he fired. + +"Thunder!" exclaimed Jim, as Tom's skin cap leaped into the air, spun +round, and flew in amongst the reeds. "Them 'ere varmint kin shoot. +Jest a moment while I talk to that critter. Get out of these reeds." + +They crept to the bank and lay down under the bushes, while the active +trapper clambered into a tree and stared across the river. Presently +they saw his barrel come to the horizontal position, where he held it +till something caught his eye. Then the stock went to his shoulder, +his brown cheek fell closer to it, and his eye squinted along the +sights. There was a sharp crack on the far side, a spurt of flame +and smoke issued from the bushes, while a bullet ploughed into the +reeds, and thudded heavily against the bank. At the same instant +Jim's piece spoke, and as his comrades looked they saw the barrel of +a gun suddenly emerge from the cover opposite. It seemed to leap into +the air, and after it came the painted face and then the body of an +Indian. He stood stock still for an instant, staring at the reeds, and +then with a hideous yell fell face foremost into the river, his death +bringing loud whoops from his friends. + +"Reckon that'll make 'em a bit careful," said Jim, clambering down +and reloading. "Them skunks had got to think that we couldn't shoot. +They'll see now that some of us know the business-end of a musket. +Them orders, Steve?" + +"Let us tackle the canoes and make ready." + +Once more they crept into the reeds, their hunting knives in their +hands. A few slashes cut through the strong sinews with which the ends +of the craft were sewn, while Steve divided the huge strip of birch +back along the centre. Another canoe was served in the same manner, +when they found themselves in possession of four pieces as long as +their own canoe, or almost so. And now they threw themselves on a +third canoe, erecting their strips along the side, and pegging them +in position with pieces cut from a tree, while Mac made all secure by +piercing the strips and lashing them firmly with vine tendrils. The +work came happily to their hands, for backwoodsmen were skilled in the +manufacture of canoes. + +"That 'ere ship air ready," said Jim at length. "We can fill her till +the water comes above the gunwale of the canoe, and she won't sink." + +"And if we care to carry out the same work with these other two, we +can have two ships floating side by side, and they at least should +keep out the bullets," said Steve. "What do you think?" + +"Think! Ain't you the cap'n?" + +"Then we'll do it. Let's get along with the job." + +While Steve and Jim began to construct a second craft which would hold +a pile of reeds, Mac and Tom crept through the osiers, cutting bundles +away with their hunting knives. They kept steadily at the work till +they had cut down the greater part of the bed, leaving a thick outer +fringe to hide them from the enemy. The leaves were then lopped off, +and the stems piled into the first of the special craft constructed, +till they reached to a point above the high sides provided. + +"Float her now and see whether she is top heavy," said Steve. "That +was a good idea of Mac's to put a few rocks at the bottom." + +Very carefully they pushed the strange craft into the water till she +floated close beside their own canoe. Then they tested her stability +by pressing the load over to either side. + +"As steady as you could wish," said Steve. "Her gunwale is a couple +of inches above the water, so she will ship very little. Now for the +second." + +Within an hour they were ready, the two craft laden with reeds being +lashed firmly together and floated to the far side of their own canoe. +There was still a little to do. At Tom's suggestion Mac cut a couple +of stout boughs, and these were attached to the stem and stern of the +nearest craft, and the other ends to the stem and stern of the canoe +in which they would take their places. + +"If a bullet does happen to come through, it will drop in the water," +he said. "Again, we might find it convenient to set fire to the reeds +in the outer one, and make use of the smoke as a covering. The wind +is blowing right across to the far side of the river, and the reeds +happen to be well soaked after last night's rain. There would be +little danger of the covering being burned too soon." + +"A grand idea," cried Steve. "What do you say, Jim?" + +"That Tom and Steve air mighty 'cute, and don't want no teachin'. +Judge, I guessed as yer had somethin' in that big head of yours. That +'ere idea air almost better'n Steve's. Set fire to the reeds we will, +and a fine smoke them Injuns'll see. Reckon they'll be choked." + +He went off chuckling to bring in Silver Fox, the latter having +meanwhile kept an eagle eye on the far bank. + +"They have moved a little," he said slowly. "The enemy have spread up +and down the bank, and watch us like hawks. Do my brothers think to +paddle away? Surely there will be few of us to whom a bullet will not +come." + +"And supposing we wait till it is dark?" asked Steve. + +"Then our scalps will hang at their belts. A little sooner will make +no difference. Silver Fox is ready." + +"And supposing again that we move off now and have some cover, for +instance, this, and set fire to the reeds in the outer canoe?" + +Steve pointed to the strange craft which they had prepared, and waited +eagerly for the answer, for Silver Fox was a cunning Mohawk, and if a +thing could pass his eyes and meet with approval, then it was good. He +strode towards the growing reeds, tore one up by the roots and bit it, +just as Jim had done. Then he turned gravely to the party. + +"The pale faces are great and brave foes," he said. "They press on and +on into the forests, which were the hunting grounds of the Indian, and +they forget the defeat they have suffered, the dead they have left. +Nothing can or will stop them. They die like buffalo, fighting for +their lives. Their cunning is at first as nothing to the cunning of +the Shawnees and other foes, and so their scalps hang in many and many +a wigwam. But death and loss have taught them. They have become men of +the river and forests themselves, and their cunning is great. Surely +the Great Father must have aided them, for how else could they have +thought of such a device. Silver Fox has spoken and is ready." + +He walked to the tree at the foot of which Steve and Tom had +reverently laid the body of poor Talking Bear, and looked closely into +his face. Then he stooped, took the belt, the tomahawk, and the bullet +pouch of the fallen redskin, and strode down the bank. + +"Farewell, my brother," he said. "You have been a faithful friend, +a kind companion, and a mighty fighter. The wigwam will know you no +more, and the men of the war parties will miss your strong arm. These +I take so that all may keep your memory." + +It was a very simple little ceremony, but affecting for all that, and +caused Steve to gulp down something which seemed to fill his throat. +For the lad, though a skilful hunter, was not hardened to the ways +of the Indians and the pioneers of the forest. A life was a life, a +friend a friend to be mourned after his death and thought of often. + +And so they turned away from the silent figure, leaving the still +form of the painted warrior lying there in his blanket, shaded by +the foliage of a mighty tree, which has long since been felled to +make way for the iron road which now bears the rapid conveyance of +this bustling century. Who of those thousands who pass along the line +and look out of the windows at the fascinating scenery of the Mohawk +think of the days of which we write, or ever paint in their own minds +the birch canoes which then were paddled over the silent waters, and +the painted faces which stole through the forests, hunting the pale +faces, the sturdy fathers of a sturdy race which now fills the land of +promise? + +"Ready?" asked Steve, taking the lead. "Then, father, show us the way, +please, and take the paddle right astern. I will take that in the +bows, while Mac can use the one in the centre. Jim, we'll pile the +muskets just in front of father, and you will get in a shot if there +is an opportunity. One moment. Break up those spare paddles, Mac." + +All stepped quietly into their places, while Steve waded into the +water and steadied the canoe, pushing the one which held their stores +well behind him. When all was in readiness, he waded still farther in +and sprinkled a little powder on the reeds which filled the strange +craft farthest away. A few strokes of his steel against the flint set +the powder fizzling, and in a minute one of the reeds, which happened +to be drier than the others, was well alight. Using this as a match, +he went all along the load, firing it at close intervals. Then he +came back to the stern and made ready to push the canoes out. And +meanwhile the flames had done their work. Licking round the portions +of the outside layer of reeds, which happened to be dry, they soon set +them ablaze, and then began to ignite the damper portions. A cloud of +dense black smoke rose above the reeds, and, caught by the wind, went +billowing out across the river. Almost at once fierce whoops came from +the far shore, and there was a commotion amidst the forest cover. + +"Shout and dance, me beauties," laughed Jim grimly. "Set to at one of +yer war dances, if that'll do yer good. Reckon them 'ere varmint has a +notion we're burnin' their canoes. That's what all the rustle's about." + +"They will slay us with the torture should it chance that we fall into +their hands," said Silver Fox gravely. "This is a sore blow to our +enemies." + +"Then they have worse to follow," chimed in Steve. "I fancy that when +they see us floating away up the river they'll be more than a trifle +angry. Paddles out. Ready? Then, here we go." + +He pushed slowly till there was way on the canoes, and then with one +vigorous push sent the whole lot surging against the barrier of reeds +which hid the party from the enemy. And as he pushed for the last +time, he leaned his full weight on the sides of the canoe, and with a +dexterous movement clambered aboard. + +"Get hold of the paddle and make ready to swing round," sang out Tom. + +"We come out bows on, remember that, and shall have to face their +fire. There goes the first musket." + +They were out. The canoes had burst through the reeds into the open +river, and for a minute perhaps Steve looked at the opposite bank. He +saw a figure suddenly stand erect and emerge from behind a tree, and +watched as the barrel of a musket was levelled at him. There was a +loud report, a bullet whisked over his head, and smoke gushed from the +forest. Then there was a deafening explosion just behind him, and for +a few seconds he experienced the deafness and pain which are felt when +a weapon is discharged close to one's ear. But his eyes held to the +far bank, and once more he had need to praise Jim's shooting. + +"That 'ere redskin ain't too careful," growled the trapper. "Ef he'd +put his iron jest a bit lower, he'd have plugged Huntin' Jim as sure +as I'm standin'. Reckon he ain't fit to try again." + +It was true. The unerring eye of the trapper had fastened upon the +Indian as he levelled his musket, and Jim seldom made a mistake. He +was one of the hardy pioneers versed in Indian warfare who had learned +that it is better to hold one's fire and keep one's finger from the +trigger rather than send a bullet wide of the mark. + +"Yer can't afford to miss, Steve," he had often remarked, when the +young trapper was out on some excursion with him. "Some of these days +yer may run into a crowd of them redskins, and then you'll know that +the man as can shoot has a chance of keepin' his scalp. Reckon the +chap as don't know how ain't fit to wear haar." + +"Round with her. Paddle!" shouted Steve. "That's better. Now they can +fire till they are tired of the game. Whew! Doesn't it sound queer to +hear the bullets striking." + +Indeed it did. As the paddlers forced the strange craft up the river, +their course was followed by frantic whoops and by a perfect hail of +bullets. As fast as twenty men could fire and load again the muskets +sent their contents at the floating target, and time and again the +leaden messengers crashed into the reeds, many passing through the +outer pile and lodging in the centre of the second one, proving that +Steve's suggestion was a good one. Occasionally a bullet would hit the +mark somewhere near the top, and a shower of shredded reed would be +scattered over the party. Then, too, numbers of missiles flew astern +and ahead, for the smoke upset the aim of the enemy. + +And so for an hour Steve and his friends paddled up the river, +confident now of their security from bullets. As they progressed the +howling band ran abreast of them on the bank, and one or two of the +redskins actually entered the water in their frantic eagerness to come +up with the pale faces. But Jim put a stop to that. The smoke hid +him entirely from the sight of the enemy, while he himself had a good +view of the bank, and was well protected by the reeds. He stood in the +canoe, a pile of muskets at his feet, and just the top of his head +showing above the barrier. Then, every now and again, he straightened +himself a little more, his weapon went to his shoulder, and a shriek +told that the eye of the trapper had not erred. Indeed his good +shooting, the pace at which they paddled, and perhaps a failure in +ammunition soon resulted in a lull in the contest. Only an occasional +bullet now plunged into the reeds. + +"We can say good-bye to them very soon," said Steve suddenly, craning +his head round the barrier. "A couple of miles up, Swan creek runs +into the stream, and that should stop them. They will have to swim or +climb, and in either case we can draw away from them. When I give the +word, cut away the canoes and upset them. A few blows with a tomahawk +will make them useless, and send them to the bottom. Is that right, +father?" + +He appealed to Tom, for as yet this position of leader was strange to +him, and he felt somewhat abashed and modest, considering the age and +experience of his comrades. However, he had nothing to fear, for Tom +nodded energetically, while the garrulous Jim burst forth with a reply. + +"Jest you recollect as you're the cap'n," he laughed. "When yer give +an order, why, let it be an order. No hankey pankey, lad. If Mac +don't set to and follow your words, why, pass him along to me. I'll +make short work of the feller." + +"Bedad!" growled the Irishman. "Huntin' Jim, there'll be trouble for +ye sooner than ye expect. Will ye be quiet and listen to what the +cap'n's sayin'?" + +They were a merry party now. Merry and light-hearted, as in truth they +had a right to be, for every minute lightened their danger. Indeed, +hardly an hour had passed when they came abreast of the creek of +which Steve had spoken. It was wide and shallow, and cut into a big, +sweeping hollow formed in the side of a long rocky ridge. + +"There ain't a redskin as would attempt to swim it," said Jim with +decision, "and ef they make round behind the cliff, why, Steve, you +and me and Tom and Mac'll be at home long before they come out on the +far side. Reckon they'll give it up and get back to their huntin' +grounds. Boys, when we're back at the settlement we'll send the news +round, and there won't be another party making this side of the fall +for Albany. Murderin' cut-throats like them ought to be hounded down, +and ef they was our way----" + +"We should root them out," said Tom, quietly, "No body of +self-respecting settlers would put up with such a state of things. +Against such a band we of the settlement are secure. But it will not +be always so." + +He shook his head dubiously, while Jim and Mac nodded in agreement. + +"Reckon the thirteen States has got to put aside their baby squabbles +and put their backs to this work ef we air to stay at the settlement," +exclaimed Jim. "Trappers ain't powerful enough to stop the journeys of +the French and Injuns." + +How true his words were likely to prove the reader will be able +to learn. For the time had come long since for concerted action. +France had set a covetous eye on the valley of the Ohio, on the +smiling forest country lying to the west of the Alleghany Mountains, +and resistlessly, unchecked as yet, she had poured into the land. +There had been no concerted movement to check her. The thirteen +States which then constituted our American colonies made no combined +movement against the enemy. For the most part they were absolutely +apathetic. And while they sat at their ease, surrounded by comfort and +security, hundreds and hundreds of the log huts and settlements of +their brothers were being ravaged by the French and their relentless +Indians. The guns and the courage of thousands of trappers and hardy +backwoodsmen were insufficient now to stem the torrent. + +"The times are bad. There is trouble ahead," said Tom, thoughtfully. +"Let us hope it will pass by and leave our settlement undisturbed. But +I fear that that is too much to hope for. There is Jules Lapon." + +Yes. There was Jules Lapon, leader of the most reckless and cruel +bands of Indians, and a near neighbour now of Tom and his friends. + +"Well, we won't think of him and the troubles now," sang out Steve +cheerily. "We're well out of shot, and can cut the canoes adrift. Let +us get free of them and push on towards home." + +They hacked through the creepers which bound the ends of the boughs to +their own canoe, and then cut holes in the two craft which they had +so deftly prepared, ripping the sides and throwing the reeds out into +the river. A few minutes later the canoes which had proved so useful +were sweeping along, hopelessly injured, and long before Steve and his +friends had turned round the bend of the cliff they had disappeared +under the water. + +They dug their paddles into the stream now with a vengeance, and +sent their craft surging up the Mohawk, the echo of discordant yells +and whoops still coming to their ears. But they were secure from +pursuit, and never even troubled to look behind them. Turn and turn +about they struggled at the paddles, and in the course of seven days +found themselves at the end of their river journey. They had reached +the lake which emptied into the river, and their coming was greeted +by a tribe of Mohawk Indians. Then for two days they trudged through +the forest, the Mohawks helping to carry their stores. Above their +heads the branches grew in one long, continuous arch, hiding the +sun. Steve led the way, his record with this tribe of hardy warriors +now vastly increased after his recent exploits. His eye followed the +numerous blazes on the trees, slashes cut with Jim's tomahawk, and the +trappers' sure method of marking a path. + +"The last stage, I think," said Tom, on the evening of the second day, +when they came in sight of water. + +That evening there was a serious palaver round the camp fire, and +Silver Fox and his friends were rewarded with a portion of the stores. +On the following day when Steve and his friends stepped into a canoe +which had been hidden in the forest and pushed out on to this new +strip of water, the Mohawks waved a farewell to them from the bank. + +"Health and strength go with you, our brothers," cried Silver Fox, +his features wearing their usual impassiveness. "Call should there be +danger, and Silver Fox and his friends will surely come." + +Steve watched them as they dived into the forest, and then stared +down the river. They were on the Alleghany now, and a strong stream +was bearing them down to their own beloved settlement. Indeed, the +following day was hardly three hours old when all gave a shout of +recognition. + +"Thar's the place. And thar's Jimmy!" + +It was Jim who waved his cap and shouted, while a faint huzza came +back from the shore. They put the nose of the canoe towards a break in +the forest, and very soon Jim and Mac were greeting their wives, while +Tom and Steve looked on in silence. They unpacked the canoes, pulled +them up, and separated, Steve and his father making for their own +humble but comfortable log cabin. + + + + +Chapter VI + +Left in Charge + + +"Marse Steve, Marse Steve, I'se that glad to see you. I'se prayed and +prayed offen, and sometimes I think you never come home agin. Och, +honey, I'se glad you'se back agin." + +The black boy who acted as Tom's housekeeper wept with joy as the two +sturdy trappers stepped into the hut. He was busy superintending the +roasting of a wild turkey which hung to a string dangling over the +cabin fire, and the return of his masters was entirely unexpected. + +"I'se that glad, Marse Mainwaring and Marse Steve. Sammy wonder and +wonder when yo gwine to come to de log cab'n agin. Sholy yo stay here +now fo' ever." + +The faithful fellow looked up at them through his tears while he still +gripped both by the hand. + +"There, there, Sammy," said Tom at length, touched by the warm welcome +which the honest fellow had given them. "Let us have something to eat, +and afterwards we'll lie down and take the best rest we have had for +many a long day. We've been hunted, lad. Hunted by redskins." + +Sammy's mouth opened wide at that, and he stared still harder at his +master. Then he let his hand fall, and began to bustle about the +table, chattering as he prepared a meal for them. + +"Yo's sit down and eat and rest, Marse Mainwaring and Marse Steve," he +said, giggling between the words. "Den yo'se lie down, and Sammy watch +to seen no Red Injun come near to hurt yo. Marse Steve?" + +"Well, Sammy." + +"To'morrer p'raps yo sit outside'r the door and speak to Sammy? P'raps +yo tell us all what's happ'nd?" + +"Perhaps," answered Steve. "Now, hurry up with that turkey. Father and +I have not had a peaceful meal for many a day. As for sleep, I fancy +we have seldom had both eyes closed." + +It was wonderful the way in which they settled down at the log hut +which Tom had made his home. As if he had not been away from the place +for even an hour, Tom strode across to the fireplace, and, taking his +musket in his hand, spilled the powder from the pan, and blew the last +of the grains away. Then he laid the weapon across the buck horns +nailed to the logs, stringing the powder horn to one of the antlers, +and the bag of bullets opposite. His coon-skin cap went still higher, +while his damp moccasins were placed a few inches from the embers. +Steve followed suit, and very soon the two were discussing the wild +turkey. + +Some three weeks later, as Steve and Sammy were engaged in +manufacturing maple sugar, Tom came and sat on a log close by and +watched them carefully. They had three large iron cauldrons dangling +over log fires, while a fourth, a smaller one, hung over a separate +fire placed some yards from the others. And here they were making a +store of sugar to last them throughout the winter. Very early that day +Sammy and Steve had been out in the forest, and having blazed certain +of the maples, had set their jars beneath the slashes to catch the +sap. And now they were boiling the latter down, throwing fresh sap +into the larger cauldrons as the bubbling mass threatened to overflow +the sides. It was a long process, and for some hours now they had been +engaged in the task. They had boiled and boiled the mass till their +store of sap was reduced to a third of its former volume, and now that +third was placed in the smaller cauldron. Tom watched as they lifted +the latter from its iron support and poured its contents into stone +vessels to crystallise and cool. + +"Steve," he called out. "Steve, I'm going away. I'll be back in a +couple of months if nothing turns up to stop me." + +Steve was not surprised. His father had gone away from the settlement +on some business on several occasions before, while he had remained to +keep house. + +"Very well, father," he said. "I'll stay here and look out for your +return. It will be winter almost by the time you come back." + +"Almost, lad. About the Indian summer, I fancy, Steve." + +He looked closely at his son as he called him again. + +"Steve, my lad, these are uncertain times, and--and I might not have a +chance of coming back. If I should not, there is a lot that you should +learn in the next few years. Things you have never dreamed of. If I am +not back in a year, if anything happens to me, just go to this address +and hand in this letter. There it is. Now, I'm going." + +It was not the backwoods fashion to take long in preparing for a +journey, and so it happened that Tom Mainwaring set out for the +Alleghany within half an hour of his conversation with Steve. They +parted some ten miles from the log hut, Tom turning his face for the +coast, while our hero stepped back to the settlement. And there for a +little more than a month he went on quietly with the usual routine. He +fished and shot and laid in a store of corn and dried bear's meat for +the coming winter, the grinning Sammy looking after the log hut when +he was away. Now and again, too, Mac and Jim would come over and spend +an evening with him, while Steve would return the visit. For within +ten miles of the hut there were some fifteen families, and it was the +custom for all to visit one another. + +And so the days passed uneventfully till one bright morning in late +September, when there was a crispness in the air which denoted the +coming winter. A shout from Sammy brought Steve to the door of the log +hut. + +"Marse Steve," he cried. "There's people sure on the water. They's +comin' dis way." + +Two canoes were being paddled down the river, and as Steve looked they +turned towards the bank, with the evident intention of putting in at +the rough landing stage where his own canoes lay. + +"They are strangers," said Steve at once, shading his eyes from the +slanting rays of the sun. "There are three white men in the first +canoe, and three Indians in the second. I think that they have come +from the French settlements." + +He went to the buck horns over which his gun was suspended, and slung +the weapon across his shoulders. Then he took his bullet pouch, his +powder horn and tomahawk, and issued from the hut. By this time the +strangers had landed, and as Steve walked down towards them the three +white men moved towards a giant tree which grew within a few paces of +the bank, a tree which stood alone amidst a host of blackened stumps; +for when Tom had first come to the place virgin forest covered the +land, and he had expended much labour in clearing it. + +"What can they be doing?" wondered Steve, seeing the three halt at the +foot of the tree and lift an object against the trunk. "They seem to +be nailing something to the tree." + +A few minutes later he arrived within a couple of yards of the group, +and at once unslung his rifle, for with a start he recognised one of +the strangers. It was Jules Lapon, dressed now in the hunting costume +worn by French and English backwoodsmen alike. + +"Bon jour, monsieur," said Jules, swinging round and greeting +Steve with a cool and satirical smile. "I wish you a fine day and +prosperity. You will be pleased to look at this notice, and afterwards +you will take steps to move." + +He pointed to the tree and stood aside, watching Steve with an +expression which boded little good, and which seemed to combine malice +and triumph. Our hero stepped closer and stared at the strip of tin +which the Frenchman had pointed out. It was nailed to the bark of +the tree, and bore in high relief the arms of France, while beneath, +stamped on to the metal, were the following words, in the English +language: + +"In the name of Louis XV., King of France and of the Continent beyond +the sea, we, Louis Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm-Gozon de Saint-Véran, +Captain-General of the Forces in North America, and others of the +King's servants, renew our possession of this land. We warn all who +are not good and faithful subjects of France to depart peacefully and +without delay." + +There was a date and a rough signature underneath, while at the foot +of the tree lay a leaden disc, with a somewhat similar inscription, +destined to be buried there so that there might not be wanting +evidence in the future to prove the aims and aspirations of France +and her king. Nor was this the first time that Steve had looked at +such a disc. Some while before he had come upon another, nearer the +great lakes, and he had heard that the French had placed many more in +different parts. + +"You will observe his Majesty's wishes," said Jules Lapon, with an +irritating smile of triumph which brought a flush of anger to Steve's +cheek. "The orders are that you depart peacefully and without delay. +You will go this evening. To-morrow I and my Indians will come to your +hut and the place will be France. Comprenez vous? Bien!" + +Steve could have struck the rascally Frenchman, so great was his +anger. Moreover, when he recollected that it was this same ruffianly +foreigner who but a few weeks before had hunted himself and his +friends with his band of cut-throats, he felt that he would be almost +justified in shooting him where he stood. Then, too, there was this +preposterous demand. For three miles on either hand the land belonged +to Tom Mainwaring. He had paid dues for it to a land company, and he +had settled the place. His labour had cleared the forest till there +was sufficient open space to grow corn. The hut was his, the bank +of the river, and a stretch on the far side lying opposite the hut. +Steve's gorge rose at the thought that a Frenchman should order him +to give up his own belongings, and it was with difficulty that he +restrained himself. He bit his lip, stared at the tin placard, and +then swung round on the Frenchman, a cool smile on his lips. + +"You are joking," he said in French, causing Jules to start backwards +in surprise. "Surely you are playing with me, just as you and your +band of Indians played with our hunting party in the neighbourhood of +Albany. That was a sad joke, monsieur. I fear that we were too much in +earnest." + +It was Steve's turn to laugh, for there was no doubt that the +Frenchman was utterly taken aback. He staggered, flushed to the roots +of his hair, and gripped at his tomahawk. + +"You lie," he gasped. "I lead a band of redskins near Albany! You lie, +I say!" + +"You say so, monsieur," replied Steve calmly, with a smile which +maddened Jules. "Yes, it is you who say that, and I hear. But my eyes +are good. I know that you led that band. It was I who saw you in the +camp which you had hidden in the forest." + +"You saw the camp, and I was in it? And you say that it was near +Albany? Monsieur is mad, or he does not know how to tell the truth." + +Jules mastered his rage and mortification and made a bold attempt +to deceive the young colonist. After all, he thought, it was more +than possible that this Steve might have seen him there. But then +Frenchmen were much alike, and the glimpse he had obtained could have +been but a glimpse after all: and besides, Jules reflected, at that +time he was dressed as an Indian. + +"Does monsieur think that I am a bird?" he demanded brazenly. "I have +lands to look to across the river, and how can I be there and at +Albany?" + +"I hardly think you could be in two places so far apart, at one and +the same time," answered Steve, his temper well in hand now. "After +all, it is sufficient for me to know that you were in that camp in the +woods at Albany, where Hunting Jim and I saw you distinctly. That was +a long chase, Monsieur Jules, and I fancy it must have been somewhat +of a surprise to you and your men to come across so small a band +prepared to make a fight of it. Your men must have been discontented. +I believe we killed ten at least." + +This time he left no doubt in the Frenchman's mind that his rascality +was discovered, and as Steve looked down at him he saw a gleam of +malice light up the eyes of the ruffian, a gleam which seemed to +say, "I will kill you at the first opportunity, Steve Mainwaring." +Then Jules Lapon suddenly changed his intentions, a smile of triumph +wreathed his face, and he pointed to the placard on the tree. + +"After all, monsieur, it is not a question of men who have been +killed, or of my presence at Albany," he said easily. "It is a +question of this notice. You have read it?" + +"I have." + +"Then you will obey?" + +"If I do not? Supposing I stay?" + +"Monsieur, you see this whistle?" Jules took a whistle, made of horn, +from his belt, and held it before Steve's eyes. "You observe that +little toy, monsieur? Ah. Now I will tell you. Supposing you are so +rash as to stay, I shall blow that whistle, and within an hour the far +shore of the river will be darkened by the boats of my friends." + +"Cut-throat Indians, monsieur," said Steve. + +"You will be careful to describe my friends properly," cried Jules, +making an obvious effort to control his anger. "I was saying that the +Indians would come. They would hound you and your friends out of this +settlement, and, after that, who can keep a check upon them?" + +He shrugged his shoulders and looked significantly at his two comrades. + +"Only the men with the guns," answered Steve. "I know your Indians, +monsieur, and I know also that they have ravaged our settlements +cruelly. But for all your threats, I will not give up my father's +property. He was here long before the French had advanced south of +Lake Erie. He paid for this land, and he has expended labour upon it. +It is his. No king of France or his servants shall demand it of him or +of me." + +Steve looked the three Frenchmen calmly in the eyes, and then stepped +up to the tree. Plunging his hunting knife under the sheet of tin, he +levered it from the bark, and, tearing it free of the nail, threw it +into the river. + +"That is what I think of your demand and of your placard, Jules +Lapon," he said, "and I promise that if you come with your Indians +and drive me away, I and my father will hound you off the place. For +a time we English may be beaten back. But, mark my words, we shall +regain our own again, and you will be defeated." + +There was a shout as he went to the tree and tossed the inscription +into the water. Then no sooner had he spoken than Jules sprang at him +with an oath. + +"You defy us. You defy me!" he shouted. "Then listen to this, you +Englishman. Go now. I will give you a minute. If you are not then out +of sight I will shoot you. Yes, I will shoot you as I had hoped to do +up on the Mohawk. And after that I shall live in your cabin." + +He threw all secrecy to the winds, and lifting his musket presented +it at Steve's head. Indeed, for an instant or two it looked as if he +would have shot him down on the spot. + +"You see that I am ready," he shouted, as he looked along the sights. +"Run for your life." + +Steve was cornered. To turn and obey the command given him was the +most natural thing under the circumstances, and it may be wondered +that he did not do so. But he knew the methods of the backwoods, and +was well acquainted with the reputation of this Frenchman. + +"He will shoot me as I walk," he thought. "I will stay and face him. +After all, one can dodge a bullet sometimes if one keeps one's eye +on the weapon. Monsieur, I will stay here. Get into your canoe and +retire," he said sternly. "I also will shoot you if you do not lower +that musket." + +There was a shout of surprise and anger from the two who accompanied +Jules, and they at once sprang forward and lifted their muskets, +levelling the barrels at Steve's head. And there for a moment they +stood, Steve holding his ground stubbornly, while the Frenchmen looked +along their sights as if they were about to shoot at the defenceless +figure standing before them. Then the scene was unexpectedly +interrupted. + +"That air enough. Put them shootin' irons down. Do yer hear?" A gruff +voice suddenly burst from the edge of the forest, some twenty paces +away, and the tall gaunt figure of Hunting Jim appeared amidst the +leaves, the autumn tints matching strangely with the colour of his +hunting shirt and his leggings. "Drop yer guns, and git!" + +No wonder that the Frenchmen started, that Steve swung round with +a cry of delight. For not a sound had warned the disputants of the +approach of the trapper. He stood there, outlined grimly amidst the +leaves, for all the world as if he had sprung out of the ground. His +musket was gripped in his hands, while the long shining barrels of +two other weapons protruded from the trees on either hand. + +"Yer see, we ain't quite alone," he said hoarsely, "and ef them guns +ain't down in a jiffy--ah! that air well for yer. Now Jules Lapon, +murderer and robber, I reckon you can git, you and the hul crowd. Ef +we had shot yer down as yer stood, we'd have done what was right, and +p'raps we'd have saved a hangman a bad job one of these days. Git, +that's the order!" + +The tables were suddenly turned with a vengeance. Steve, standing +there bravely with three barrels presented at him, suddenly found +himself looking into three very startled faces. The Frenchmen stepped +backward involuntarily, and lowered their weapons as Jim began to +speak. Then, unable to face the guns which were directed at them, they +glanced at one another swiftly, turned, and made off at a run to their +canoe. + +"Stop! Jest drop them muskets. That air the ticket. Now put yer knives +and tomahawks down, and Jules Lapon, you as wanted to get our scalps +over by Albany, jest hook that ere whistle out'er yer belt. Now yer +can go, and jest remember this. When we meet again there won't be no +warnin'. It'll be shoot at sight. Don't ax fer nor expect no favors." + +Jim watched with a grim smile of triumph as the three disconsolate +Frenchmen put down their weapons and embarked. Then he and his +comrades emerged and took up their stations beside Steve, staring out +at the canoe as it stole away from the bank. More than a minute passed +before Steve turned to look at those who had come so opportunely to +his help. Beside the lanky form of Jim was Mac, his beard flaming +in the sun, his broad hand gripping the stock of his musket, and a +look of bitterness on his usually jolly features. On the other side, +impassive as was his custom and the habit of his race, his head thrown +forward and the feathers of his head-dress trailing down over his +shoulders, was Silver Fox, alert and vigilant, his eye following every +movement of the Frenchmen. + +"Bad cess to the blackguards," cried Mac, a note of unusual bitterness +in his tones. "They kin hunt me and you, Jim, and young Steve here +too if they like, but faith whin they come to huntin' the women and +childer it makes me blood boil. For why can't they lave us alone? What +have we done to the bastes to set thim agin the whole of us?" + +"You've got land," answered Jim shortly. "That's what you've got. +You've gone and put yer broad carcass in the way of this here King of +France. Steve, reckon this placard air worth keepin'." + +He stepped to the bank of the river, waded in a little way and +recovered the plaque, the sun glancing from the bright tin having made +its position clear to those standing on the shore. + +"Best keep it, lad," he went on. "It'll mind yer of a time when yer +was precious near to death, and of the pluck as a youngster kin show. +Reckon you stood up to them 'ere skunks as well as any man could ha +done." + +There was a murmur of approval from the others, while Steve shook his +head. + +"I wasn't going to be frightened by a canoe full of Frenchmen," he +said doggedly. "This place is ours, and if this king wants it let him +come and take it. The best man will hold it in the end. But I suspect +it is not his Majesty of France. Louis XV. can have no great use for +our little holding. But Jules Lapon has. He owns the ground on the far +side next to father's, and with ours thrown in he'd have the whole of +the river banks for three miles either way." + +"You've hit it, Steve. It air that skunk as brought this bit of tin +along, and it air him as wants the place," cried Jim, staring out +across the river at the fast-retreating canoes. "What is more, lad, +he's goin' to have it for a time. Me and Mac and Silver Fox guessed as +there was somethin' up, and ever since daylight we've had our eyes on +the varmint. There was a lot too much movement amongst the Injuns, and +we reckoned it didn't mean good to us. Them critters has nailed their +bits of tin at three other places along this bank, and they air going +to take the land whether we want it or not." + +"Do you actually mean that they will drive us out of the place?" asked +Steve. + +"That air so. There's news comin' slowly through that the French and +their Injuns is movin' on and drivin' the British before 'em. There's +tales of settlements attacked and taken, men and women scalped, +and children carried off by them redskin devils. We've heard the +same before, and I don't know how it is that we along here at this +settlement have escaped so long. But reckon these fellers is out on +the war-path agin, and, lad, we've got to git." + +Go! They must leave the place where Steve had lived ever since he was +a tiny little fellow. The log cabin which was his home must be given +up to these Frenchmen and their allies! The thought was a cruel one, +and it is not to be wondered at that an exclamation of bitterness +escaped him. + +"Faith, Steve, me lad, it's hard to think on, so it is," said Mac, +coming to him and placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "Hasn't +Mac and the loikes of him settled peaceful here? hasn't the wives +and the childer made homes for all of us, so they have? But ye've +to choose what's the best. To see these thavin' damons here in our +very own places, or to see ivery mother's son of us, and the women +and childer too--God bless the darlints!--scalped and kilt by these +fellers. Sure, Steve, better to see the settlements burn, to put fires +to ivery roof and watch 'em flare, than have them fellers settin' in +our doorways, or scalpin' all of us. Och, but it's a sore time for us, +a sore time, and we'll have to foight before we get back what's our +own. Bedad! Ye'll know soon, Steve, darlint. 'Tis you and me, and Jim +and Silver Fox, and ivery one of us, as'll take our muskets and go out +to foight the blackguards." + +"Mac's jest talkin' sense. Reckon it air as he says, Steve," cried +Jim. "Yer was near bein' wiped clean out jest now, and if yer wait +it'll be a case with yer. Best get back to the hut and take what yer +want. You've a bit of a pony, and I fancy you'll be able to take +most of yer things. Then set fire to the place. We'll cross to the +Alleghanies, and then we'll take service with the regiments which are +bein' formed." + +Steve stood looking at his rough but honest-hearted friends for some +few minutes, and then his eyes roamed across the peaceful stretch of +the river to the far bank, under the shade of which Jules Lapon and +his comrades were paddling. Then the whistle which the French leader +had dropped caught his attention, and he stared at that, too, for a +little while. + +"Father would do the same," he said aloud, but addressing no one in +particular. "Yes, he would go, after firing the hut. There is no other +course open. We have often talked over the possible coming of the +French, and decided that we should have to retire unless supported by +troops. But they are nowhere here. We have only ourselves to rely on. +We must go." + +He led the way to the log cabin, and at once set about packing the +most valuable of his and Tom's possessions. Sammy led out the old pony +which was usually employed in dragging timber, and roped the articles +to his back, big tears welling up in his eyes as he did so. When all +was ready Steve took a brand from the fire, looked once more upon his +old home, the cabin in which he had lived sixteen happy years, and +then fired the shingles. There was an air of resolution on his face as +he did so, and he stood to windward watching the flames as they caught +hold and licked round the logs with the same expression. Then, as the +roof fell in and huge tongues of flame flared up into the air, he +turned away with a smile. + +"I will help to build a mansion where that happy home was," he said. +"Come Jim and Mac, and you too, Silver Fox, old friends, we will go +where we can be of use to our country, and one of these days we will +settle again in these parts, when the French have been driven into +Canada." + +"When they have been sent neck and crop out of North America," growled +Jim. "Pick up yer traps, Steve. The other folks air waitin' for us way +up there back of the rise." + +Sammy took the rope bridle of the laden animal, and the trappers and +their Indian friend fell in behind. And thus did Steve leave his home, +not to return again till many an adventure had befallen him, and not +till many and many a man had fallen in the contest which was about to +break out with a ferocity which was almost unexampled. + + + + +Chapter VII + +The Alleghany Raiders + + +Sad and heavy of heart were the settlers whom Steve and his friends +met at the top of the divide which ran between the valley in which +they had lived and the forest region beyond, stretching right away to +the Alleghany mountains; for each one of the forty or more persons +of whom the party consisted had just lost home and belongings. Men, +women, and children had been forced to turn out of their log cabins +and take to the woods. + +"It air a shame and no mistake," said Jim as the men of the party +gathered about Steve's pony and discussed the matter. "But there's +jest one thing that makes it easy so to speak." + +"Easy! Yer don't call it an easy thing to have to fire the hut +that took so long to build, do yer, Huntin' Jim?" cried one of the +trappers, Pete Jarvis by name, his brows contracting as his bitterness +increased. "Yer don't say as it's an easy thing fer a man what's fifty +and more to turn his back on what he's given years of his life to +make, to steal like a skunk out'er these woods, where he's trapped +and shot, and with his wife and children take the trail back to the +west. Yer don't think that, Huntin' Jim. It's hard enough to break a +man's heart." + +"It air all that and more, chum," was Jim's consoling answer. +"Neither me nor you, nor Mac, nor Steve, the young Hawk as he's known +hereabouts, likes havin' to git at the word of them 'ere Frenchies. +But fer all that I'm right. Ef it war winter where should we be?" + +"'Tis then the poor childer would suffer, so they would," burst in +Mac. "Sure, 'twould be the death of many a one, the poor darlints. +Jim's right, so he is, Pete. We're lucky afther all." + +Pete scratched his head at that, for the matter had never crossed his +mind before. He had looked at this sudden exodus from a different +point of view, and he was filled with bitterness and wrath. Still, now +that he came to review the case, he saw that Jim was right. + +"That air true," he admitted. "We've got a heap to be thankful for, +and now that you've put it before me, why I'm downright glad that the +time has come now, and not later. Still, boys, it air hard." + +"It is, more than hard," agreed Steve. "But we still have something to +be thankful for. We've been hearing tales of other settlements, and +they have not even been able to leave. The Indians gave no warning. +The French did not trouble to come along with their ridiculous bits +of tin, but raided the places, burnt the huts, and massacred the poor +settlers." + +"And why ain't they done it here?" demanded Jim eagerly, clenching a +big brown fist. "I'll tell yer, Steve, and you too Pete. It's 'cos +that feller Jules Lapon air in these parts. Reckon he wanted them +huts and crops. He don't want to walk in and find the hul place burnt +by his Injuns. So he sends along and gives us the warnin' to quit, +knowin' that once we've took the trail he can send the hul crowd of +his Injun varmint after us. Waal. He ain't a goin' to get the huts, +'cos we've put fire to 'em, and the crops got served the same way. Ef +we look after ourselves reckon he and them ugly red critters won't +have such an easy time of it. We'd best get the business settled up." + +There was, indeed, little doubt that the danger which had suddenly +burst about the heads of the settlers was a real one, and that now +that the Indians had risen in those parts, the party might be followed +and attacked. For the past four or five months tales of massacres +of English colonists had come to the ears of Steve and his friends. +All along the border-line huts and settlements had been raided, too +often suddenly and without any warning, and hundreds of unfortunate +men, women, and children had been killed and scalped. An Indian war +of the most ferocious description had been raging here and there on +the eastern slopes of the Alleghany mountains, and in many places +the enemy had burst over that range and had annihilated settlements +on the far side. Marching with the Indians, egging them on, and +sometimes vying with them in their cruel practices, were scores of +French _voyageurs_ and settlers, and even many young officers from +the regular forces; whilst behind these leaders, stimulating them +with promises of land, and aiding them with money, guns, and powder, +were the authorities living in Quebec. It was really a matter for +wonder that Steve and his friends had not been disturbed before, +for they had carved out from the virgin forests a most valuable +settlement, and one which may be said to have stood in the direct +line of the French advance. It may have been that they owed their +security from interference so far to the fact that the land nearest +to them was owned by Jules Lapon, and he happened to be away in other +parts murdering and slaying, and taking stores from any party of +trappers who happened to stumble across his path. Or this ruffian +may have purposely kept his Indian allies away, having determined to +obtain possession of such a valuable clearing. Whatever the cause, it +happened that this particular settlement had escaped till now, and had +been left so long without interference that many who lived there were +beginning to hope that the impending storm might after all pass over +their heads. And now, with scarcely any warning, the cloud had burst. +They had been ordered to quit, and to leave all that they possessed. +It was more than hard. It was cruel to think that these hardy +trappers, the pioneers of the land, had no one to look to for help, +and must needs pack up hastily and fly for their lives at the bidding +of a French monarch whose name had barely come to their ears. + +"It does not help us to look upon the hardship of our case, boys," +said Steve, as the men stood about him, dressed in their hunting +shirts, their coon-skin caps, their fringed leggings and moccasins. +"We ought to feel glad that we and the women and children are alive, +and our business now is to make arrangements for our journey. Which +way do we make?" + +"Due west," answered Jim, with an emphatic wag of his head. "Up there +somewheres on the Alleghanies we'll hit upon colonial troops. There +ain't many of 'em, but they'll be enough to keep these redskin skunks +away, and any of us as has a mind to can take on service with 'em. Ef +we was to make north and west, up towards Albany----" + +"Reckon that air out of the question," interrupted Pete. "I'm farthest +over in that direction, and Silver Fox here can tell you that an army +could not get through. West air our only way." + +This was, in fact, the only direction in which the little party could +make, for Silver Fox had brought information that roving bands of +Indians were on the war-path between the settlement and Albany. + +"Then we will turn west," said Steve. "We have got to protect +ourselves, and I should say that the best way would be to send the +women and children and half the men ahead, while we others wait and +cover the retreat. I suppose we shall make for the old trail?" + +"That air what we'll do," replied Jim. "Now, as we're all here, +supposin' we pick out those who air to stay. Married men goes in +advance ef possible. Mac, guess you'll lead. You're a good trapper and +woodsman, and yer know that it'll want a 'cute man to see that the +way's clear. Me and Steve and a few others'll take the rear." + +With such matter-of-fact individuals, accustomed to acting swiftly +and in sudden emergencies, it took only a few minutes to arrange the +details of their flight, and very soon the party chosen to go in +advance had moved off through the forest, Mac leading and searching +closely for the blazings on the trees which would tell him that he had +come across the trail which led to the mountains. After him went the +married men, with their wives and children. The ponies, upon the backs +of which the children and some of the women were mounted, were placed +in line, and, being thoroughly well trained to work in the forest, +stepped one after another along the track. Their rear was brought up +by Sammy, leading the lanky pony upon which all Tom's and Steve's +possessions were packed. + +"Guess we'll give 'em a good hour's start," said Steve. "Jim, I'll +make back and keep an eye on the river with Silver Fox. If all is +right I'll strike once on the trunk of a tree. If they are following +you will hear two blows." + +He and the Indian slipped away from the little band of backwoodsmen, +and within an hour were looking down upon the river which they had so +recently left. It was black with canoes which were passing to and fro, +while a number were drawn up in front of the bank where Steve had had +his encounter with Jules Lapon. Above the tops of the trees hung a +dense pall of smoke, a dozen other columns shewing where the settlers +had fired their huts. + +"They will follow to-morrow, Hawk," said Silver Fox, when he had +looked at the scene for some little while. "They think that they will +easily come up with us. In two days they will surround our party and +we shall have to fight. It would be well to ambush them." + +That set Steve thinking, and for an hour he lay there in the bracken +staring down at the river. Then he got to his feet, picked up a fallen +branch and struck the trunk of a massive tree a heavy blow, repeating +the blow again some two minutes later. + +"They will hear that," he said. "Now we will return, Silver Fox. Have +you ever been on this trail?" + +"Once, Hawk," was the answer. + +"Do you remember the hills lying a day's march from this? There is a +gap." + +The Indian suddenly came to a stop, for they were returning by now, +and stared into Steve's face. "The Hawk is sharp," he said, with a +flash of his keen eyes. "Silver Fox remembers that gap. There we will +lay an ambush." + +They trudged on through the forest and presently came up with Jim +and his comrades. Then, with two men scouting in the woods on either +side, and the same number in rear and in front, the tiny little party +of stern men strode on after the fugitives in advance. And when the +morning of the second day broke they struggled up to the rising +ground which Steve had mentioned to Silver Fox. It was a rugged and +precipitous ridge, with trees growing thickly up to its foot, and +thick, long scrub running to its summit. As Steve clambered to the top +he saw that it stretched for some miles on either hand, and he knew +that to cross it at any other spot would be a difficult task, for he +and his father had often hunted in the district. + +"It is just the place for us," he said to Jim, as the trapper and some +of his comrades gathered about him. "From the forest down below the +Indians who are pursuing will be able to get a glimpse of our party +after it has climbed over this ridge, for the land rises again, and +you can see for yourself that it towers above this place. Now what +do you say to this? We send on the best of the horses, with all the +women and children, and instruct them to get ahead to that piece of +open country to which I am pointing. Meanwhile, we will lie here and +prepare a nice little ambush." + +"While the women and children draw the varmint into it," cried Jim, +with every sign of satisfaction. "Steve, you air 'cute. I 'lowed that +many a day ago, but here yer air agin. Boys, that air a plan that's +worth workin'." + +The spot was, in fact, an ideal one for an ambush, and Steve had had +it in his mind's eye the whole of the previous two days, for he was +well acquainted with the district. As he had said, this steep rocky +ridge cut across the course of the fugitives, running for many miles +on either hand. In many places it was almost unclimbable, and at this +point it happened to be less severe, so much so that many a colonist +making east into the promised land, the valley of the Ohio, had +followed the blaze marks of those who had gone before him, and had +clambered over the rise where others had found a road. It was the most +natural thing, therefore, for this party of fugitives to take the same +track, and indeed it was the only course that they could take. The +Indians would know this, so Steve argued, and there was little doubt +that by now they were within a few miles of the ridge. What would +happen when they came up to it? + +"They will climb over and wipe the whole lot of us out," our hero had +said to himself. "We must stop them here if at all." + +Then, as he tramped through the forest on the previous day, he had +recollected that in approaching the ridge from the Ohio valley one +caught a glimpse every now and again of the track far in advance, for +the country to the west rose again, less sharply to be sure, but to a +greater elevation. A party making their way over that second rise in +the land would be instantly detected by the Indian pursuers, who would +imagine that all their pale face enemies were there. + +"It is our only chance," said Steve, as the men gathered about him. +"Our scouts in rear have not yet signalled, so we know that the enemy +are not yet up with us, though they were on our trail last night. Then +we have plenty of time. In an hour the ponies, with the women and +children, will be on the high ground beyond, and when the Indians see +them----" + +"They'll come streamin' up this ridge like hounds," growled Jim. "This +air the place to stop 'em. You place the boys, my lad." + +Very rapidly and coolly Steve told the trappers off to their posts, +cautioning them that there was not to be a sound till he fired his +musket. Then he himself took cover close to the edge of the track +and waited. Presently two slim figures appeared down below, flitting +between the trees, and the trappers left behind as scouts began to +climb the ridge. + +"A hundred of the varmint full on the trail," whispered one as he lay +down beside Steve. "We watched 'em till half an hour ago, and then me +and Stubbs come along at a dog trot. They'll be in sight in less than +no time. Reckon they'll spot the rest of our party. They air right up +there on the high ground beyond, and yer can sight 'em ploddin' along +beside the ponies." + +[Illustration: "STEVE RESTED HIS BARREL IN THE FORK OF A DWARFED +TREE"] + +"Hist! That air one of the skunks." + +Jim, who happened to be next to Steve, lifted a warning finger and +then pointed below. A painted redskin, hideous in his feathered +war-gear, slipped like a shadow from the trees and stood in the open, +staring up over the ridge to the high land beyond. They saw him turn +and call softly, and then, one by one, some hundred of his comrades +flitted up to his side and stood staring at the white fugitives +beyond. Some danced with joy and brandished their tomahawks, while one +of their number turned and addressed them. + +"My children, these pale faces are ours," he said. "Within the hour +their scalps shall hang at our belts. Climb the rise and enter the +trees. Do not make a sound till they are enclosed by us. Then rush +upon them and slay." + +He pointed to the ridge, and, leaping forward, led the way up the +steep ascent. And as the whole party followed, their eyes fixed upon +their leader or upon the summit of the rise, some twenty ponderous +muskets went to as many stout shoulders, and sights were levelled upon +the redskin demons clambering up the track. Steve rested his muzzle +in the fork of a dwarfed tree and aligned the sights on the feathered +chief who led the party. And there he waited, his cheek well down +on the stock, his eye glued to the sights, and his finger pressing +ever so gently on the trigger. He was as steady as the fork in which +his weapon rested, for Steve was a hardened fighter by now, and he +knew that the lives of all the women and children depended on the +coolness and courage of himself and his comrades. He allowed nothing +to frighten him, and where many would have pulled the trigger out of +sheer excitement and inability to put up with the suspense any longer, +he crouched there waiting, waiting. + +"About thirty yards I make it," he said to himself at last. "I'll give +him another two seconds. That will get the others up a little closer. +We want our bullets to strike more than one of the ruffians." + +Suddenly there was a loud report, a spurt of flame lit up the shadow +in which he lay, while the leader of the Indians threw his hands +into the air, howled in the most diabolical manner, and then fell +backwards, to go sliding and bumping down the track till a fallen +tree arrested further progress. A second later a volley came from the +surrounding bushes, from behind rocks and boulders, while a storm of +bullets plunged into the very centre of the huddled enemy. When the +smoke blew away, Steve and his friends looked down upon an almost +deserted track, cleared of Indians save for the bodies which lay prone +on the hill-side or which rolled and slid down towards the bottom. +Here and there in amongst the bushes on either hand the crash of a +bough told that the enemy was there, but those sounds lasted only a +few seconds, and presently figures flitted in amongst the trees down +below. + +"Them critters won't come to a stop till they've reached the river," +laughed Jim, his face lighting up with joy. "Reckon they'll run till +they've come back to that 'ere Jules Lapon of theirs. Steve, reckon +you've jest saved us." + +He stepped over to the young trapper and gripped him by the hand. "It +war your idea agin what brought us through," he said, "and it air you +as'll lead us out of this country. Boys, you've heard tell of our trip +up to Albany, and of how young Steve got on to the idea of them boats +and reeds. Waal, this here notion of an ambush air his. Ain't he fit +ter lead us?" + +There was a shout of approval. + +"He air all that," shouted Pete. "Hawk has made his name, and air real +keen and 'cute. Reckon I don't want no better leader, no more do any +of the others." + +"Then, cap'n, you'll take on the command as before," said Jim easily. +"We air out of the muss with them 'ere beggars. What air we to do now?" + +"Push on as fast as we are able," was our hero's answer, when he had +recovered from his embarrassment. "We will march with scouts out +behind and in front and on either side. I am hoping to reach the +mountains in four days." + +The party pressed on after those in advance, and in due time came up +with them. And thus, taking the utmost precaution against attack from +the Indians, they marched through the forest in the direction of the +Alleghany mountains. Now and again they came upon an open space, +where the blackened logs spoke of a settlement which had been fired. +And often enough there were signs of the struggle which had taken +place. The bodies of murdered colonists lay among the grass, while +such relics of the former inhabitants as a tiny shoe, a rag doll, or +a wooden horse, caught the eyes of the men of the party and caused +them to grind their teeth and clench their fists. Men swore into their +beards, and in low tones vowed that they would repay the authors of +these massacres. + +And so in time they came to the mountains, climbed the long and weary +foot hills, and at length struggled to the top, still surrounded by +the ever-present forest. + +"We ain't far from white folks, cap'n," said Jim as the party began to +descend the far slopes. "Pete reports as he's dropped on fresh fires, +where the embers air quite warm; and there's been a hul lot of men +about stampin' the ground with hard-soled boots." + +"Reckon there's men up there," suddenly exclaimed one of the trappers, +pointing to a high peak distinguishable above the forest trees. +"They've been watchin' us, and the sooner we let 'em know who we air +the better it'll be. They might be shootin' into us." + +Steve at once sent off a couple of the backwoodsmen to speak to the +strangers, and in a little while his messengers came back with four +trappers similar to themselves. They were hardy-looking men, bearded +and bronzed, and dressed in the customary hunting shirt and leggings. + +"Reckon you air lucky folk," said one, addressing Steve. "There's been +few come through safely since the French set them Injuns on. Have yer +had a muss with 'em?" + +"We beat them back at the range," answered our hero. "We set a trap +for them, and they walked into it. That's the last we saw of them. But +we have passed many a ruined and burnt-out settlement." + +"Ay, there's many of 'em, more's the shame. Ef we up here get news of +the comin' of the Injuns, why, we goes down and does what we can. But +it ain't often like that. They come down upon the settlements like a +hawk, and every one's wiped out. There ain't many settlements left. +They say as all the backwoods huts air fired and men scalped, and that +the bigger settlements just near the Alleghany range have also been +fired. Then some of the varmint have been over the range, and they've +wiped out big farms and hul villages. It makes a man swear to hear +it all, and to know that we can do nothing to prevent the murders. +But what can you expect when George has only a thousand men, same as +us, to look after four hundred miles of frontier? Why, there's Injuns +out all along the line from Western New York State right away down to +North Carolina." + +Steve and his friends were indeed amazed at this statement. They +knew that an Indian war had been raging along the frontiers of the +thirteen States, but having been so cut off in the forests, little +news had come to their ears. They had learned that various expeditions +had been sent against the French and their allies, and that these +had for the most part been defeated or had failed to effect their +object. They knew too that massacres had taken place here and there. +But this was indeed news. It was terrible to learn that all along +this frontier, extending over some four hundred miles, farms and +settlements had been exterminated, that bands of Indians had ravaged +the possessions of the colonists, and had even carried their war over +the Alleghanies, wiping out the huts of the pioneers, which may be +called the first line of defences, then firing the settlements which +were not so far advanced, and which formed a second line, and finally, +throwing themselves upon a third and final line, that formed by the +more prosperous and more settled villagers on the eastern slopes of +the Alleghanies. + +"But how have they been allowed to do all this?" demanded Steve, +indignantly. "Surely there are men in the colonies! Why, if this +sort of thing is allowed, the Indians will reach the coast, and will +massacre at Charlestown and other places." + +He swung round on his companion, his face flushed and his eyes +flashing with indignation. Then he suddenly observed that a fifth +stranger, dressed as a hunter like the rest, but with something about +him which attracted more than usual attention, had joined the group, +slipping up to it unheard and unseen from the forest. He was tall and +lithe, some twenty-four years of age, and his keen blue eyes fixed +themselves on Steve's figure. + +"Excuse me," he said, speaking with the voice of a man who had been +brought up in a town, "excuse me, sir, but what you say is hardly +likely to occur now. A year ago it seemed more than possible. But +perhaps you have not heard. At last the English Government is tired +of this massacre and this bullying. War has been declared, and troops +are coming to help us. You may ask why the colonies have not done +more. Pooh! They call a blush of shame to the cheek of every honest +and patriotic colonist. While the shrieks of these unhappy settlers +ring almost in their ears and almost within hearing of the coast +towns, these comfortable stay-at-home planters and traders and country +gentlemen sit in their council rooms and squabble. They set aside +all thought of assisting their hapless brothers and sisters, while +they heckle their unfortunate governors. But I must apologise again. +You must understand that I feel the position bitterly, for I have +had a hand in these troubles since the very commencement. Allow me +to introduce myself. I am George Washington, colonel commanding the +irregulars who have been given the task of defending four hundred +miles of frontier." + +So this young and determined-looking man was George Washington, of +whom every trapper and hunter had heard. Steve regarded him with open +admiration, and then, stepping up to him, shook hands eagerly. + +"It is a lucky day for us, then, Colonel," he said. "I am Steve +Mainwaring." + +"Cap'n Steve, known as the Hawk amongst the Injuns," burst in Jim, +stretching out a big brown paw to grip that of the colonel. "Cap'n +Steve, Colonel, and as sharp and 'cute a fighter as ever I see. +How'dy?" + +"I am glad to meet you, gentlemen," said the young colonial officer. +"You will come to our camp, where we will endeavour to make you +comfortable." + +He took Steve by the arm and led the way through the forest. And very +soon the fugitives were in the middle of the hutted encampment where +George Washington and his men had their quarters. Huts were allotted +to the various families, while the colonel took Steve to his own log +house. + +"Come with me, Steve," he said with a friendly smile. "I am rather +lonely, and it will be nice to have a companion to chat with. Besides, +I want to hear all about the backwoods and the troubles you have had +with the French and the Indians." + +He led the way to an unpretentious hut, and very soon Steve was +stretched on a rough wooden form, staring at the embers and chatting +quietly with George Washington, even then a hero, and destined to +become one of the greatest of American citizens. + + + + +Chapter VIII + +A Question of Territory + + +"Never before has this fine country seen such troubles," said Colonel +George Washington, as he sat puffing at his pipe and looking across +the wooden flooring of his hut at Steve's long and active figure. "You +have had fighting, you tell me. You will see more. We are only just +entering upon the struggle. Tell me, Steve, what do you propose to do?" + +That was a question which our hero found some difficulty in answering. +But at length he rolled over on the form and sat up to look at his +host. + +"What do you advise?" he asked. "I have a letter here which I wish +to deliver at Charlestown, and I should like to find out what has +happened to my father. After that I shall join some band of scouts, +and fight the French and their Indians. I suppose they mean to drive +us all out of the country, and take it for themselves?" + +There was an emphatic nod in answer to his question, and then for a +while the two sat staring at the fire, each busy with his thoughts. + +For who could doubt that the total extermination of the British +colonists was intended? The French were rapidly pushing south and +east, and in front of them ran a swarm of their Indians, massacring +and slaying, and steadily pushing back the British settlers. To +understand the position of affairs, and the facts which had led up to +the moment when Steve and his friends arrived at the camp where George +Washington and his small army had settled themselves on the Alleghany +Mountains, it would be well for the reader to study a map of North +America, and trace for himself the possessions held by the French and +the English. For it must be remembered that these two nations, each +jealous of the other, and often at war with each other, had sent their +settlers and pioneers to this huge continent of North America. To +describe how the first of those settlers landed, how they fought their +way from the coast and conquered the forests, would be to enter upon a +subject which would need abundant space and more attention than can be +given here. But the history of those days is filled to repletion with +tales of gallant deeds, of perseverance against great suffering and +difficulty, and of final and glorious success. It will be sufficient +perhaps if we say, when dealing with the British colonies, that +Quakers and Puritans, together with others from England and Wales, +also Scotchmen and Irishmen, found their way to the eastern shores +of North America, and having dealt with the Indians, finally founded +states, thirteen in number, stretching from New England in the north +to infant Georgia in the south. + +Let the reader glance down the eastern coast of the map, and he will +trace these thirteen States without difficulty, and will notice that, +while each has easy access to the sea, where the coast naturally +limits further extension in that direction, to the west there is a +huge sweep of country running right across to the Pacific coast, but +broken here and there by mountain and river and vast inland lakes. +Then let him take those States in their order from the north, and +ascertain what reason there was why each one should not extend to the +west till her people flooded the whole continent. + +It may be admitted at once that abundance of time was one of the +main requirements for bringing about such a state of affairs, for +colonies do not grow in a day, and putting aside all natural barriers, +and those erected by the hostility of the old inhabitants, whom the +colonists will in course of time drive from their own country, many, +many years must pass before the tide of immigrants flows across the +land. For those who come first naturally select suitable places +nearest the coast, while those who come later settle within reach of +their friends, exchanging commodities with them. Later arrivals are +forced farther and farther away, till in time the settlements are +found miles and miles from the coast. Look at North America to-day. +She has added many states to those thirteen which existed in the days +when Steve sat in the log hut with George Washington. Her people +have overflowed the country, they have pushed the Red Indian back +steadily, and to-day they swarm in almost every part. The virgin +forest of that day, the haunt of the buffalo and the hunting grounds +of the Indian, now resound to the clang of the hammer, to the crash +of the train, and to the hum and roar of a thriving population. +Thousands come to the land every year to swell the throng, and paucity +of population is no longer a source of anxious thought for the +governments of the various States. + +But it was in the year 1756. All told, the colonists of those thirteen +States did not exceed a million and a half, while each one of the +States may be said to have been of the size of England. It will be +realised at once that it was all that such a population could do to +colonise the neighbourhood of the coast, and that if the western +border was to extend, thousands must come out to the country. As a +matter of fact, however, few though the colonists were, their farms +extended a considerable distance from the coast, and save in the +towns, where they lived close together, the settlers were separated +by wide intervals. They placed their huts for the most part in the +fertile valleys, clinging to the rivers, thus having at hand the means +of getting their corn and produce to the coast. And slowly, as the +land was taken up, settlers took their farms farther and farther away, +till some barrier arrested further progress. Such a barrier existed, +and a glance at the map will show the position of the Alleghany +Mountains, extending from Pennsylvania down to Georgia. It was not, +of course, an obstacle which could not be surmounted, but it was for +all that an obstacle which turned the would-be farmer back, for the +simple reason that, with such a range stretching between him and the +coast, there was no possibility of his getting his produce to market. +Moreover, on the far side of that range Indians inhabited the forests, +and they were an enemy to be reckoned with and feared. + +[Illustration: CANADA and OUR AMERICAN COLONY in 1755.] + +Thus it happened that from Pennsylvania south to Georgia there was +every inducement to the young colonies to be satisfied with what land +they already possessed, while to the north, where the natural barrier +of the Alleghany Mountains did not exist, there were other barriers, +none the less formidable, which held the State of New York and those +of New England in check. Stretching between them and the unknown west +lay the country inhabited by the Iroquois, consisting of six nations +of Indians who had banded themselves together for purposes of offence +and defence, and who were friendly to our colonists. To think of +snatching their hunting lands from them, was to think of a relentless +and fearful war, which might damage the prosperity of the colonies. +Farther north there ran the huge river St. Lawrence, with the French +and their so-called Christian Indians for ever ready to sweep over the +frontier. + +It will be realized then, that there was reason why the young States +should not extend, but in dealing with them, one must not forget the +host of trappers and hunters belonging to each State, who, like the +Indians, steadily and surely pushed on away from the settlers. For +where there were villages there was little game, and it was upon +the latter that they depended for a livelihood. And so it happened +that, while the colonies proper came to an end at the slopes of the +Alleghany mountains, the trappers clambered over the range, and +descended into the country beyond. And in course of time, when their +numbers had increased and they had driven the Indians back after many +a battle, they too formed settlements, adventurous farmers joined +them, cleared the forest, and lived the dual life of farmer and +trapper. Then the restless spirit of the hunters took them on again, +till the forests west of the mountains harboured many and many a +gallant trapper, till their solitary log huts were seen in the valley +of the Ohio, on the banks of the Monongahela, the Alleghany, and the +Kenawha. + +Those were the men who knew that Indians still existed, who hunted +the bison and the bear, and fought the bloodthirsty native of the +forests in his own manner and with bitter determination. It was +these hardy fellows, men of Tom Mainwaring's stamp, trappers such +as Jim and Mac and Pete, who carried old England's banner into new +lands, and who were the very first to come in contact with the French +and their Indians. Their occupation of this valley of the Ohio won +claims for England which France could not deny and which we could not +repudiate, and though up to this date the various States had for the +most part stood aside, apathetically watching while these honest and +brave pioneers were driven back, their huts fired and their people +massacred, yet the time was now come when they and the Government in +England were to recall the fact that this valley of the Ohio was ours +by right of conquest, that it had been won by the toil and blood of +the trappers. + +There remains but one other point to explain with regard to the +colonies. It may be asked why these million and a half souls looked +on so calmly while the unfortunate pioneers and trappers were hunted +and massacred, why they sat at home while the Indians swarmed to the +western slopes of the Alleghanies and over the crest, slaughtering and +destroying the settlements? It must be a matter for marvel that they +remained for the most part inert and unshaken, even while the third +line of defences was ravaged, and the bloody war brought to their very +farms and mansions. + +There were many reasons for this state of affairs, and it may be said +of the Southern States that it was so long now since their fathers +and their grandfathers had driven the redskins over the Alleghany +Mountains that they had forgotten that the Indians existed. There were +no longer raids in their direction, and no fear of massacre. Then +again, those who managed the affairs of the scattered population of +these various States were more than inclined to sink patriotism and +all thought of their fellow-States in acrimonious discussions amongst +themselves, in petty squabbles over some matter which was of the +smallest actual importance, and in for ever harassing their governor. +They fought amongst themselves, squabbled with their neighbours as +to boundary lines, and wrangled while their countrymen were being +massacred, and even their own security threatened. + +In the north it was entirely different. The States of New York and +New England had French and French Indians on their borders, and +they had never forgotten the bitterness of former wars, nor did the +ever-present fear of an incursion help to dull their memories. We +shall see that it was to these Northern States in particular that we +are indebted for men and money, and for the initiative which first +roused the States to a sense of their duty, and the home Government to +the need for a leader and active opposition to the aims of France. + +Having given some idea of the thirteen States and their condition in +and about the year 1756, let us turn to France and her possessions in +North America. And perhaps it will be of interest to go as fully into +this part as into that concerning our own colony. Let the reader run +his finger from the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland +along the northern shore of the St. Lawrence, and he will pass over +the route which the gallant Jacques Cartier, of St. Malo, followed +in the years 1535-36, when on a voyage commissioned by Francis I. +This bold sailor was the first known European to ascend the mighty +St. Lawrence river, a river which is of huge proportions, and which +is fed by the most gigantic reservoirs. Look at the five huge lakes, +Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, which cover a space +larger than that covered by the whole of Great Britain, and consider +that these five drain steadily into this St. Lawrence river, and you +will perhaps have some idea of the vastness of this gigantic waterway. + +This Jacques Cartier cast anchor off the Isle of Orleans, which he +named the Isle of Bacchus, for it was well covered with vines, and +lay near the river St. Croix, within sight of the position where the +city of Quebec now stands. He met with a friendly reception from the +natives, and afterwards sailed up the river to Montreal, where an +Indian town was then situated. Having done more than any other white +man was known to have done, he erected a cross at St. Croix, claimed +the land for his master and for France, and duly returned home, having +completed his second voyage to these parts, a voyage commissioned, +as has been said, by Francis I., with the object of discovering a +short route to the Indies and new countries not yet discovered and +appropriated by the Spanish or the Portuguese. + +Monsieur Roberval was the first lieutenant to take up his residence +in the newly-found country. It is quite unnecessary to follow his +unimportant doings there, or the fate of the immigrants who went to +join him. But it may be stated that progress was exceptionally slow, +that colonists were few and far between, and that for many years the +French population of New France was extremely small. Sometimes the new +possessions met with favour from the French court, and for a while a +new impetus was given to colonising. And gradually the interior of the +country was opened up, or rather, some superficial knowledge of it was +gained from the reports of discoverers and hunters. For here, as in +the Ohio valley, the chief inducement to the hardy pioneers to push +on was the desire to obtain furs, for which there was always a ready +sale. + +But it must not be thought that their journeys took them so far that +nothing more was left to discover. Other men of the same venturesome +turn of mind were to appear upon the scene, Champlain amongst the +most noteworthy. Then, too, we must direct our attention to Nova +Scotia, the French Acadie, which attracted the eyes of the colonists +in 1604. We find that expeditions landed here and founded settlements, +and later we hear of gentlemen adventurers coming to this fertile +Acadie, there to seek their fortunes. In course of time, too, to be +precise, in the year 1625, Jesuit missionaries sailed for New France, +and we find them hereafter dominating the affairs of the colony, +ever pushing forward and boldly entering the country of the Indians. +Indeed, the history of Canada is filled with accounts of these +gallant missionaries, who struggled often alone into the forests, who +were murdered and tortured by the redskins, and who yet pressed on, +endeavouring always to bring the heathen Indian under the influence of +their religion. + +Cardinal Richelieu also appears upon the scene, the great Richelieu +who dominated France, and we find him forming a trading company and +arranging to send out artisans. + +It is interesting at this time to remember that England had colonists +at Massachusetts Bay, and that this country was ambitious of +obtaining more lands, and even of ousting the French. Indeed, in +the year 1628 Kirk appeared in the St. Lawrence off Quebec, and +though he did not take the place, Champlain, then the governor, had +the mortification of hearing that, in his descent of the river he +had captured four armed vessels and eighteen transports, which were +conveying those artisans whom the great Richelieu had selected. This +was a serious set back to the colonists, and was increased tenfold +in the following year, for Kirk again appeared upon the scene, and +summoned Champlain to surrender. That was the first occasion when the +broad banner of England floated over the fort of St. Louis, and the +site whereon the city of Quebec now stands. However, on returning +home, Kirk discovered that the war with France was at an end, and as +a result the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye was signed, and Charles I. +handed back to France her possessions on the St. Lawrence, and Port +Royal, in Acadie. + +During all these years the progress of New France had been slow, and +on the mighty St. Lawrence her colonists were lost in the immensity +of their new possessions. In Acadie they had fared little better, and +though Port Royal was handed back to them and they enjoyed peaceful +possession of the country, it was not for a great number of years, for +our fleets captured the province in 1654, and in our hands it remained +till 1667, when Charles II. gave it back to Louis XIV. + +We pass over those years in Canada with the mention of few events, +amongst the most important of which was the danger which the colonists +now encountered from the Iroquois. They had a deadly feud with these +men from France, and we hear of their canoes ascending the Richelieu +and lying off Quebec itself, taunting the small garrison. These +uneventful times, however, produced scores of gallant men desirous of +pushing on into the mysterious west, and the names of Etienne Brulé +and of Nicolet loom large in the list. For a while the invasion of the +Iroquois kept these spirits close to the forts at Montreal and Quebec, +but when the Indian trouble had subsided, the Mohawks having been +dispersed, these gallant men pushed on again. They were found on the +great lakes, and to north and south of them. Hunters pushed into the +wilderness in search of skins, _coureurs de bois_, often the younger +sons of men of position in France, blazed their tracks through the +forests, intent upon discovery. And with one or other were to be found +the ubiquitous priest, bolder and more persevering than any perhaps. +The tales of these wanderers fill one with wonder and admiration, +and the history of these years of discovery teach us that the French +were wonderful hunters and explorers. They took to the forests as a +duck does to water. Often enough they associated with wandering bands +of Indians, learned their language and lived with them for months +and even years at a time, dressing in their hunting costumes. The +fascination of the wilderness cast such a spell over the colonists +that at this period, when men were sorely needed in the settlements, +when the hold which France had on her fine possessions was none of the +securest, scarcely a young colonist, be he habitant or the son of a +man of consequence, could be persuaded to remain. Threats of severe +punishment could not keep them. They broke from home ties, took their +ponderous muskets, their bullet and their powder pouches, and went off +into the forests, content to hunt and wander into a country which was +entirely strange, and to indulge in a life of freedom and adventure, +where hardship was the order of the day, and where only the strongest +and boldest survived. + +But it must not be supposed that the governing powers at Quebec, in +their endeavours to retain these young men, entirely muzzled the +desire to make fresh discoveries. They fostered the idea, selected +suitable men, and equipped expeditions. Frontenac, whose name has +secured an honoured place in the history of Canada, sent Jolliet to +find that great water of which the French had heard, though it had +been but vaguely mentioned. This intrepid explorer finally launched +his canoe on the waters of the giant Missipi (as it was then spelled), +and with Marquette, a bold Jesuit, paddled down the stream. René +Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle, completed this important work of +exploration, and with Tonty and Father Membré sailed down the long +stretches of the Mississippi till he reached the Gulf of Mexico. This +momentous voyage opened the eyes of the French very wide indeed, for +the travellers could tell of fertile lands stretching from the great +lakes to the gulf in the south, and of a huge expanse of country which +would give refuge one of these days to millions of wanderers pressed +out of their own native lands by the overcrowding there. However, +beyond building a few forts, nothing more of consequence was done +till we arrive at a period in which New France, now generally styled +Canada, made rapid strides under the able leadership of her governors +and the careful attention of Louis Quatorze. + +There were perhaps three thousand souls in the colony prior to this +period, and it was obvious that many more were required if France was +to retain her rights there. The astute young king was the first to +recognise this, and we find him sending emigrants in large numbers, +emigrants who had been carefully selected. They consisted of young men +of the peasant class, called _habitants_, and of officers and younger +sons, for the most part unmarried. Then ship loads of peasant girls +and demoiselles were dispatched to the colony, and every inducement +offered to these men and women to marry and settle down. Indeed, young +men who failed to take notice of these inducements were harried and +taxed till they fell in with the wishes of their king. In addition +to these emigrants, men of some family were persuaded to go to the +colony, and from these smaller "gentilhommes" a Canadian noblesse was +formed, seigneurs were selected from amongst them, and a form of +feudal life commenced in the backwoods. The seigneur had a huge grant +of uncleared forest, he built his log hut or cabin, and a rough fort +to protect him against the Indians. And about this fort gathered his +_habitants_, tilling the land he allotted them, and paying their rent +in kind, a portion of corn, a few bear skins, fresh salmon from the +lake, or other commodities. Allegiance they gave to their seigneur for +the simple reason that these seigneuries were scattered and widely +separated, and self-support was their only policy, for otherwise they +would have fallen victims to the first redskin marauders. + +And thus we find the possessions of France slowly being peopled, till +in the year when Steve and his friends reached the Alleghanies, the +colonists numbered some 60,000 souls, exclusive of some ten thousand +living in Acadie, once French but now English, though the _habitant_ +who had filled that smiling land was French by birth and intensely +French in thought and sympathy. We find Cape Breton, an island just +north of Nova Scotia, a possession of France, with the formidable +fortress of Louisbourg situated upon it, and its ramparts bristling +with cannon. Hunters and _coureurs de bois_ had sailed across the +lakes, and knew every foot of their shores, while soldiers and agents +of France had built forts and trading posts in numerous places, had +erected stockades at certain points on the Mississippi, and were +slowly progressing in a scheme which promised soon to allow the men +descending this mighty Mississippi to join hands with men of their +blood at New Orleans, settled some time ago by the French. + +Look again at the map for a moment, and see what such a line of forts +meant. It cut the northern continent into two unequal parts, leaving +France the major portion lying to the west, as well as that wide tract +between the Mississippi and the Alleghanies. It was this portion, +commencing with the valley of the Ohio, which they determined to +occupy, despite the fact that our hunters and pioneers had penetrated +its forests years before, and it was this same valley in which their +own Indians were now camping, having harried and massacred far and +wide, and set fire to all the settlements not only in the valley, but +as far as and beyond the Alleghany range. + +History repeats itself, and it is strange to consider that the +constant forward movement of these persevering French was copied years +afterwards by those gallant men who opened up the great west of North +America to the thirteen colonies, that the work of exploration carried +on in Canada by hunters, by _coureurs de bois_, and by the restless +and bold spirits of the young noblesse was repeated on the far side +of the Alleghanies. Not that our trappers, even at this date, when +the French were doing their utmost to oust the British from the Ohio +valley, had been backward. They had done much, and a glance at the map +will show the reader that they had a station on Lake Ontario, Oswego +by name, which was well in advance of their own frontiers, and which, +in fact, was a bitter thorn in the side of the French. But adventurous +though our trappers were, they had not penetrated so far perhaps into +the wilderness as had the French, for the simple reason no doubt +that ways of communication were less frequent and difficult to come +across. A French trapper might enter his canoe at Quebec, and there +was water to take him hundreds of miles into the heart of the country, +to the farthest bays and creeks of the giant lakes. True, there were +mighty falls, as witness those of Niagara, but a canoe could be +carried. There were "portages" where canoes must be taken from the +water, the stores piled upon the backs of willing Indians, and the +whole outfit carried to some point above the falls. But these did not +altogether bar the great waterways, and on this account prospecting +and exploration was easier for the French. And thus we find them at +the period of this impending conflict masters of the St. Lawrence, +with strong places at Quebec, Montreal, Niagara, and Frontenac, not +to mention the huge and elaborately defended fortress at Louisbourg +on Cape Breton Island. We hear of their soldiers and trappers, with +thousands of Indians south of the great lakes, of their forts on the +Mississippi and on the river Richelieu and on Lake Champlain. In +fact, these energetic men, in spite of their paucity of numbers, were +swiftly surrounding the British, cutting off the thirteen States from +the smiling interior of America, and aiming no doubt at their final +extermination. We shall see, however, that even an apathetic people +may at last see their danger, and that England was not to be so easily +driven from a colony which had been founded by her hardy sons. + + + + +Chapter IX + +George Washington speaks + + +George Washington, the young colonel of colonial troops, was one +of the few men who may truly be said to have taken an active and +patriotic interest in the thirteen States as a whole in those eventful +months when Steve and his friends fought Jules Lapon and his Indians +in the forest, or hunted and trapped along the river at the risk +of losing their lives. Young though he was, this courtly colonial +gentleman, whose name at this day is held in honoured memory by +Americans and Englishmen alike, had already taken an active part +in the events which had slowly and insensibly led up to a conflict +between the French and the English. Steve looked at him as he lolled +on the rough wooden form, and could scarce credit the fact that he was +speaking with George Washington, openly spoken of at that period as +the colony's chief champion, and well known to be one of the first to +have crossed swords with the enemy. + +"What do you advise me to do, Colonel?" he asked, as he refilled his +wooden pipe. "I must work, of course, or else I shall starve, and +the work I want is something in connection with scouting. Then there +is my father. I do not fear that anything has happened to him, but +am naturally anxious that he should learn that I have crossed the +Alleghanies." + +"You have a letter for Charlestown; is that not the case?" asked the +Colonel. "I can have that delivered for you, and I will make a point +of warning all the men stationed at the crossings over this range that +they are to stop your father and tell him what has happened. If you +consent to that, then I have work for you." + +He pulled at his pipe and stared across at the young trapper between +half-closed lids. + +"He is just the lad we want," he was saying to himself. "He is called +the Hawk, and I know that no Indian would give him such a title if he +were not worthy of it. He has friends, too, who will help him. Yes, +he has come in the nick of time. Well," he went on, speaking aloud, +"what do you say to this proposition? I will take care that your +father is warned, and I have work for you, work which is of the utmost +importance, and which every patriotic man would eagerly undertake." + +"Then you may put my name down for it, Colonel," said Steve quickly. +"I have seen enough of these Frenchmen to make me sure that every +trapper will have to fight if he wishes to get back his possessions. +They have robbed us all in the most barefaced manner, and I for one +mean to get back what they have taken. Then, they say that these +enemies are determined to drive us altogether out of the country. That +means that England is in danger of losing her colony, and every man, +or lad for the matter of that, should take a hand in defending the +country." + +"Would that all would think in the same way," sighed the Colonel. "I +am surrounded by apathetic people, by farmers who are still almost +ignorant of the turn affairs have taken, by planters and traders whose +relatives have been massacred by the Indians, and who yet are content +to continue planting and trading without a thought or care for the +unhappy people who have sought a home on the far side of this mountain +range. Excuses are everywhere. Men will not turn out to fight because +they have crops to look to, because they have wives and a home, or +with better reason, because they have lost all sense of patriotism, +and the national danger does not alarm them. It is maddening to think +that there are hundreds and thousands who could help us, whose fathers +were patriotic to the backbone, and who would have responded at the +first call. I can only think that prosperity has killed all thought +of the nation, and that they will not be roused till the French are +at their doors. There, Steve Mainwaring, you have my opinion of the +southern States. They are mostly apathetic, though the men could +fight, ay, and would fight if only they could be brought to the +point. Look at Pennsylvania, too. Her council will not move a step to +help the colony, simply for the reason that they are for the most part +Quakers, and hostile to even the thought of war. Would they fight, do +you think, if they heard the war whoop of the Indians?" + +He looked across at Steve, and flushed red with indignation. + +"If they did not they would have little chance afterwards," was our +hero's scathing answer. "They would be cowards if they did not do all +that was possible." + +"And yet they are not that," said George Washington slowly. "It is +simply apathy which keeps them at home. They seem to have no interest +in the struggle. Now, look at the north. There are men, if you like! +They are Puritans for the most part, but they do not forget the +Indians, and they have already helped with men and money. There have +been stirring times, I tell you, Steve, and there is stern fighting +before us. I'll let you know how we stand at the present moment, +and what has happened in the past, for I expect that you are fairly +ignorant. News does not travel far or fast in the backwoods." + +Steve and his friends had, in fact, only a superficial knowledge of +the events which had led up to the then position of affairs, and he +listened with interest as George Washington told of how the French had +commenced upon a course of intrigue and invasion which was destined to +despoil the thirteen States. It was De la Galissonière who had first +cast covetous eyes on that no-man's land in the valley of the Ohio, +and who in 1749 had sent an expedition to the valley with instructions +to nail up proclamations stamped in tin, claiming the land for France. +He argued that once this had been done he could pour settlers into +the country, who would quickly oust the British, for it must be +remembered that the latter were few in number, and for the most part +very scattered, preferring to pitch their farms alone, and not to +live, as did the French, always in communities. And while this process +of filling the debatable and coveted land was in course of completion, +agents were engaged with the _habitants_ in Acadia (Nova Scotia), +undermining their loyalty to King George of England, and preparing +them for revolution. This was perhaps one of the most disgraceful +events of this period, for these humble and hitherto contented people +were dominated by these agents, who gained an ascendency over them by +detestable means. + +It was Shirley of Massachusetts and Dinwiddie of Virginia, both +far-seeing governors, who first bestirred themselves in the matter. +They realised the schemes of the French, and the patriotic and +energetic young colonel who sat opposite to Steve, the famous George +Washington, was sent on a mission to the commander of Fort Le Boeuf, +which the French had erected some twenty miles south of Lake Erie. +That was in the year 1753, and when George Washington, after a most +arduous journey, returned to Williamsburg, he brought no satisfactory +answer with him. He had met with politeness. That was all. The French +would not retire, and showed every disposition to remain in the +country south of Lake Erie. Dinwiddie, who was at this time the moving +spirit, had in the meanwhile obtained the sanction of the English +Government to oppose force by force, and to do his utmost to arrest +the invasion of the French. + +It is interesting at this time to remember that France and England +were at peace in Europe, for after the war of the Austrian +succession, and the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy, the peace of +Aix-la-Chapelle was solemnly signed. And yet we find our Government +giving its sanction to a movement in America destined to drive the +French out of the country, while we know that France, in spite of the +peace, was steadily, if not feverishly, pressing her colonists into +the valley of the Ohio, and flagrantly abusing the peace which existed +between the nations. However, such conduct on our part was certainly +to be commended, for we were not the invading party, and were merely +attempting to protect our own interests. We were not desirous of an +open rupture with France, our hereditary enemy, for the simple reason +that we were not ready. Our Government was weak, its colonial policy +vacillating, while its chief minister was altogether unsuited to +our needs. But, whatever the condition of those at home, there were +strenuous men in America, and we find Dinwiddie despatching a second +mission of forty backwoodsmen, under Ensign Ward, to erect a fort +at the junction of the Alleghany and the Monongahela rivers, in the +Ohio valley. They were driven back by French _voyageurs_ and soldiers, +who promptly erected a fort at this chosen spot, a fort well known in +following years as that of Duquesne. + +And now we come to more stirring times, times in which George +Washington took an active part. As he sat opposite to Steve, he +modestly related how he had been sent with 150 men to destroy this +Fort Duquesne, how he had fallen in with a party of Frenchmen, and how +they had exchanged fire, with the result that the French leader and +some of his men were killed and wounded, while some twenty-two were +taken prisoners. This may be said to be the first occasion when blood +was shed in this historic conflict, and bearing in mind what has been +written with regard to the apathy of the various southern States, it +is only fair to mention that Washington commanded Virginians, and that +it was Dinwiddie, a Virginian governor, who persuaded his legislature +to vote £10,000 for the cause, and thereby enabled him to take active +steps to oppose the French. + +But the men whom Washington now had under his command were hopelessly +few, though reinforcements had brought their strength to 350, for +the French had been preparing for the struggle for a long while, +and had more than a thousand men at Fort Duquesne. They advanced on +Washington, who retired to Great Meadows, and threw up entrenchments, +aptly named Fort Necessity. And there he was attacked in force, while +a deluge of rain descended on the two opposing forces. After nine +hours of gallant resistance, the French were still all round the +improvised defences, and being in almost as miserable a condition as +the colonials, they proposed a capitulation, which the young colonel +refused. Later, when his ammunition was exhausted and some hundred of +his men lay killed or wounded, he consented to discuss terms, which +were at length agreed upon, for they were sufficiently honourable and +lenient. + +Such an open rupture, it may be easily assumed, caused unusual +excitement, and the presence of the French and their murdering Indians +in the backwoods of the Ohio valley practically drove our trappers and +pioneers back across the Alleghany range. A few hardy and courageous +men, however, still clung to their huts, and we have already made the +acquaintance of some of these. The excitement, and obvious intentions +of the French were not sufficient even yet to rouse the thirteen +States to concerted action, though Virginia, having quarrelled with +Dinwiddie till he was almost frantic, and having voted him twenty +thousand pounds for purposes of military defence, but saddled with +some impossible proviso, at length withdrew the proviso, and granted +the money free. There was little stir in the other States. Men from +New York State were under arms, and some from Carolina. Pennsylvania, +with a large German population, stirred not a finger. It is wonderful +and amazing indeed to remember that these people inhabiting the +various States and displaying such suicidal apathy, were the sons +of a race which had shown wonderful pluck and perseverance, and +themselves the originators of that following race of men who fought +and bled for their country so manfully, whose blood flows in the veins +of descendants who are justly proud of their forefathers, and who, +in place of apathy, show to a wondering world great patriotism and +activity, the power to fight and work with equal determination. + +We leave the conflict at Great Meadows, and the year 1754 with +England and France still at peace in Europe, but preparing for an +inevitable war in the backwoods. Those following months saw a new +French expedition sent to Canada under a new governor, and feverish +preparations pushed on for the coming war. As to England, she at +length saw the necessity for sending help, and despatched troops to +America, while her fleets sailed, each captain having no doubt secret +instructions to attack and capture the French expedition. Indeed, in +the summer of 1755 two French vessels were captured off Nova Scotia. + +Meanwhile Braddock, the chosen leader of our troops, had arrived at +Alexandria, opposite the site of the present city of Washington, +and plans for the coming campaign were discussed, while Johnson, a +young Irishman, who had lived much in the backwoods, and who knew +the Indians as well as did Steve, was given the task of travelling +amongst the six tribes who composed the Iroquois, and endeavouring +to counteract the subtle influence of the French. For these astute +enemies of ours were not content to have their own Indians following +them. They aimed at suborning the six tribes who had hitherto been +favourable to the English colony. + +Now let the reader glance again at the map for an instant. He will see +that the river St. Lawrence forms one side of a triangle, of which the +Mohawk river, uniting with the Oswego, forms a second, the Hudson, +Lake George, and Lake Champlain, with the river Richelieu, completing +a line which makes the third. The latter two sides formed the readiest +means of attacking the French, for there was a waterway in either +case, while on every hand there was virgin forest, through which the +task of escorting an army was very great. The council which met at +Alexandria, and which consisted of British officers and governors of +the various States, decided that Fort Duquesne was the key of the +whole position, and should be attacked in force, while to divert the +attention of the French an expedition should make for the chain of +lakes running northward from the Hudson, and a second for Acadia, +where the _habitant_ subjects of King George were in practically open +rebellion. + +It is not possible to give in detail the various incidents which +befell these three expeditions, but a few words will suffice to +describe what happened. Braddock's force, consisting of regulars from +England, and of a few rangers from New York, Virginia, Maryland, +and Carolina, marched for Fort Duquesne through the woods, and +after meeting with great difficulties and serious delays at length +came within a dozen miles of the fort. What followed will for ever +be an illustration of the futility of attacking a guerilla force +as if it were a European army encamped in the open, or drawn up in +serried ranks to oppose the coming of the enemy. Braddock's men were +met after they had crossed a river by a fierce and stinging fire +which belched from the thick forest and brush. Occasionally a blue +or white uniform was seen, or the feathered head of an Indian, and +at these our guns were discharged with some effect. Indeed, for a +while the French flinched, and but for the courage of their officer +might have fled. They rallied, took up their stations in the bush, +and kept up a constant musketry fire upon our columns drawn up in +close order in the open. Then the Indians crept through the forest +to either flank, and presently our hapless men were being raked by +a stinging hail of bullets. Pack animals dashed madly amongst them. +The war-whoop of the Indians deafened the combatants and increased +the disorder. At this moment, when the British were standing their +ground with magnificent courage, replying to a fire delivered by an +invisible foe with searching volleys, a little common-sense might +have gained the day for us and sent the Indians and the French in full +flight to their fort. But there was no one in authority possessed of +that common-sense. The Government of that day had done as those of +following Governments have done without fail. They had sent a British +officer to command, who knew nothing of the backwoods and the men who +inhabited them, who was ignorant of Indian warfare, despised cover, +and thought that there was no glory in a fight in which the combatants +did not stand shoulder to shoulder, in the full blast of the cannon. +An order to the men to break ranks and take cover might have altered +the sad event entirely. But our soldiers were kept in the open, and +at length, after facing a terrible fire for two hours, they fled on +seeing Braddock mortally wounded. + +"It was the most terrible experience of my life," said George +Washington as he sat in front of Steve. "Those gallant but ill-led +men stood as firm as rocks, and were slaughtered like sheep. The few +Virginian backwoodsmen we had with us took cover and did their best +to hold the enemy, but were too few to make any effect upon them. +We fled, and our flight became a rout. A panic seized the men, and +nothing could hold them. Let us pass on from that battle, for it is +not pleasant to have to reflect upon it, while I can assure you that +the effect of such a disastrous defeat was felt throughout America, +and even in Europe. As to its effect in the valley of the Ohio, you +should know that very well. No doubt you saw something of the Indians +and of the French." + +"We were attacked by one band, under a rascal named Jules Lapon," +answered Steve. "But we beat them off handsomely, and won our way +through from Albany in safety. I believe that we owe our security from +interference at our settlement to that same Jules Lapon, for he had +land next to ours." + +"And carefully kept others from stealing it, even his majesty Louis +XV. of France. But I will proceed. As I have said, I was one of those +unfortunate ones who took part in the Braddock expedition, and I was +saying that the effect was disastrous in the valley of the Ohio. The +Indians swept on, and though I was left to protect the frontier, how +much use was I when I had some four hundred miles to watch and a +bare thousand men to help me? No wonder the Indians pushed on, and +thousands of our settlers were massacred. But to proceed. The French +captured papers with the baggage of Braddock which told them plainly +what other movements were taking place, and they at once made ready to +oppose these attempts on their frontier. Shirley started from Albany +with some 1500 men, and made his way by the Mohawk river to Oswego, +where he prepared to march on Fort Niagara. But the French put all +thought of such an attempt out of his mind by throwing reinforcements +into Fort Frontenac, which, as you know, is on the opposite side of +Lake Erie, only some fifty miles away. Shirley had nothing left +but to increase the defences of Oswego, and returned, having left a +garrison of 700 men. + +"The third expedition was under Johnson, a man who knows the Indian +better perhaps than any other white man. He also set out from Albany, +with 6000 provincial soldiers, 4500 of whom came from Massachusetts. +All were amateurs in the art of war. A few were backwoodsmen, but +the majority were farmers, mechanics, or fishermen. As for Johnson +himself, he was wholly unused to the command of men, and innocent of +that organising ability without which a force cannot be victualled +satisfactorily. In addition, I must tell you that the men he had were +unused to discipline, and very apt to act and think for themselves. +But I will not give you all the details. Johnson reached the bend of +the Hudson, _en route_ for Crown Point, the French station at the foot +of Lake Champlain, and left 500 men there to build a fort known now +as Fort Edward. Then he pressed on across the twelve miles of virgin +forest which stretched between him and Lake George. Arrived there he +commenced to build Fort William Henry. + +"Meanwhile the French had poured reinforcements into Crown Point, for +it must be remembered that they had captured Braddock's papers, and +knew that this movement of Johnson's was afoot. Their scouts told them +of the arrival of the British, and they at once made arrangements to +attack. Stealing down the long strip of water which runs parallel +with Lake George, known as Wood Creek, they landed from their canoes +at a point which struck the road between Fort Edward and Fort William +Henry in the centre, and, believing that there were no cannon at +the latter fort, they prepared to attack it. Meanwhile Johnson had +heard of their coming, and sent out a force to find the French and +drive them back. This force fell into an ambush, and very nearly met +the fate which had befallen poor Braddock. However, they extricated +themselves and retired on the fort, where the contest was continued. +And here the New England farmer and backwoodsman showed his mettle. He +took cover cleverly, for the fort as yet existed only in name, and was +a mere barricade. He searched the woods with his bullets, and, aided +by our guns, caused considerable loss to the enemy. Then, gathering +heart, the sturdy provincials leaped over the barricades and charged +down upon the French with clubbed musket and tomahawk. That gallant +charge drove the enemy from the field, and resulted in the capture +of their leader. It was followed by another success, for part of the +French force, consisting of Canadians and Indians, had retired from +Fort William Henry into the woods to the place where their ambush had +been laid, their intention being to loot and gather scalps. Here they +were pounced upon by a small force sent from Fort Edward and utterly +routed. Thus, you will observe, what had very nearly been a disaster +ended in a fine victory for our arms, and in a measure helped to +lighten the depression caused by Braddock's defeat." + +Colonel George Washington sat up to look at Steve, and remained for +some minutes lost in thought. No doubt he was passing in review those +eventful days during which he had marched with Braddock. He had given +Steve some idea of what had occurred, though he had not completed the +tale. For a fourth expedition was attempted that year. Two thousand +staunch rustics, enlisted from Massachusetts, sailed from Boston +harbour for Nova Scotia, their object being to capture Fort Beauséjour +which the French had built on debatable land on the isthmus connecting +Canada and Nova Scotia. It was from this post, the headquarters of the +intriguers, that agents and soldiers worked to undermine the loyalty +of the _habitants_ of Acadia, for France was determined to recover +this lost province. However, the gallant peasants from Massachusetts +brought their designs to an end, for they sat down outside the fort, +and despite attacks from Indians and Acadians outside, they pressed +the siege so strenuously that the place was surrendered. Then the +troops marched across to the north shore of the isthmus and took Fort +Gaspereu without meeting with opposition. + +The end of this momentous year of 1755 found France and England still +ostensibly at peace, for there had been no declaration of war as yet. +The winter brought some abatement to Indian ravages on the British +frontiers, but the French had the best of the position. The valley of +the Ohio was theirs, right up to and over the Alleghany range. They +had a formidable force at Fort Duquesne, at Frontenac, and at Niagara. +Their defences at Crown Point were improved, and now they were hard +at work erecting Fort Ticonderoga at the very foot of Lake Champlain, +not more than forty miles from Fort William Henry. As to Nova Scotia, +it was in our possession now, but the very formidable fortress of +Louisbourg on Cape Breton Isle dominated the position, and offered a +haven to French ships, and a base from which the strongest expeditions +could set out. + +"There is little else to tell you, Steve," said George Washington, +sitting up suddenly to shake the ash out of his pipe and refill the +bowl with best Virginian. "Still, as I think over all the events +which have happened, I see one or two other points which may help to +enlighten you. Nova Scotia, for instance, that old French Acadie, you +might well consider to be still a thorn in the flesh, in spite of the +reduction of Fort Beauséjour; for Louisbourg lies very close to it, +and there were thousands of disaffected _habitants_ to be dealt with. +But they are no longer in need of consideration, for they have been +deported. Yes, cruel though the act seems, it was necessary, in my +opinion, for they were a menace to our safety, and were so obviously +French in interest and sympathy that it was necessary to remove them. +And now to complete my tale. Oswego has fallen, and the French have +wiped the station out of existence. Then France has made a descent +on Minorca, and that taken in conjunction with her attitude here has +caused our government to declare war, and to show that it will support +us, it has voted £115,000 with which to carry on this conflict. +General Abercromby and Colonel Webb have taken up commands, and I +hear now that the Earl of Loudon has arrived in the colony. Meanwhile +colonial troops have been enlisted for the coming campaign, and after +gathering at Albany report says that they are now reinforcing Forts +William Henry and Edward, where they will strengthen the defences and +make ready for an advance by road or lake upon Fort Ticonderoga. But +it is already late in the season, and I doubt that anything will be +done before the advent of 1757. We want more men and money, and very +much stronger support from home, and I hear that there is a prospect +of receiving it; for rumour says that a new ministry will be formed, +and Pitt will come into power. Then this campaign will be pressed on, +and we may hope to beat the French. For here again I have a little +information. + +"Knowing how relatively few their men are, you would expect France to +pour troops into Canada," said the young colonial leader, as he looked +across at Steve. "Well, she has done so up till recently, and has sent +a fine commander in the person of Montcalm. But European conquest has +distracted her attention, and it is a fact that she has joined a +coalition with the object of attacking Frederick of Prussia. She has +dropped her active colonial policy for the shadow of European glory, +and, mark my words, she will bitterly rue her determination. She has +progressed rapidly in this campaign, her woodsmen and Indians press +at our doors, and our middle and southern States still sit apathetic, +playing into the hands of our enemies. There will never come such +another opportunity. The task before these Frenchmen is easier at this +moment than ever before, and never again can she expect such good +fortune. And yet she has suddenly changed her policy. She has banished +all thought of these vast stretches of unclaimed land, and would +rather humble the power of Frederick of Prussia than become a power in +North America. I tell you she will repent the action. It is England's +turn to profit now, for we have suffered bitterly. + +"But I have told you all the facts now, and will again return to +my proposition. Steve Mainwaring, report tells me that you are a +practised scout and backwoodsman, and, moreover, I can tell that +you have had a good education. A man of your class is wanted in the +neighbourhood of Fort William Henry, a leader of scouts who can keep +our generals informed of the movements of the French. The winter is +almost upon us, and the next few months will see little movement in +other parts. But on Lake George a serious attack from the French +is possible, for they can come over the ice. Will you take service +with the colonials and enlist a band of scouts to act in that +neighbourhood?" + +There was silence for a few minutes, while Steve looked back at the +Colonel, a man after his own heart, tall and active, with fearless +kind eyes which looked straight into his. Then he sat up suddenly, +sprang to his feet, and gripped the hand held out to him. + +"I will go gladly, sir," he said. "I will take service till such time +as this contest is ended." + +"Good! That is excellent. Then we can go further. You will be gazetted +as captain," said George Washington, "and I may say that I have +been authorized to act in this manner, for our leaders are eager to +discover the right man. You will receive a bounty on being gazetted, +and will draw sufficient in pay and allowances to keep you. To your +men you can offer a bounty of six dollars, and twenty-six shillings a +month pay, besides rations and clothing." + +"I accept the terms willingly, Colonel," answered Steve promptly. "I +think I can guarantee that I shall be able to enlist ten men at least. +The money will be little inducement to them, for they have a good deal +more to fight for. As to the clothing, they will prefer to keep to +their hunting costumes. All will be trappers born and bred." + +"Then you can enlist them up to forty in number. And now, Steve, for +your orders. When can you be ready?" + +"In a week, I think," was our hero's answer. "That will give the men +time to settle their families." + +"And when can you march?" + +"When you order, sir." + +"Then you will set out in ten days' time, and meanwhile I will send on +a letter to Fort William Henry, intimating what I have done. Now join +me at my evening meal." + +Ten days later Steve set out from the mountains, seventeen of the +trappers who had fled from the settlement accompanying him. Jim and +Mac and Pete were there, while Silver Fox, wrapped in his blanket, +taciturn and silent, strode on in advance, his keen eyes noting +everything, his nostrils agape as if he already scented the smoke from +the camp fires of the Shawnee Indians, hereditary foes of his race, +with whom he hoped to meet before the conflict was ended. + +And so with the encouraging cheers of George Washington's ragged +soldiers ringing in their ears, the party set out, Steve their +acknowledged leader, and turned their faces for Albany. They plunged +into the forest within a few minutes, and stole along, a silent band, +clad in moccasins and trapper's leather. Icy blasts occasionally +reached them, while leaves of every tinge and shade slid from the +trees and pattered in their faces. The winter was at hand, and before +Steve and his band had reached their destination the frosts had +commenced and some snow had fallen. Little did they care for the cold. +These hardy huntsmen entered Fort William Henry ruddy and browned +by exposure, their honest faces displaying their enthusiasm and the +eagerness which all felt to commence the contest. Nor were they kept +long impatient. For the French were close at hand, and, indeed, had +come within sight of the fort that very morning. + +"I am glad to see you," said the commander, as he shook Steve's hand. +"You will find your own quarters, and draw your rations as do the +others. To-morrow you will see what the French are doing. A dozen of +our poor fellows were ambushed and slaughtered yesterday." + +Steve saluted and returned to his men. That evening their arrangements +were completed, and as the first streak of dawn lit up the gloomy +forest surroundings of Fort William Henry, he and his men stole from +the fort in single file, and, passing the sentries and outposts, +disappeared one by one amongst the trees and brambles. They were alone +again, dependent on their own courage and exertions, and conscious +of the fact that a remorseless enemy might pounce upon them at any +moment. + + + + +Chapter X + +Steve and his Band of Scouts + + +"The first thing that we have to do is to muster our forces and divide +up the work," said Steve, when his party of trappers and hunters who +were to act as scouts had left Fort William Henry a mile or more +behind them. "Without organisation we shall be nowhere. We cannot live +out here and do good work unless we rest, and if we wish to live we +must not dream of resting all together. There would be a very sad tale +to tell if we were so careless." + +He called gently to Jim and Mac, who happened to be in rear of him, +and at a signal from the latter the band of scouts gathered about +their young leader, flitting noiselessly amongst the trees. As for +Steve, looking tanned and weather-beaten, and as fine and independent +a young leader as could well be found, he leaned against the +lichen-covered trunk of a small oak, from which the leaves had long +been shed, and kicked his snow-shoes from his feet. + +"Make yourselves easy, boys," he said. "We'll discuss matters." + +"One minute, Cap'n," answered Jim, shouldering his musket and facing +round. "Now, boys, you ain't forgot what we've been talkin' about. Get +into yer places, jest to let the Cap'n see as you know what's wanted. +Hem! Form line! Pete, you're a foot or two out in yer calculations. +Jest hop back a piece; and Mac, didn't I tell yer back there in the +fort that an old soljer such as you air should know better how to +range up with the company?" + +Steve was amazed, and watched with a twinkle of amusement in his +steady eyes as the band of backwoodsmen shambled into line, a line +remarkable rather for its broken appearance and for its irregular gaps +than for regularity. For the lusty and courageous backwoodsmen who +till that day knew no master, who had fought and hunted in their own +manner, without direction from any one, and more often than not with +themselves alone to look to for leadership and advice, had little or +no notion of discipline. They scoffed at leaders as a general rule, +and at formation of any description. And in consequence the argument +which had induced them at length to conform to Jim's wishes had waxed +hot and furious. + +"We've been settin' our heads together, Cap'n," said Jim, as he ran +his eye down the ragged line of staunch backwoodsmen and scowled +at Mac and a few others who did not show that amount of interest +in the movement which pleased him. "We've seen what them chaps air +like way back at the fort, and we reckoned that after all a bit of +discipline air wanted. Yer see, supposin' we was called together all +of a sudden, and them skunks of redskins war close handy, waal, if +we hadn't any idea of order, where should we all be? Reckon the most +of us would be jawin' and tellin' the others what to do. Waal, that +ain't the thing to keep scalps on our heads. We want to collect quick +as a flash and wait for a command. Ef you don't happen to be handy, +then me or Mac or Pete, jest in that order, ef it's agreeable to you, +'ll take over the post of leader for the time, and there won't be +no--no--what's the word boys?" + +"Confusion," suggested Steve quietly, suppressing the smile of +amusement which was on his lips and stepping into his snow-shoes +again. For all of a sudden he realized that these men who had +so willingly placed themselves under his command were serious, +desperately serious, and meant to do their utmost to get even with the +enemy and wrest back from him the possessions which they had lost. +The fine fellows were ready to sacrifice some of their much-cherished +independence with the one object of making success more assured. He +ran his eye down the rank of stalwart trappers, and noted Jim's slim +proportions, his tall, wiry figure. Then Mac's flaming red beard +caught his attention, and he looked with open approval at the sturdy, +short figure of the Irishman, who stood at attention, his musket to +the shoulder, his eye fixed on his leader. A glance, in fact, was +sufficient to show that he alone of the whole company present had had +some experience of drill and discipline. There, too, was Pete, his +bulky figure bursting almost from his hunting shirt, his head and ears +swathed in a huge coon-skin cap. Of the others, tall and short, slim +or more sturdily built, there was not one who had not the appearance +of a hardy backwoodsman. There was a keen look in every face, and if +he had not known it before, the manner in which this band had slipped +from the fort that morning and made their way into the forest told him +that all were skilled in such work, that every man had had experience +and could be counted on to act with the stealth and cunning of the +oldest Indians. Though all with the exception of Mac lounged on their +muskets in the most unmilitary style, Steve felt gratified at this +the first sign of some attention to discipline. He swept his eye +along the line again and let it rest on Silver Fox for the space of a +second. The Mohawk warrior stood behind the line of men, resting upon +his firearm, the fringes of his moccasins trailing into the snow at +his feet. There was a look almost of scorn on his sharply-chiselled +features, a look which seemed to say that he of all the party thought +such a movement unnecessary. + +"With men of my race such a thing is unnecessary, Hawk," he said in +his slow, gutteral tones. "With us there is a leader, and when danger +comes on the sudden the chirrup of a bird, the call of a wild cat, or +the screech of an owl brings all together. Then he who speaks is the +chief. If others dare to open their lips they die. With these comrades +other methods are wanted perhaps. If so they are good. These are +all brave men, and are here to fight and not to play. Silver Fox is +satisfied." + +"And I too," cried Steve, as he strode down the ranks and passed a +word with every man. "Boys, you have done me the honour of accepting +me as your leader, and I will do my best for you. I think that we all +have the same cause for coming here. We have something to win back +from the French and their Indians, and we have a king who asks for +our help. I am glad to see that you are prepared to obey some sort of +discipline, for it will certainly help us in case we should ever get +into a tight place. It will be of service too when we are in action, +and I for one have come here to fight, to do my best to drive back the +French and their Indians." + +There was a general shuffling of snow-shoes at his words, a restless +movement along the ragged line which told that the men approved. Had +regular soldiers been there they would have tossed their caps on to +their bayonets and cheered. But these backwoodsmen knew well that a +shout might bring a hornet's nest about their ears, and more than +that, custom had taught them to be taciturn as a rule, to be silent +and thoughtful, given to deeds and not to words. + +"And we're all here to do the same," burst in Jim. "Reckon me and you, +Cap'n, and every boy here, has a bone to clean with them 'ere French, +and ef we hadn't er guessed as you would most likely show us some +fightin', why----" + +"Sure ye know we'd not have been here," sang out Mac, his long +friendship with Steve and Jim overcoming all discipline. "But Hawk'll +show us the way, bhoys, and remimber, ivery one of ye, that till +we can drive these men back to their own counthry there'll be no +peace for us, their murtherin' Indians will be rhunnin' over our +sittlemints, and our wives and childer, God kape the darlints! will be +back there where we've lift 'em, waitin' and longin' for their homes." + +There was a low growl from the ragged rank at that, and the +backwoodsmen instinctively gripped the barrels of their ponderous +muskets. There was now a stern look in their eyes, a look which boded +ill for the enemy. + +"Then we are all agreed," sang out Steve. "Now for ways and means. I +propose that we live out of the fort. Men there are dying daily from +infectious disease, while those who form the garrison have little to +do but grumble. Let us take up our quarters out here in the forest. We +are used to roughing it, and know well how to provide against severe +weather." + +"Seth Shorter! Where air yer, Seth? Ah, then step forward and speak +up," sang out Jim at this moment. "Now, Cap'n, Seth here has been born +and brought up close to these lakes, and I reckon he'll know every +inch of the ground. Ef we're to live out in the forest, he's the boy +to say where. As for livin' out, why we're all for that, for who'd +want to stay in there at the fort?" + +He pointed a contemptuous finger in the direction of Fort William +Henry where they had spent the previous night, and where even that +short experience had taught them that life in the British stronghold +was not one altogether to be desired. For, as Steve had said, men died +fast from disease, while the hours hung terribly heavy for all who +formed the garrison. + +"Now, Seth, where air this camp of ours to be?" demanded Jim, +slouching up to the sturdy backwoodsman who had been called upon, and +slapping him upon the shoulder with his gloved hand. "Where air the +place, lad?" + +"Thar ain't a doubt where we should camp," came the ready answer. +"It's like this, Cap'n and mates. Here's Wood Creek running down +from the foot of Lake Champlain, and alongside of it thar's Lake St. +George, which is a good deal bigger. Waal, up thar, at the foot of +Champlain, there's Crown Point, one of them Frenchie's forts, and +below that they've Ticonderoga building. Between Lake St. George and +Wood Creek thar's a tidy strip of land and wood, and ef thar's a place +as I know, why---" + +"You are acquainted with that," interrupted Steve, eagerly. "Well?" + +"Waal, thar's a bit of a stretch o' rocky ground at the foot of that +strip o' land, and thar ain't a tree on it for quite a bit. All +round's forest, same as this, and then thar's the frozen lakes. Now, +Cap'n, I've shot and trapped over that 'ere place scores o' times, and +me and a mate once did a winter's outin' thar, trappin' and collectin' +pelts. We was, as you might say, jest as this 'ere party air. We was +lookin' for a campin' ground whar we could live in spite of weather, +and whar we could have a show ef them red-skinned varmint comed along." + +"And yer found it?" asked Jim eagerly. + +"You bet. That thar rocky ground has got a kind of nose on it. It +kicks up into the air all of a sudden, jest a hundred feet perhaps, +and right at the top it dips jest as sudden. That dip air about the +size to take this party, and with a few trees across the top and +a lacing of reeds the snow'll lie and form a roof which looks as +natural--waal----" + +"As possible," suggested Steve. + +"Right, Cap'n. As natural as possible I reckon. From that ere place a +few of us chaps could hold up a hundred and more of the varmint ef we +had a supply of victuals." + +"Then we'll make for it and inspect," said Steve promptly. "How far is +it from the fort?" + +"A matter of five mile perhaps, mate, I mean Cap'n." + +"The same, my lad," laughed Steve. "We are all mates on this trail. +But one word before we move. You are all more experienced than I am, +and since you have decided to follow some sort of discipline, I will +say nothing more about it, but leave the matter to you alone. But once +we have our quarters we will divide into watches, and select hunters +and scouts. Now, Seth, just give us a lead." + +The trapper shuffled over the snow at once, his musket flung over his +shoulder, and without seeming to take note of his position strode +off at right angles to the course which they had been following. As +promptly his comrades divided into parties, which had been arranged by +Jim and Mac, and while some trailed off after Seth and Steve, others +moved away like ghosts into the forests to act as flanking guards. +And as Steve cast his eye to right and left he caught sight of their +figures every now and again, silently flitting between the trees, each +man listening intently, noting every little sign, and still keeping +in touch with the main party. Ten minutes later the hoot of an owl +brought the trappers together. + +"Thar's been redskins and Frenchies here," said one of the band, as +he pointed to a narrow track in the snow. "They passed last night, I +should reckon." + +"And blazed a fresh trail," added Steve swiftly. "Look over there." + +His sharp eye had seen a white clip in the side of a tree some +distance away, and closer inspection and a little search showed that +he was not in error. + +"The Hawk has an eye of which the finest chief might be proud," said +Silver Fox. "These men passed in the afternoon of yesterday. There +were ten of them." + +"And one was less accustomed to shoes than the others," said Steve +swiftly. "He was a pale face." + +"He was. The Hawk can read the signs as I have already learned. One +was a pale face, and he led. They went towards the fort, blazing a new +track. They returned across the ice." + +There was an exclamation at that from some of the trappers who up till +lately had been unacquainted with Silver Fox. But Jim silenced the +doubts of his comrades promptly. + +"How's that, chief?" he asked in the Mohawk, which all the party +understood. "How did you get that reckonin'?" + +"Ask the Hawk," was the curt answer. "He read these signs, and he knew +how they returned." + +"It is easy to guess at their track back, but one cannot say +absolutely for sure," smiled Steve. "Look at the tracks of their shoes +here, boys. Well, there are no return traces. Yesterday they made in +the direction of Fort William, and I guess that they were back at +their own quarters before night fell. Remember how cold it was and how +it began to blow in the early afternoon." + +"It did that," exclaimed one of the men. "The snow was sweeping over +the ice on the lakes." + +"Just so, and the clouds of snow hid them well. They slipped from the +forest on to the ice, and with the wind behind them were almost blown +back home, while their traces were covered. Here, in the forest, where +the full force of the wind was not so much felt, their tracks are +pretty clear. They are home again, boys, and we can do nothing with +them to-day. But another time----" + +"We'll remember that they've blazed a path," said Jim curtly. "We'll +set a watch on this place." + +Once more the band separated and plunged on through the silent forest, +and within a little while they found themselves on rising ground which +finally led up to a hollow, some fifty feet long, by twenty broad, and +some fifteen deep. Its opening faced directly north, in the direction +of the French position, while its back was walled in by a mass of +rock and frozen earth. For roof it had the sky, now overcast and +treacherous-looking, save at the extreme rear, where a mass of snow +was supported by the branches of a fallen tree. + +"The only one as grew up thar," explained Seth, pointing to it. "Me +and my mate felled it and dropped it inter position, whar it formed +a roof over our heads. Now ef we was to do the same right along, and +place a wall in front, there'd be a fort ter be proud of, and room in +plenty for every man." + +For some few minutes the members of the band closely inspected the +hollow and its surroundings, Steve noting with much satisfaction that +the slightly elevated position of the mound gave those who occupied +it a perfect watch-tower from which they could in clear weather see +the frozen surfaces of Lake St. George and Wood Creek, while the trees +stood back so far that there was little or no cover for an attacking +enemy. It was just the place for an armed camp, for it was within +reach of their friends, occupied an advanced position, and, owing +to its nearness to Fort William Henry, could easily be victualled. +For a little while he stood on the edge of the hollow staring out at +the wind-swept and dark frozen surface of the long lake to the left, +known as St. George, and then at the still more slender strip to the +right, Wood Creek, on the banks of which many a little skirmish had +taken place between colonials and French Indians. _La petite guerre_, +as the French named these conflicts, had been the order for many a +month past, for the enemy were bold, and too often their Indians and +_coureurs de bois_ had pounced upon the colonials as they gathered +firewood, or looked for food in the forests. Steve and his party, with +such a commanding position, might well hope to put a stop to many of +these unexpected attacks. + +"We have found the very place, Cap'n," exclaimed Jim, with some +emphasis, as he stared around. "On a quiet night I reckon we could +easily hear folks on the ice, and ef we was held up badly, why a +charge of powder buried under the rocks and fired with a train would +make a boom as would come to the ears of those in the fort." + +"We'll occupy it and take possession at once," answered Steve readily. +"Call the men round." + +An hour later fourteen figures could be seen slouching away from the +mound across the snow in the direction of Fort William Henry, while +their comrades, with Steve, slipped their gloves from their fingers, +and, slinging their muskets, made for the forest. A few words, in +fact, to these intensely practical men had set them in motion. While +three stood on the mound keeping a sharp look out, the others went to +drag the longest boughs they could find in the forest, where hundreds +lay on the ground. Then the fourteen who had made back for the fort +carried a note from Steve asking for stores of every description. +Indeed, as the night began to fall this portion of Steve's following +came trailing back, dragging an improvised sledge, on which they had +loaded cases of salted meat, dried bear's flesh, bacon, and beans, +besides rum, lead, and an ample supply of powder. + +Meanwhile those who had remained had gathered a huge stock of boughs, +and had easily contrived to place the longest across the top of the +hollow. Others had been laid crosswise on these, and on the top of all +a thick covering of brambles, reeds, and pine branches had been strewn. + +One of the backwoodsmen had detached himself from his fellows, and +while they laboured at the roofing of their fort he had set to work +with knife and tomahawk. He was an expert, it seemed, for in a little +while he had a number of blocks of frozen snow collected at the very +mouth of the hollow. And with these and a number of loose rocks +he soon contrived to erect a rough fireplace, with a wide chimney +overhanging it, which ran up the sloping back of the hollow, and +finally pushed its white top through the rough roof above. It was a +neat job, and one to be proud of, and this trapper longed to see the +chips which he had set in the grate below fired, and send long tongues +of flame up the chimney. + +"You'd have the hul howling lot of varmint round us in a jiffy," +growled Jim, as he watched the man lay the wood in the grate. "Reckon +thet fire'll have to get started when it snows hard, and after that, +when it's light, nothing but chips as dry as a bone'll have to get +throwed on it. Even then, thar ain't any sayin' as a redskin wouldn't +spot the smoke." + +"With care, it will be well," said Silver Fox, as Jim turned to him as +if to ask for his decision. "See, my brother, behind the smoke there +will be the sky, and it is clear and white. If dry chips are used +there will be a little white smoke perhaps, but none that is dark. We +can keep fire within the fort once it has been set alight. Truly, you +pale faces think of strange things. Where my brothers and I would have +set our wigwams in the thickest forest, there seeking protection from +the snow and keen winter winds, you come hither and burrow like foxes. +You make one big wigwam where we should have seen no opportunity of +doing so, and as I look on and smoke you erect a fort which is strong +against attack, which is a watch-tower from which you can see every +foot of the lakes, and which also is a comfortable lair in which the +firelight can be seen, and where we may huddle about the warmth, and +smoke and think. Truly there is no understanding you men who have come +so strangely from over the water." + +The tall Indian brave wrapped his blanket still closer about his +figure, and gazed out at the huge panorama stretched before him. +There lay the glistening surface of the two lakes, now clad with ice +from end to end, and fringed all about by continuous forest, which +grew up to the banks and cast there a deep shadow, which looked +black against the white of the ice. And away in the distance the +faint reflection from another long expanse of frozen water, Lake +Champlain, called after that famous Frenchman who had done so much +for New France, and who had founded Quebec. It, too, was clad in a +garment of white, snow hanging to the trees, and in the dull wintry +green of the pines, which grew thickly there. For background there +was the blue haze of the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains, now +the favourite haunt of thousands of holiday-seeking Americans. And +still farther to the north, buried in the dull horizon and behind it, +lay the Richelieu river, with its few forts, and its _seigneuries_, +where the _gentilhommes_ of this new colony, the lately-constructed +noblesse, sat in their palisaded houses watching as their _habitants_ +cooked their food or went a-hunting. Then it was that these noblesse +might don doe-skin leggings, shirt, and moccasins, and clad in the +thick fur coats, with hoods, worn by the Indians of Canada, and with +thick mittens slung about their necks, might venture into the forest +with the _habitants_ and enjoy all the excitement of the chase. Yes, +they could hunt and fight, but work, never! Each one was the seigneur, +and the lords of Old and New France never blistered their palms nor +dirtied their fingers. + +"We're almost ready," said Steve, as he stood beside the tall Silver +Fox, staring out at the scene below. "What we want now is a wall of +snow here in front. How are we to set about building it?" + +"It's as easy as fallin'," answered Jim at once. "Look up there, +Cap'n." + +He pointed to the leaden sky above, and held his hand up for a minute. + +"Wind's from the north, Cap'n," he said, "and it's goin' to snow. +To-morrow things'll be properly covered, and ef we jest build a wall +of branches at the face of this nest, waal, it'll be covered afore the +mornin'. Reckon this place'll be lookin' jest natural when the light +comes again." + +"Then set the men to work," cried Steve, hurrying off to where a pile +of branches and small tree trunks had been dragged. "It will be dark +in an hour, and if it is going to snow, as I can well believe, why, we +may just as well make all snug beforehand." + +Less than an hour later there was an erection of boughs and branches +against the face of the hollow, to which the finishing touches were +given as the darkness fell. By then snowflakes were silently flitting +to the ground, powdering the rough roof above the hollow, and resting +upon the caps and shoulders of the trappers. A little later it was +dark, and through the flakes the distant twinkle of a dozen or more +lights could be seen. + +"Ticonderoga," said Steve, as he sheltered his face from the snow. +"To-morrow we shall hope to know more about its position and about the +movements of its garrison. Now, what about sentries?" + +"Reckon we can all turn in and be comfortable, Cap'n," answered Jim +promptly. "There ain't no need for look-outs to-night. The snow'll +keep every livin' soul under cover. It's coming thicker. See for +yerself. The lights have gone, and the darkness is deeper." + +One by one the gallant little band crept into the cosy little nest +which they had prepared, a strip of blanket being dropped over the +small opening which had been left amongst the branches. Then pipes +were produced and filled, while the backwoodsman who had so diligently +built fireplace and chimney, used flint and steel with a will, and +watched with all the pleasure of a child as the sparks caught hold and +the flames licked round the wood. Soon there was a bright blaze, while +smoke soared up the chimney. + +"There ain't no red-skinned varmint as'll be able to see that, I +reckon," growled Jim, as he snatched a blazing ember from the fire and +lit his pipe, passing the brand round the circle when he had finished +with it. "It air snowin' hard, and the best brave livin' couldn't see +more'n a dozen yards. Get to work with supper, boys, then a yarn or +so, and we'll put in the best sleep we've had for many a night past." + +Could the French commander at Ticonderoga have clambered to the top of +their hollow and peered down at the band lounging below, he would have +been more than a little disturbed. For the firelight which lit up the +quaint quarters of Steve's command, was reflected from every face, and +showed a collection of trappers, every one of whom was a man indeed. +They sat for the most part with their muskets close beside them, or +across their knees, for the habit had grown upon them these last few +months. And as they yarned, the tale falling now from this one, and +then from the lips of others of the band, stories of fierce border +fights came to the ear, stories which all knew to be true in every +detail. Wiry backwoodsmen recounted how they had left civilization to +become pioneers in the wilderness, how fortune had smiled upon them, +how the land had been cleared, the crops sown, the hut erected, and +the store of pelts increased, till the prospect for the future was +rosy. And then the French had come, they and their so-called Christian +Indians. Wives and children had been slaughtered, men had been slain +and scalped, huts fired, and the future utterly wrecked. That was the +moment when the forebodings of the French commander would have been +greatest, for every bronzed face below looked exceedingly grim and +determined, while often enough there was a bitter word on the lips of +those who had lost dear ones. Hands gripped the ponderous muskets, +while fingers fidgeted about the flint locks or felt for powder +pouches. Yes, these men had much with which to refresh their memories, +and each and every one was determined to come to hand-grips with the +French, and to fight till the day when the enemy was beaten and they +and their friends restored to their possessions. + +"Time to turn in," said Steve at last. "Boys, we'll take it in turns +to keep the fire going, and to-morrow we'll tell off a couple to act +as cooks. Good-night! Let's hope we shall see something of the enemy +soon." + +There was a chorus of good-nights, then blankets were produced, and +very soon the firelight showed only recumbent figures. + +"There's a sight for yer," was Jim's exclamation on the following +morning, as he rose from his blanket and pushed his head through the +narrow outlet. "Ain't that a pictur?" + +Steve pressed past him and gave a cry of amazement, for though he knew +the forest well, and had seen many a winter, he had never looked on +such a scene. Far and wide the country was white, and glistening in +the rays of a winter's sun. Trees and lakes and mountains all had the +same thick covering, save in a few odd places, where the green of the +pines broke through, or where the snow had tumbled from the treetops. +As for the lakes, they were a vast expanse of the whitest snow, laid +out most wonderfully at their feet, a long expanse which stretched +up to the banks, clambered up the trees, and ran on over the forest +unbroken. Unbroken? No, for suddenly Steve's arm shot out, and he +pointed in the direction of Ticonderoga. + +"Critters," said Jim with a sniff of approval. "Injuns, I reckon, and +those are guns trailin' out behind 'em. Cap'n, it looks as ef they +war off on some expedition. There'll be two or three hundred of the +fellers." + +It was true enough. Straggling across the surface of Lake St. George +came a small force of Indians and Frenchmen, while in rear trailed +a couple of guns mounted on sledges. The head of the expedition was +turned towards the foot of the lake, and, as it advanced, those who +looked could not be sure whether the force were intended for an attack +upon Fort William Henry, or whether they were themselves the object of +the enemy. + +"There can no longer be a doubt," said Steve, some ten minutes later. +"Those fellows must have seen us, or gained news of our coming. They +are marching for this side of the lake, and before very long we shall +have their cannon playing on us. Call the boys." + + + + +Chapter XI + +Held Up! + + +It was with very mixed feelings that Steve and his band of hunters and +scouts watched the coming of the French and their Indians, for as the +light grew stronger and they were able to see somewhat better, they +made out that two hundred at least of the enemy were marching across +the snow-clad lake. + +"And there air the guns, boys," said Jim, as if he had been +calculating their chances. "Up here we've a fort so to speak, and +it'll take them braves a time to storm it. The French'll lead 'em, and +they air the ones we must keep a watch on. Ef them gunners get the +range, and can pop in a few shots, there'll be a muss." + +"If we are good enough to allow them to keep at the game," said Steve +slowly. "Granted that they get the range, and make out the front +face of this place, well, we must do something to prevent them from +knocking us to pieces." + +"A sortie, Cap'n?" asked Pete, standing beside his young leader, and +looking unusually bulky and formidable on this clear, frosty morning. +"Ef that's the order, you can put me down. A bit o' runnin' would +suit me. It's cold here for fingers and toes." + +"We will see," responded Steve, still with his eyes fixed on the +advancing enemy. "Meanwhile, I vote that we select our cooks and get +some breakfast. A man can do better when he's had a meal. Stir the +fire, boys, and who are the ones to look to our food?" + +He stepped inside the shelter again, and ran his eyes round the men +whose figures were lit up still by the fire, for now that a heavy fall +of snow had covered their rough roof and the front wall, it was very +dark inside. There were twenty-seven men in all, for he had obtained +several recruits at the fort on the previous day. Seth and another at +once put their hands up. + +"I ain't been trappin' and fightin' all these days without knowin' a +bit about a cooking pot," said the former with a grin. "Put me and +Adam here on to the job, Cap'n, and we'll do our best. A man can't do +more." + +"'Cept fight and pull a trigger whenever there's critters to be shot," +laughed his comrade. "That air a bargain, ain't it, Cap'n? We cook for +the company, and we does our share with the muskets. 'Twouldn't be +fair to bring us out here to do what chaps from the coast and towns +could manage just as well." + +"You may take my word for it. You shall have a full share of the +fighting," laughed Steve. "Get to at breakfast then, while we discuss +the other matter." + +A little later all were seated about the fire once more, discussing +a savoury stew of bear's meat, which had been left simmering most of +the night. And as they sat and ate, Silver Fox, vigilant as always, +crouched in the opening to this the strangest of forts, and watched +the enemy. + +"They are out of sight, Hawk," he said at length, turning and crawling +to Steve. "The forests cover them for a while. Soon they will be here." + +"Then now is the time. Get to work," cried Steve. + +The band broke up at once, and leaving their muskets, crept for the +most part through the opening. For they had work to do outside, and +now was their opportunity to accomplish it while the trees hid them +from the enemy. Gathering outside, they piled a wall of snow at the +foot of the barrier which filled in the front face of their fort, +while some inside took stout stakes and rammed them through the +interlaced branches and their thick covering of snow till apertures +were left through which a man might thrust a musket barrel and take +good aim. Moreover, these openings were at such a height from the +floor of the fort that those who made use of them could see to fire +over the wall which those outside were busily erecting. + +"They are for use if we are driven inside," said Steve, as he watched +the men at work. "Now, boys, run the wall as far out on the right as +you can, and make openings in it also. We must do all we can to upset +the calculations of the enemy, for it would not do for us to fire from +the opening of our retreat in the first instance." + +Using their hands for the most part, or a thick bough, the trappers +swept the deep snow which lay on the rocky ridge into a wall some +three feet high, and now that that portion directly in front of the +hollow was completed, they pushed on with the work to the right of +the fort, where the hummock or rock ran on without interruption, +presenting a ledge some ten feet wide, which was perfectly level. To +the left the rock fell away suddenly just outside the hollow, and it +would have been impossible to erect even a narrow wall. + +"Reckon that air a good idea of yours, Cap'n," said Pete, as he beat +the snow with his hands to make it bind firmly together. "When them +critters gets out'er the trees and makes for the hollow, the snow'll +puzzle 'em a little, and they won't be properly sure whereabouts the +mouth of the hollow lies. Chances air that not a one of 'em's ever +set foot in it. They've likely enough looked up here a score of times +jest in the ordinary way of scoutin'. But that won't help 'em much, +particular when the hul place is changed by the snow." + +"Just what I thought," answered Steve. "If we were to open fire from +behind the wall erected just in front of the hollow, the smoke would +give our position away to them at once, and they would soon send their +cannon balls plumping into the place. As it is, we can crawl away +behind the wall till we are well to the right, and there----" + +"Reckon cannon balls don't do much harm against rock, Cap'n," burst in +Jim. "The only thing now is to be careful that them critters don't see +us at work as they come out of the trees. Best call some of 'em in." + +By now the wall which Steve had planned was almost completed, and +he at once followed Jim's advice. The majority of the trappers were +directed to lie down behind that portion which stood in front of the +hollow, while the red-bearded Mac, Pete, and four others went on with +the projection to the right, for there it would not matter much if +they were seen. However, it is no easy matter to drag guns through a +forest where the ground is rough and covered deeply with snow, and +an hour more had passed before the head of the enemy's force emerged +from the screen of trees which had hidden them from Steve and his men, +and which had equally hidden the band of trappers from the French and +their bloodthirsty Indians. When they did at length emerge, filing out +from the mottled background one by one, Steve's men were in readiness. +Those who were advancing to attack them could see only an eminence, +getting steeper as it neared the top, and then suddenly erecting a big +hummock, in which lay the hollow so strangely converted into a fort. +Many had looked at this spot before, just as they did at other parts +of the surrounding country in their daily search for stragglers and +woodcutters from Fort William Henry. They had a general idea of its +conformation, but the heavy fall of snow upset their calculations. +They stared at the rise, looking in vain for the hollow and for sight +of the trappers. + +"Strange," exclaimed their leader, a tall French officer, who was +wrapped in a fur coat, and whose head and ears were muffled in a thick +skin cap. + +"We had information that they went there last night. Our scout told us +that they were busy cutting wood and roofing in some hollow. He saw +that it was about to snow, and fearful of losing his way in the storm, +he made back to the fort. But the same storm will have kept these +trappers here, unless--unless." + +"Unless they should have crept away this morning," said his subaltern +quickly. "I will give an order to the Indians. The Hurons will tell us +whether they are there or not." + +A nod told him that he had his captain's permission, and within a +minute a dozen blanketed forms had slid ahead of the force. Steve saw +them toss their blankets to their comrades, and then, like hounds on +the trail, their heads went closer to the snow-covered ground, their +shoulders bent, and, separating, the Huron Indians went off across the +snow at the edge of the forest at a pace which would have taxed the +strength of the strongest European. + +"Them cusses'll make round the place within a quarter of an hour, and +ef a fox had made out, I reckon they'd know," growled Seth, as he +watched from an embrasure. "My advice is lie low and puzzle 'em. Give +'em a chance to crawl nearer." + +Steve gave a low whistle at once, while he lay at full length staring +through an embrasure at the enemy below. And within a little while Jim +and Pete and Mac were beside him. They came crawling along the cleared +ground behind the wall, and presently were seated beside their young +leader. As for the French and their Indians, they had seen not so much +as a sign of the movement. For Steve was 'cute, and had the advantage +of possessing trained trappers. When building their wall not a man had +dared to step to the outside of it. They had taken the snow and thrown +or swept it to their front, so that on the outside there was not so +much as a mark. Then the two hours' labour had enabled them to run the +wall some thirty yards to the right, while behind it there was a rough +gallery, along which any man could crawl unseen. + +"Now, boys," said Steve, as they threw themselves at his feet, "I +propose that we take Seth's advice. We'll lie still as foxes till they +begin to think that we have gone. Let them send their Indians up here, +and all wait till I give a signal. That will be the best way in which +to meet them. And in any case we all fire from the extreme right of +the wall, unless they get so close that a rush is possible. Then we +will collect. Has every man plenty of ammunition?" + +"Heaps, Cap'n," answered Jim, "and the boys know what's to happen. +In case they don't, we'll give 'em a warnin'. All are to wait for the +signal." + +They went crawling back to their stations on hands and knees, and +presently Steve joined them at the extreme right of the wall. Here, +within a space of ten yards, the whole band was collected, each man +stretched full length on the rock and snow, his eye to a loophole, his +head well hidden by the wall of snow, and his musket ready beside him. +All were wrapped in rough fur coats, for the most part made of skins +which they themselves had collected. Big, warm coon-skin caps covered +their heads and ears, while each man had a pair of sack gloves secured +to his neck by long strips of doe skin, so that he might discard the +covering at any moment and move from his position without losing his +gloves. Indeed this was a plan generally adopted in Canada and America +in those days, and one which we know was made use of by the Japanese +in their recent war with Russia. + +Meanwhile the enemy had halted on the fringe of the encircling forest, +and stood there about the guns, within six hundred yards of their +object. And as they stood the twelve Huron Indians stole softly away +over the snow, till at length they had completely covered the circle. +There was a movement then amongst their comrades, and presently the +teams of men hauling the guns strained at the tackle, and dragged the +ponderous weapons into the forest. At the same time a hundred of the +Indians broke from the ranks with wild whoops, and began to move +towards the mound. + +"They know as well as we do that we're here," growled Jim, as he +stared through his loophole. "Them critters'll come within range jest +to tempt us. But they won't dare to rush right up. Trust 'em for that. +They ain't much good at chargin', and no Injun's goin' to throw away +his life for nothin'." + +"The French will give them a lead perhaps," said Steve. "When they +find that we do not move, and their own Indians will not approach +closer, it is probable that they will come themselves to see whether +we are actually here." + +"Jest because no Frenchie, and no white man for the matter of that, +who ain't had experience hisself can believe the 'cuteness of the +Injuns, Cap'n. Some of 'em who air new to the backwoods and to the +trail, reckon they're mighty 'cute theirselves when they've been a +month only in the country. They don't reckon that nothin', not even +the print of a bird escapes the eye of a brave. Ef they do give the +Injuns a lead, why----" + +"It's our turn, boys," sang out Mac. "Sure, haven't we suffered? +Haven't our people been shot down and scalped. Haven't the women and +childer been driven from their homes. Sure, now's the toime of our +loives." + +"If all goes as we hope," Steve ventured. "There are the guns to be +thought of." + +They continued chatting in low voices while the hundred or more +Indians discarded their blankets or coats, and with muskets at the +trail came sidling up towards the mound on their snowshoes. Presently +the smooth and unbroken expanse of snow below which had met the eyes +of the trappers early that morning was scored and seamed by hundreds +of marks and lines, the prints of the snowshoes. The figures of the +Indians, too, dwarfed before by the distance, were now far clearer, +for they were within two hundred yards of the hollow. Steve and his +friends watched as they gathered together for a while and discussed +matters. Then one of the Hurons, a gigantic fellow, broke from his +comrades and came stalking up the rise, his musket over his shoulder, +his tomahawk in his hand, and a wily and determined look on his +sharply-cut mahogany features. + +"It air an old trick that," growled Jim. "Maybe he's given offence +to some of his tribe. Perhaps he ain't been so forward in the battle +as he should ha' been. So he's took the first opportunity of doin' +somethin' out o' the way to prove as he ain't a coward. Ef he walks +right up, as he well may do----" + +"Not a man must move," said Steve sharply and with decision. +"Recollect that we are placed high above them, and that the ground +slopes very steeply, even from the front face of the wall, so that if +a man wishes to look over and see us he must actually reach the wall. +Not a man must lift a finger till that Indian actually sees us and +shouts. Then it will be time." + +A whispered warning was passed down the ranks, and all squinted +through their loopholes, watching the hulking figure of the Indian as +he ascended. It appeared indeed as if he was determined to sacrifice +himself, and would actually clamber up to the wall and over it in his +eagerness to be killed or to discover the enemy. He advanced without +a waver till within forty yards of Steve and his men, and then, for +the first time, they saw him hesitate. He paused, looked round at +his comrades, now too far away to support him, and then deliberately +lifted his musket to his shoulder, pointed the barrel at the mound +above him, and pressed the trigger, sending a bullet thudding into the +snow. When the smoke blew away, he was still there, standing now to +his full height, his eagles' feathers trailing to his waist, his scalp +locks, with which his leggings were fringed, fluttering in the wind, +and his hideously painted face turned towards the hollow. + +"Listen pale faces," he called out in his sing-song style, as if he +were addressing a meeting of braves. "I am here to summon you to come +down and be our prisoners. I swear that no harm shall befall you." + +He was silent for a while, and stood staring up at the hummock as if +expecting an answer. + +"Ef only I might," whispered Jim, his face aglow at the thought, and +his huge brown fist clenched. "Ef only I dared shoot the skunk where +he stands. Harm! As ef we didn't all know that an Injun's word ain't +worth a row of chips. As ef one of them critters could ever keep his +fingers off a white man when he got the chance! Don't me and every +boy here know well that a man might jest as well, ay, and better, far +better, too, put a barrel to his head and draw a trigger rather than +fall a prisoner. None of yer Indian prisoners fer me. Huntin' Jim ken +tell a tale or two o' pale face men and women, and children, too, the +villains has burned and tortured to death by inches!" + +"Hush! He's going to speak again," whispered Steve, nudging the irate +backwoodsman. "Perhaps he thinks after all that we are not here." + +"Thinks, Cap'n! He knows jest as well as you or me. He ain't a fool. +None of them varmint air." + +"You do not speak, pale faces," came the sing-song voice again. +"Listen, all who lie hidden before me. I give you one more invitation +from the white men who lead us. Descend and there shall be no harm." + +Once more he waited, while many a hand went to the muskets and many a +face scowled at the tall Indian. + +"Then, listen again," he went on. "I and my brothers know that you +are there, hiding like foxes. If you will not descend, then show +yourselves, fight like men, and let it be a combat with tomahawks. +See, I am here, the Giant Oak, known throughout the great lakes for +strength and endurance. I have fired my shot, and here I will wait +for your leader to come forth and do battle with me." + +Silence. The silence of the grave alone greeted the brave who had +dared to come so close to the hollow. As Steve stared down at him, he +saw that the Indian was making good use of every second, for his keen +eyes searched every foot of the snow-clad slope above him, looked into +every tiny hollow, and sought to discover a footmark, something to +tell him the exact position of the men whom his experience told him +were there. But nature had done her work well enough. The heavy fall +of snow had covered every trace, and the astuteness of the trappers +had done the rest. The man looked baffled and desperate. He caught at +his powder horn, charged his musket, primed the lock, and once more +sent a bullet thudding into the snow. Then, jeering aloud and throwing +every sort of insult at the heads of the hidden enemy, he turned and +slid down the hummock, watched by many a pair of eyes. + +"And lucky for him," said Jim. "Now there'll be a bother. They'll put +their heads together, and there'll be a palaver. The French'll try to +make 'em charge, and likely enough the critters will come a little +closer. Then, ef they haven't moved us, them Frenchies'll try a rush." + +"When we shall break the silence," said Steve. "Look, there are the +guns." + +Jim was an old Indian fighter, and what he had prophesied took place. +For while the Indians gathered together, and could be seen talking +and being harangued by some French officers, the two guns which had so +long been out of sight suddenly appeared at the edge of the forest, +and this time within an easy three hundred yards' range. There they +were dismounted, and Steve's men watched the gunners ram in their +charges and train the weapons on the slope. + +"A combined movement," said Steve easily, a determined smile on his +lips. "They will endeavour to distract our attention while their +comrades charge. Ah, there go the Indians. Pass the word. Let every +man remember that not a trigger is to be drawn till I give the signal." + +It was just as well that he reissued the warning, for it is hard work +for men itching to retaliate and suffering under the knowledge of many +cruel wrongs, to lie and listen to the patter and thud and whistle +of large calibre bullets without sending their own leaden messengers +back. However, the backwoodsmen knew what was wanted, and they lay +like logs as the Indians drew nearer and nearer, firing as they came. +Often and often those trained shots, who had lived their lives in +the woods, could have picked off one of their old enemies. But they +refrained, though many a growl escaped them. Then came the guns. A +column of smoke belched of a sudden from the fringe of the forest, +and a ball thudded against the rocky wall behind, bringing down a +mass of frozen débris. A second missile struck the very summit of the +hummock, was caught as it were by the snow, and with all the venom +taken out of it and its pace retarded, went rolling down the far side. + +"Jest a little gentle play," smiled Jim grimly. "Let 'em send their +cannon balls. Reckon they won't hurt us. But them Frenchies air +gettin' ready to charge." + +It was as he said, for as Steve looked through the round opening made +in the bank of snow, he saw some fifty dark figures emerge from the +trees beside the guns, and throw off their heavier clothing. They +were French regulars for the most part, as was shown by their blue +and white uniform. But there was a sprinkling of _coureurs de bois_ +amongst them, bold men of the forest, who had long ago demonstrated +their capacity for this class of work. + +"We'll not be in a hurry," said Steve. "It is harder work to charge up +a hillock, which after all may be untenanted, than it is to dash up +while bullets swish past, and while the shouts and cheers of comrades +help to keep up one's courage. Not a shot, boys, till you hear my +musket. Ah, here they come, and the guns are starting again." + +He had watched the French gunners sponging out their pieces, and +now crouched a little lower as a ball came hurtling overhead with a +scream, and expending all its force against the soft cushion of snow +lying on the hummock above, dropped backwards like a stone, and fell +with a thud at his feet. + +"Sure, 'tis one of thim bhoys as could give ye a gentle little knock, +so it would," sang out Mac, while the trappers laughed heartily. "I'll +be afther axing ye, Mr. Frenchie down there, to aim to the rhight a +bhit, for Mac here don't like thim pellets, and there's Huntin' Jim as +is afeared of the beauties." + +There was another laugh at that, a low, noiseless laugh for these men +knew that sounds travelled easily and far on such a frosty day. Then +all fixed their eyes on the gathering of Frenchmen below, and watched +as they advanced towards the hillock, taking their time, for they +wished to have all their breath for the more difficult part of their +task. + +"Ef they'd only hurry," growled Jim. "They're delayin' so much that it +makes me jumpy. 'Sides, it's goin' to snow agin, and that'd help 'em." + +Indeed, as he spoke, a few flakes came sidling noiselessly through +the air, while the clear sparkling light was rapidly shut out by the +masses of heavy clouds which were gathering above. Heavy snow might, +indeed, be expected, and would help to hide the attackers as they +came. Nor were the French slow to recognise that fact. While the guns +went on with their bombardment, pitching balls now to the right and +then to the left, and on one occasion clean into the hollow, the party +who had gathered and moved out to storm the hillock halted and shouted +to one another. Ten minutes later as the snow-flakes came tumbling +heavily and the wind whirled them across the white expanse below, the +Frenchmen started again, and, raising loud shouts, dashed forward as +fast as their snow-shoes would carry them. Arriving at the steeper +part of the hillock they kicked their shoes away, and in a trice were +scrambling up, their muskets slung over their shoulders and tomahawks +or cutlasses in their hands. + +It was a tense moment for all behind the wall, and even the oldest +trapper there felt his heart thumping against his ribs and his pulses +throbbing with unusual force. Steve's men lay as if they were dead, +each man stretched behind a loop-hole, and every muzzle held just +within the opening. The dark figures below became a little more clear +amidst the whirling snow-flakes, their shouts grew rapidly closer, and +far sooner than Steve had expected they were within easy range. But +still he held his hand till only thirty yards divided the combatants. + +Bang! Crash! His own piece bellowed noisily, and in an instant a +volley burst from the defenders, spitting flames and smoke and leaden +bullets into the Frenchmen. There was a shout of consternation, and +some dozen of the attackers fell backwards and went sliding down the +steep sides of the hill, carrying an avalanche of snow with them, till +they reached a more level portion, where their bodies came to a rest. +Behind them they left many a dark stain on what had been a beautifully +white carpet, stains which the falling flakes did their utmost to +cover, as if they were ashamed of this handiwork. + +"We have drawn their fire. We have the birds. Charge, mes enfants!" + +A slim, short officer, dressed in blue and white uniform, and minus +his hat, which had been shot from his head, stood erect for an +instant, waving his sword and the pistol he carried in his other hand. +Then, turning to face the wall from which the stinging hail of bullets +had come so suddenly, he leaped at it, and in a little while was +desperately striving to clamber over it. + +"Men on the extreme right reload muskets," sang out Steve. "The others +use clubbed muskets or tomahawks." + +There was no time for more, for the remainder of the attackers had now +joined their leader and were already within a few paces of the wall. +As Steve leaped to his feet and swung his ponderous musket butt over +his shoulder twenty of the enemy were within a couple of yards of +him, and in an instant the pistol of the leader was pointing at his +head, there was the flash of powder in the pan, a sharp report, and a +strange feeling under his cap. The cap rose of a sudden, spun round, +and fell at his feet, while Steve grabbed for one brief instant at his +scalp and at the locks of hair which had been so neatly shorn from it. +Up went his butt, he swung it over his head and brought it down with a +crash which broke the Frenchman's guard, wrenched his sword out of his +hand, and sent him rolling backwards doubled up like a ball. + +"On to 'em, boys. See the Cap'n. Drive 'em back same as he did." + +It was Pete's voice which burst in on the babel of shouts which had +broken from attackers and defenders, while the burly backwoodsman +himself leaped over the wall, his musket swinging over his head and +the butt swaying this way and that, clearing a path on every side. + +"Up and over the wall," shouted Steve. "Now, send them back." + +It was all over in less than a minute, even before the men told off to +load their muskets had accomplished that task. One desperate onslaught +of the backwoodsmen had sent the Frenchmen rolling, sliding, and +tumbling down the steep slope till they were out of sight behind the +falling bank of snow. Only their voices could be heard, the cries and +moans of the wounded, that and the deep voice of the two cannon which +had ceased their fire for one instant as the combatants came to hand +grips, and which opened again now, the gunners having learned that the +attack had been beaten off. + +Thud! One ball struck the rock a foot above Steve's head and covered +him with splintered rock and snow. Then came the second. They could +hear the whirr of the ball as it rushed through the air, the sound +rising to that high-pitched shriek which has made many a recruit, ay, +and many an old soldier too, bend his knees and his head and look +uncomfortable. Crash! It hit that face of the hollow which had been +filled in with branches, thudded against the rocky wall beyond, and +then---- + +There was a terrible explosion, which seemed to shake the hillock, and +which threw Steve and his men in all directions. The roof which they +had placed over their little fort disappeared amidst the snow-flakes, +while the wall in front was shattered, the branches being sent over +the wall of snow on to the slope below. + +"One to them," said Steve, sadly, as he picked himself up. "That ball +must have struck the keg of powder we left in the hollow. Listen to +their cheers. They guess that they have damaged us severely. Let us +see how many of the men are hurt." + +One by one the trappers picked themselves up till only two still lay +on the ground. + +"Jest stunned and knocked silly, Cap'n," said Jim. "Reckon we're in +luck this time. But it air not goin' to snow all day, and when it +clears them fellers'll knock us to pieces." + +"If they are allowed to continue practice with the guns," answered +Steve swiftly. "Boys, the French guns must be put out of action. I am +going to spike them, and I want a volunteer. Settle amongst yourselves +who is to come, while I get something with which to plug the vents of +the cannon." + +He pulled his ramrod from its fastening and dived into the dismantled +hollow, where a minute's search produced an axe. There was a boulder +near at hand and very soon he had cut two six-inch lengths off the +rod. By then Mac stood beside him, his snowshoes in his hand, his +beard and hair red and flaming against the background beyond. + +"Ready and willin', Cap'n," he said. + +"Then come," answered Steve easily. "Boys, we'll be back by the +morning." + +He waved his hand to his comrades, slung his musket, and strode away +to the left. A minute later he and Mac had disappeared round the +shoulder of the hillock, their dark figures being swallowed up in a +whirl of flying flakes. + + + + +Chapter XII + +Generosity to the Foe + + +A blinding whirl of snow hid Steve and Mac from friends and foes alike +as they slid from the hummock and made for the back. There was not +a sound from their snow-shoes as they progressed, and only distant +shouts and whoops from the French and their Indians broke the silence +of the wintry day, those and the deep boom of the cannon which now +plied their iron shot more rapidly. For the gunners had found the +range, and though the snow made accurate aim totally out of the +question, yet they took pains not to lose the direction, and in the +next quarter of an hour half-a-dozen balls thudded into the hollow. + +"The sooner we can put a stop to that the better," said Steve as he +halted at the bottom of the hillock. "Up to now we have had luck, but +a shot might hit a number of the men, and already the odds are great. +How far are we from the forest, Mac?" + +"Sure, Oi've no idea, Cap'n. 'Tis mesilf as is scared wid the snow. +There's no sayin' where we are." + +"There are the guns," answered Steve in a whisper, "and so long +as they continue to fire we shall have something to give us the +direction. I am sure we are making straight for the forest, and if my +calculations are right we should be amongst the trees in a very few +moments." + +They slid along over the snow again, Steve leading the way. Then +a dull wall cut across the white ground in front of him, and with +a smothered exclamation of satisfaction he realized that they had +reached the friendly shelter of the forest. By then both were covered +with snow, and were with difficulty distinguishable at ten paces. + +"We have everything in our favour," Steve whispered, halting for a +while. Now, I propose that we make round towards the guns and watch to +see how many are serving them. If few----" + +"Sure we'll rush 'em," burst in Mac, his red beard trembling, so +greatly was he excited. "Give the word, sor, and bedad, 'tis mesilf as +will charge all alone. Them Frenchies'll never stand." + +"Perhaps not. But we must make sure. We must drive them off and allow +sufficient time in which to spike the guns. Now, look here, Mac. If +we charge them, hold your fire whatever you do. Use the butt or your +tomahawk. If they bolt, then sit down and watch for their return. I +shall use my axe to drive in the spikes." + +There was no need for further arrangement, and so they set off again, +this time turning sharp to their left in the direction of the guns. +For the cannon still bellowed at intervals, and on one occasion, when +the wind blew the whirling flakes aside for a moment, Steve saw the +flash distinctly. In a little while the two were bent almost double, +for they were within earshot, and presently they halted behind an +enormous oak, for the guns were in sight, half-a-dozen dim figures +working about them, sometimes in view and sometimes blotted out +altogether by the snow. But there were others there also. As Steve +and Mac stared at the place, endeavouring to make out the precise +surroundings, they became aware that other figures were silently +gathering, that the space behind the guns was being filled by a +company of blanketed men, from whose scalp locks fell a crest of +trailing feathers. The red and white and blue painted faces showed up +through the storm, and soon there could not be a doubt that the Indian +allies of the French were there. Suddenly a tall figure appeared +amongst them and a voice was heard. + +"Your chief," said the French officer in his own tongue. "Good. You +can understand me and tell your friends. The snow falls heavily, +chief." + +"It falls," was the response, in passable French. + +"And hides us from these pale faces. Now is the time for Hurons to +strike with their tomahawks. Let them climb to the back of this +hummock and fall upon the pale faces from there. We who have just been +beaten back will attack from the front." + +There was a minute or more of delay while the Huron chief turned to +his comrades. Then he swept round and faced the French officer. + +"It is well," he said. "In a short while we shall be there. Will you +and your men crawl forward now and wait for our shouts. Then charge, +and it may happen that you will find us in possession and these men +all slain and scalped." + +The officer nodded curtly, and then as Steve and Mac looked on, the +band of Indians tossed their blankets aside as formerly and went off +in single file. Steve was still gaping with astonishment and dismay as +the figure of the last disappeared in the forest. + +"They are off to surprise the back of the fort," he whispered. "The +question now is, whether we ought to return so as to warn our friends, +or whether we should stay." + +For a little while the two stared into each other's eyes, for the +dilemma was a genuine one, and a decision not to be easily arrived at. +Then Mac pushed his tangled moustache from his mouth, scattering the +tiny icicles which had gathered there. + +"Warn 'em I Sure ye couldn't, me bhoy; thim Injuns'll be in position +long before we could get up to 'em. A trapper can't cover the ground +quicker than they, and ye may be sure that they'll slip along as +though the gintleman himsilf was behint 'em. The bhoys must look to +thimsilves. Be chanst they'll have set a watch for our return." + +"Then we must leave it like that," answered Steve. "There are too many +about here just now, but already the French are moving off. Give them +a little while and we'll charge." + +They crouched behind the friendly shelter of the oak and watched +as the minutes fled by. The French officer waited to see the last +of the Indians disappear, and then went off through the snow, his +feet splaying out in a manner which showed that he was unused to +snow-shoes. They heard his whistle and then the murmur of voices +growing fainter. Meanwhile the guns continued their thunder, though +the men who worked them could only have guessed at the position of the +trappers. Still they were cunning fellows, for they had taken care +to provide themselves with a signal which pointed always towards the +spot where the hollow lay. They had laid one of the long sponging rods +between two forked branches, bolstering up the leading end with lumps +of snow till the man who stood beside it had it pointing true. It was +a wise precaution which they had taken before the snow commenced to +fall, and now Steve watched as the direction was taken from it. + +Five minutes later a man who was dressed as a trapper slipped up to +the men, spoke a few words, and was gone. Once more the guns belched +forth their flame and shot, and then to Steve's joy all but four of +the gunners threw off their mittens, snatched up the firelocks piled +near at hand, and went off after their friends. + +"They have word that the attackers are nearly in position, and that +they are not to fire again for fear of hitting their friends," +whispered Steve. "Now is the time, Mac. Not a shout, not a sound, +remember, till we have the guns. Ready? Then come along." + +His axe was gripped in his hand now, while his musket was slung over +his shoulder. He slipped like a ghost from behind the oak, and slid +across the snow towards the guns. He was within four yards of them +when one of the four gunners who had remained, and who up till then +had been staring out into the snow, swung round, looked at him for +a moment, and then gave a cry of amazement. He seized one of the +sponging rods and whirled it above his head, while his comrades at +once drew their cutlasses. + +"On them boys! Cut them down! There are only four!" shouted Steve, in +French. "Charge and we have got them!" + +Whether or not the Frenchmen believed that there were more of the +trappers behind it would be difficult to state; but the man who had +first seen Steve and Mac started back at his words, and lowered his +rod. Then as Steve rushed in he swung it up again, whirled it round +once, and then struck a tremendous blow which lost all its force in +the snow. For Steve had had his eyes open, and, moreover, was as agile +as a cat, even with snow-shoes on his feet. He leaped to one side, and +then ran in, striking the gunner between the eyes with the shaft of +his weapon. Almost at the same instant a cutlass blade swished over +his head as a second gunner made a wild cut at him, and striking the +barrel of the musket swinging on his back, cut a deep grove into it. + +"Ye baste!" shouted Mac, as he brought the butt of his musket against +the soldier's head. "Stand back will ye. Will ye dare to sthrike the +Cap'n. Ha! So ye're still there. Now, bedad, that's koind of ye, so +'tis." + +The red-headed Irishman rushed at the third man with a bellow of +rage, lifting his musket as he ran. Then quick as a flash he swung +the ponderous weapon at the Frenchman, throwing it so truly that it +struck him full in the face and across the chest and sent him to the +ground with a thud which could be heard a dozen yards away. And there +he lay, the Irishman standing over him, his hair the one prominent +feature, for his cap had been jerked from his head. As for the other +Frenchman, he bolted as Steve ran to attack him, and was soon out of +sight. Our hero at once rushed to the nearest gun, slipped one of his +improvised spikes into the vent, and then drove it home with his axe +head. Meanwhile Mac had raced forward a few yards, and turning in the +direction of the hollow placed one of his capacious hands to his mouth: + +"Boys! Jim!" he shouted with all the force of his lungs. + +"Ahoy!" came back. "Is that the Cap'n?" + +"It is. Boys, kape a watch on the back of the fort. The bastes are +wantin' to rush ye; and they're comin' up in front, too!" + +There was a distant shout of thanks heard clearly through the frosty +air, and almost instantly a musket spoke. Then the whoops of the +Indians broke forth, while the French, who were attacking the front of +the hillock, joined in the chorus. + +"Don't spoike the secind gun, sor," called out Mac, all of a sudden. +"Sure we'll turn it on the ruffians ef they come to attack us. Here's +powder, and, bedad, here's the bags of bullets with which they charge +the craturs." + +The Irishman had seen service before, and doubtless he had had some +instruction in the loading of guns. He ran the sponge rod down the +muzzle of the one which had not yet been spiked, wiped it out, and +introduced a charge, while Steve poured a handful of powder over the +vent. In another minute they had depressed the sights, and our hero +stood beside the gun, panting after his exertions, and holding the +muzzle of a pistol taken from one of the Frenchmen across the vent. +Meanwhile the musket shot which had been fired from the neighbourhood +of the hummock where Steve's men lay had been followed by many sharp +reports, and by the din set up by the combatants. Sometimes the flash +of the powder could be seen, for the fall of snow was not so heavy +now as it had been. Dim figures could be discerned here and there, +and presently some dashed towards the guns; for the man who had run +for his life as Steve and Mac charged had returned with some comrades +determined on capturing the guns again. They arrived within sight of +the place to find all in readiness, and the instant they caught sight +of Steve, standing ready to receive them, they bolted back again, and +darting to the right till out of range of the weapon, went shouting +for their friends. + +"Get that sponging rod under the edge of the sledge, Mac," sang out +Steve, a smile of confidence on his lips. "Ten chances to one they +will rush us from another direction, and we must be ready to slew the +gun round and fire. Yes. Here they come, this time from the right." + +As quickly as possible the rod was thrust under the runner of the +sledge which carried the gun, and with a heave Mac slewed it round +till the muzzle pointed towards the spot from which the French were +coming. He dug it again into position, and then waited, ready to move +the sights still further if necessary. + +"Jest a little lower wid the muzzle, sor," he sang out. "That's the +way. Give 'em the charge rhight in their faces, and thin, bedad, we'll +be for lavin'." + +He stood on the tips of his moccasins peering into the distance, and +then shuffled a little to one side in his snow shoes, wrenching the +rod as he did so, and again slightly altering the aim of the gun. +Figures had sprung up again on the sudden, and some twenty Frenchmen +could be seen coming towards the gun as fast as the snow and their +shoes would allow them. A musket spoke sharply, a flash illuminated +the front of the enemy for an instant, and a heavy ball struck the +runner of the sledge, glanced from it and very neatly severed the +sling which held Steve's musket to his shoulders. Then came another +shot, crisp and clear, the missile clipping a bough above the heads +of the two gallant backwoodsmen standing beside the gun, and bringing +a cloud of frozen snow about their ears. It was time to fire. Steve +leaned over the breach, placed the pan of his flint lock close to the +vent and pulled the trigger. Then he and Mac turned, and after Steve +had driven his second spike home and so rendered the gun useless, +darted off into the forest unmindful of the shouts they left behind +them, knowing only that their use of the gun had resulted in terrible +loss to the enemy. + +"They have no thought of pursuing us," gasped Steve, some minutes +later as they halted deep in the forest. "I think the discharge must +have worked havoc, and thoroughly upset them. Listen to the others. +Jim and the boys were just in time to catch the Indians, and I have a +shrewd idea that they have beaten off their attack. Can we help in any +way?" + +"Hilp! Sure 'tis oursilves as will want hilp if them fellers catch a +sight af us. Cap'n, we'd best lie hid here till the fightin's over, +when we can follow the inimy and see that he returns home." + +"And that he does not take his guns with him," exclaimed Steve. "After +all, they could very easily bore out the vents again if they took +them back to Ticonderoga, and then we might have them firing at us +again. Let us return a little way, Mac, till we get a good sight of +the weapons. With our muskets we should be able to keep the enemy away +from them. Lucky for me that I picked up one of the French muskets +when we left. Mine had a deep dent in the barrel, where that man's +cutlass struck it, and I doubt whether it was fit to be used." + +They looked to the loading and the priming of their firearms, and then +turning away from their old tracks, for the enemy might even now be +following, they struck off on another trail which brought them in a +roundabout way to the guns. By now the snow had ceased to fall, so +that before very long they caught sight of the two cannon, standing +black against the white background beyond. Close to the runners of the +sledges on which they were mounted lay two of the gunners whom Steve +or Mac had struck down, while the third was sitting up on his elbow, +and engaged in wiping the blood from his eyes. + +"Sure, 'tis sorra he'll be that he's aloive, so he will," said Mac, +indulging in a dry chuckle. "'Tis the Frinchman himsilf as will have a +head that's fit to burst. Sure the man's dizzy." + +"And well he might be," answered Steve. "Poor fellow, your musket +gave him a hard blow, and there is no wonder if he does feel dizzy +and ill. Don't fire, Mac. The man is harmless, and we are not here to +injure such as he. Listen to that. Cheers!" + +"Cheers it is, sor. Them's Jim and Pete and the ithers. Sure they've +beaten off the blackguards." + +Wild shouts of triumph came across the snow-clad clearing and into +the forest, and there could not be a doubt but that they were those +of their comrades. Musket shots followed, and then cheer upon cheer, +while Steve fancied he could even distinguish Jim's voice. But +presently something else occupied his attention. Out of the tail of +his eye he caught sight of a figure flitting through the trees away on +his left. + +"Hu-u-ush! Indians!" he whispered, pulling Mac by the sleeve of his +hunting shirt. "Down, or they will see us. They are returning from the +hillock." + +"And would give all they have and a deal more, too, the bastes! if +they could take us with thim," answered the Irishman, dropping on +to his face behind a friendly tree and peering round at the enemy. +"They're makin' for the guns, sor. Will ye allow thim to carry the +weapons away?" + +Steve gave an emphatic shake of his head. + +"Indians or French are the same in this case, Mac. They are enemies. +If I can prevent it they shall not take the guns. But perhaps they +are only returning for their blankets. Count them. I fancy some have +fallen." + +They lay full length in the snow and watched as the silent band of +discomfited Indians swept by them, gliding over the snow as if their +shoes were parts of themselves. But the men who now returned wore a +different appearance from those who had such a short while before +made through the forest to attack the back of the hillock. This band, +gliding so swiftly through the gaps between the trees in single file, +was composed of men who had met with deep disappointment, and showed +it. Their heads were bent. Some looked ashamed, while there was an +air of savage fury on more than one of the clear-cut faces. More than +ten of their original number were missing, while amongst the tall, +copper-coloured braves who now filed along on their way to the open, +were a dozen at least who had been wounded. There could be no doubt +that that was the case, for behind them they left the trace of their +snow-shoes and dark stains here and there which told their tale only +too truly. + +"I was right. They are making for the guns so as to get their +blankets," whispered Steve. "Lucky for us that they did not come this +way, or stumble upon our trail. Even a beaten brave notes every mark +in the snow, and if even one suspected that we were here they would +turn and pounce upon us. Listen, Mac. If they or the French try to +take the guns, fire your piece and shout. Then move away to right or +left, loading as you go, and fire again. They will then think that +there are many of us." + +A glance at the Irishman was sufficient to show that he had grasped +his leader's meaning. Steve saw him look to the priming of his musket, +and then slowly and cautiously get to his feet. + +"They'll do what they can to help their friends," he said. "Look, if +ye plaze, sor. There's a French sodjer, and he's givin' thim an order." + +A man had suddenly come into sight as Mac spoke, and Steve watched him +advance to meet the Indians, who were now engaged in recovering the +blankets which they had left beside the guns. He spoke to them, made +signs with his hands, and then snatched up one of the ropes which were +attached to the sledges. For a minute, perhaps, the Indians stared at +him, for this was a task which none of them cared to undertake. It +was not real fighting, and, therefore, perhaps derogatory to them. +However, a word from their chief set matters right, and in a little +while a dozen had harnessed themselves to the tackle. + +Crack! Steve's musket sent a leaden messenger at the group, a +messenger which was no respecter of persons. It struck the muzzle of +the rearmost weapon, with a resounding clang, glanced from it and +passed through the calf of one of the Indians. + +"Hit! One to you, sor," called out Mac. "Listen to the baste shoutin'. +Bedad, Mac here will thry himsilf." + +He put his musket to his shoulder, while the group about the guns +suddenly divided. The shot had taken them utterly by surprise, for +they had no notion that the enemy was behind them. Halting where they +were, they looked at their chief, while the wounded man hastily tied a +strip of cloth about his leg. + +"A shot from behind, my brothers," said their chief. "It is some +straggler who has been lying in the forest. We will return and slay +him." He dropped the tackle and without another look or word strode +off in the direction from which the bullet came. A dozen of his +comrades followed his example, and ere Mac had time to sight, the band +was clear of the guns, and already entering the forest. + +Crack! For a second or two the smoke which had belched from the +weapon hid the Indians from view, but a gust blew it rapidly aside, +and when Steve looked there was the Indian chief lying full length in +the snow, while the braves who had turned from the guns to support +him stood dumbfounded, staring at his recumbent figure. For this was +hardly the kind of warfare which met with their approval. These fierce +Hurons, a portion of the so-called Christian Indians whom the French +had induced, to the number of many thousands in all, for many tribes +had come from Canada, to become their allies, were accustomed to fall +upon unsuspecting enemies and butcher them in their sleep if possible, +or at least before they had time to more than grasp a weapon. True, +these braves could fight and fight courageously, as they had proved +many a time; but they were little use when asked to assault a fort +or to attack an enemy in the open. Their forte was the tracking of +enemies in the forest, the stealthy following up of stragglers, +wood-cutters, and the small parties sent to shoot meat. It was in +expeditions of such a nature that they shone, for their backwoods +knowledge, their natural cunning and stealth, enabled them to creep +up without observation and wreak a fierce and terrible vengeance on a +foe fewer than themselves in number, and more often than not utterly +unsuspicious of danger. And here they were exposed in the open, a +thought that was hateful to every one, and being fired at by unseen +muskets aimed by men of whose presence they had had no notion. + +As the chief fell they gathered about him with grunts of +consternation, which were increased to howls of anger as Steve lifted +his ponderous weapon again, sighted, and sent a bullet into their +midst. With one exception they turned tail and fled. + +"Hold!" cried the brave who had kept his ground, a tall and +fine-looking Indian. "Are my brothers so easily scared? Will they +suffer a chief to be slain and not retaliate? Surely we are children, +for we run when but few men are there to fire at us. Follow, Hurons. +Let us take these men who have fired, and to-night they shall burn +over our fires while we watch them writhing." + +It was a cheerful proposition for Steve and Mac to listen to, but one +at which every brave who heard picked up heart and courage. Why, +after all, should they retire from this field without prisoners, +without one or more of these pale faces on whom to wreak their +vengeance? Besides, they were not children. The very mention of such +a word, the scoffing tones of their comrades, were enough to rouse +them to desperation. They turned again, their war-whoops rang shrilly +through the forest, and in a moment a stream of the painted braves was +charging towards Steve and Mac. + +"Take them coolly," said our hero, leaning his musket barrel in the +fork of a tree. "Are you ready? Then fire." + +Their shots rang out in rapid succession, and two of the charging +braves threw up their hands and fell, laughing hideously, for no brave +worthy of the name could die with a groan on his lips. He must laugh +as if the pangs of death were nothing but an enjoyment. + +"Now let us run," whispered Steve swiftly. "Perhaps our shots will +bring help from the hillock. If not, we have a start, and may be able +to get away. Throw your musket on one side and come along." + +Tossing their weapons on to the snow, the two set off as fast as +their legs would carry them, their pace being improved by the very +fact of their having discarded their muskets, for the muskets then +in use weighed perhaps three times as much as the present magazine +rifle. Behind them came the Indian braves, in single file now, silent +as hounds on the trail, their eyes shining strangely and a look of +ferocity and rage on every face. Two hundred yards farther on Steve +turned for an instant. He and Mac had not increased their lead, but at +the same time they had not lost ground. The issue of this chase was +still in doubt, for he and the Irishman might still reach the hillock +before the Indians came up with them. On the other hand, a lucky shot +from one of the braves might bring the chase to an end very summarily. +As if to remind him of that fact, there was a sharp report behind, +a report which went reverberating through the forest, and a bullet +chipped a foot or more of frozen bark from a tree within a few inches +of the fugitives. A second later Steve caught a glimpse of a figure +some few yards in front of them. It was Jim, Hunting Jim, the fringe +of his shirt and leggings blowing in the wind. + +"Jest keep on towards the hillock, Cap'n," he said swiftly as Steve +came abreast of him. "Yer know what's wanted. Draw them varmint into +this here trap." + +There was no time for more. Steve and Mac held on their course, +darting over the frozen snow as if the danger were even greater. And +after them came the Indian band, their nostrils agape, their fingers +gripping the tomahawks which they hoped to use very shortly. But their +hopes were doomed to disappointment, for within a minute they had run +into the circle of trappers whom Jim had brought with him. There +was a shout, a musket spoke out sharply, and then with a cheer the +trappers threw themselves upon the braves. + +"That war a find and no mistake," said Jim some ten minutes later +as Steve stood gasping beside him. "I reckon Injuns was never so +surprised in all their mortal lives, onless it was the fellers +way back there at the divide when we were on the trail from the +settlement. Waal, we wiped 'em out, and with what we killed before I +guess as they won't be so keen on comin' our way again. There's twenty +down at least, and half as many French. Boys, our Cap'n's given us a +bit o' fightin'." + +There was a smothered cheer at that, while the men gathered round +their young leader. + +"We must move again," said Steve sharply. "I thank you all for having +come just in the nick of time. And now let us be moving. I want some +of you to go down and see that the guns are not taken. If they are +there get to work at the tackles and pull the weapons back to the +hillock. We can draw the spikes with a little trouble, and then, +boys----" + +"He's the lad fer us," sang out Pete. "He ain't thinkin' of givin' up +our fort, not even if five thousand of the Frenchies wants to come and +attack us. He's goin' to put in guns, so as he can fire back the iron +pills they've been sendin' us. Take it as done, Cap'n. Them guns'll be +in position afore the night comes." + +"Then you will look to it," responded Steve, smiling as the men +crowded about him with another cheer. "Now there is other work. Jim, +take some of the men and follow the enemy as far as the lake. Mac and +I will return for our muskets and then scout round to make sure that +not an Indian or Frenchman is left." + +The party of trappers separated into three small bands at once, +Steve watching Jim and Pete march their men away to carry out his +instructions. Then he and Mac returned on their old trails, this time +at a more reasonable pace, and having discovered their muskets dived +into the forest and scouted there so as to make sure that none of the +enemy were left. Now and again a far-off musket shot came to their +ears, as the rearguard of the retreating force fired at the trappers, +and on three or four occasions they came upon the dead bodies of +Frenchmen or Indians who had fallen. But for the shots there was +silence everywhere, the silence of the virgin forest, till a faint +sound came to Mac's ears. + +"Sure, it's a groan, so 'tis," he whispered. "Listen to it, sor. It'll +be the ghost of one of them poor craturs." + +The superstitious Irishman trembled, while beads of perspiration burst +out on his forehead despite the lowness of the temperature. He looked +scared, and turned appealingly to Steve. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed the latter, emphatically. "Don't talk such +rubbish. It must be some injured man. Listen, and then we shall get +the direction." + +[Illustration: STEVE AND MAC DISCOVER THE WOUNDED FRENCH OFFICER] + +They stood still for some five minutes, and then at last the same +moaning sound came to their ears. Steve promptly turned to his right +and set off at a a rapid pace, Mac following with the same scared look +on his wrinkled features. + +"Tracks of Indians," said Steve suddenly, as he came across the marks +of snow-shoes. "They were carrying a wounded man. Look at the spots of +blood. Keep your musket handy, Mac, and use it if there is need." + +Some fifty yards farther on the two suddenly burst into a tiny +clearing, and discovered there the figure of a man, lying propped +against a tree, where he had undoubtedly dragged himself, as the marks +in the snow plainly showed. He turned as Steve came forward, and the +latter recognised him. It was the tall Frenchman who had commanded the +attacking party. He was pale and wan, and evidently in great pain. + +"Monsieur, I am your prisoner," he said bravely. "I was hit in the +thigh, and I think my leg is broken. The Indians who were carrying me +tossed me aside for fear that I should delay them." + +Mac and Steve were on their knees at once, tending to the wounded +officer. "We will make a litter and carry him out on to the lake," +said Steve. "Find a dozen of the boys, Mac, and hurry. We must get +back before the night comes." + +Half an hour later the gallant French officer was lying in a litter +constructed with the help of an Indian blanket and two stout poles, +and was being conveyed by four of Steve's trappers, a relay of men +following behind. Their muskets were slung across their shoulders, +while one of the hunters strode ahead with a white rag tied to his +ramrod. And so they passed through the forest and came to the lake, +where, a mile away, the retreating force could be seen. + +"Fire a round and wave the flag," shouted Steve. "That will call their +attention." + +A little later a dozen French soldiers returned, their arms also +slung, while a lieutenant was in command of the party. + +"You are our prisoner, colonel," said Steve to the wounded officer, +"but we know that you are wounded, and will be better cared for by +your own friends. We release you on your oath that you will take no +further part in the war." + +"Monsieur, I gladly give that promise, and call all here to witness +it," came the answer, while the poor fellow feebly pressed our hero's +hand. "Messieurs, you are brave and generous. I give you a thousand +thanks. To you, monsieur, I say that I am for ever indebted. If ever +you should be in need of help and I am present, call on Colonel St. +Arnould de Prossen. He will help you to the utmost of his ability." + +The parties saluted, the French with formality, the trappers in their +own rough and ready manner. Then they turned from one another and +went on their different ways, the French overjoyed at such handsome +treatment, the trappers pleased to have been of service. As for Steve +he little thought that he would soon have need of French help. He +little dreamed that the time was near at hand when it would take the +influence of a man stronger even than Colonel de Prossen to save him +from death. He made back for the hillock, and that night there was no +prouder commander than he, for he and his men had come well out of +their first engagement. + + + + +Chapter XIII + +A Traitor in the Camp + + +"To Captain Steve Mainwaring, His Majesty's Regiment of Scouts." + +An Indian climbed up the steep rise of the hillock on the day +following the French attack and presented a note to our hero. Steve +turned it over in his gloved hand, looked at the writing, and then +opened the missive. + +"You have done well, and I congratulate you," ran the letter from the +Commander of Fort William Henry. "Your messenger reached us late last +night and explained the heavy firing which we had heard. For your +information I now beg to tell you that I have suspicions that news is +leaking out of this fort. The French have become acquainted with our +dispositions within a few hours of our making them. There is treachery +somewhere, and I look to you to discover who is the rascal. You will +take steps to clear up this mystery, and will report in due course. +I am sending you this day a further store of provisions, powder, and +shot to suit the captured cannon." + +There was the usual official ending to the letter and the signature +of the Commander of Fort William Henry. Steve read it through again, +folded it, and dismissed the Indian. Then he called Pete and Jim and +discussed the matter with them. + +"Ef there was fifty traitors and bearers of news it wouldn't surprise +me," said Pete. "I ain't got no opinion of them colonists and reg'lars +at Fort William Henry. No opinion at all. They ain't fer the most part +fit to watch for Frenchmen, and much less for Injuns. What air the +use of expecting 'em to be any good, when them critters the Frenchies +could slip through trappers sich as we air? How do yer mean to get +about the business, Cap'n? It seems no easy matter. You've got a +mighty wide strip of country to watch, and ef it's one man bearin' the +news, as seems probable, why, he can go any way, and slip in between +us." + +The question was a more than usually difficult one, and for a long +while Steve sat and smoked, staring out through the exit of the fort, +for the damage done by the exploding powder had now been more or +less repaired. News was leaking out of the British fort, news which +might be of importance. It was feared that the French, who were in +great strength at Ticonderoga, might select some clear, fine night to +start out from their fort, and time their march so as to arrive near +Fort William Henry early in the morning. The commander who had sent +Steve the message knew very well that he was sadly lacking in many +respects, particularly in scouts, and the fear of this descent of the +French weighed upon him. And now, in some way or other, he had learned +that news was leaking, that plans he made to resist a French attack +were promptly conveyed to the enemy. + +"We have got to stop the leakage whatever happens," said Steve +suddenly, "for if the French are always to know what our people are +doing, they might easily take them unawares and slaughter the whole +garrison. My idea is to take advantage of snowy and overcast weather." + +"Snowy weather! Steve--beg pardon--Cap'n, that ain't like you," +exclaimed Jim, somewhat sadly. "How on airth air a man to see sech a +skunk when it's thick? It ain't possible. Ef there's one thing sartin +it is that thick weather ain't the time to turn out and hunt." + +"Not if we have to hunt a wide strip of land, Jim," answered Steve +drily. "But we shall not have to do that. This fellow makes use of +Lake St. George. Steady, Jim. I know you have your own ideas. So have +I. Listen to them and then laugh as much as you like." + +The tall trapper subsided at Steve's words, while Pete grinned. + +"Fill up yer pipe, Huntin' Jim," he said with a laugh. "Reckon you've +got to sit tight while the Cap'n says his say. This here's a palaver. +When he's done, you can get to it with yer tongue. An old hoss like +you air worth paying some attention to. So's Steve. He air a good 'un." + +Jim was mollified. A smile wreathed his thin lips and wrinkled his +mahogany features. He sat down on a lump of frozen snow, kicked off +his snowshoes, and rammed a plug of tobacco into his pipe. + +"Right there, Pete," he said. "Reckon when all's said and done that +an old trapper air worth consultin' when it comes to a fix and +there's time to think. But he ain't as good always when there's a +muss and something's got to be done right away at once. Then it's the +youngsters who air worth attendin' to. They air quicker like with +their brains, and chaps like Steve here gets ideas like a flash. He's +done it before." + +"I was speaking of the lake, then," said Steve, with a smile, for he +knew Jim well by now, and was aware of his impetuous nature. "I said +that in my opinion this man, for we will take it for granted that +one only is employed in the work, comes and goes over the ice, and +most likely has a rendezvous somewhere near Fort William Henry, where +he meets the rascal who gives away the information which the French +require." + +"Gives, Cap'n!" exclaimed Pete, with an oath. "Gives air a polite +word, I guess. Chaps what act as traitors don't give much. They sell. +I can't make out how a man, who's worth calling sich, can 'low hisself +to do a dirty trick like that. It's selling country and friends, and +p'raps wife and children, and all for a little gold." + +"Mean men are employed in mean trades, Pete," answered Steve. "It +may even be that this rascal who sells news from Fort William Henry +is a Frenchman in disguise, an English-speaking ruffian with French +sympathies. Any way, I fancy that is how the news leaks out. There +is someone in the fort who sneaks into the forest and meets a French +messenger. That messenger makes his way over the ice, of that I am +sure, for the simple reason that when we came through the forest on +our way here there was only one track, a fresh one, you will remember, +which had been used by several men. This sort of business is done by +a single messenger as a rule, and even supposing that I am wrong in +saying that the man does not make use of the forest, he will not do +so in future for fear of running into our scouting parties. He will +also choose snowy weather, for our look-out station here gives us the +opportunity of seeing anyone who leaves the fort at Ticonderoga." + +"Blest ef he ain't a judge like his father," burst in Jim, smoking +furiously. "Get on with it, Steve." + +"There is really nothing more. We shall send out scouts every day, +and night, too, when the weather is fine. When it comes on snowy, +we'll send men down close to Fort William Henry, while a few of us +will station ourselves across the lake and watch. The man who comes +from Ticonderoga will cut over the ice in a direct line, for he has a +long journey, and will take the shortest route. Look out there for +yourselves. That line I speak of will pass the point which pushes out +from this side of the lake. A line of watchers stretched for a quarter +of a mile across that line ought to see something." + +For a little while the trio stared out at the frozen and snow-covered +surface of the lake, that lake at the head of which stood the French +fort of Ticonderoga, while at its foot was Fort William Henry. And as +they looked, Jim and Pete agreed to the full with what Steve had said. + +"Reckon you're right, Cap'n," said the former. "This chap'll be +caught somewheres within hail of that point ef he's caught at all. +Waal, we've given them Frenchies and their varmint a knock already, +and we'll let 'em have another. Give us a fill of yer 'bacca, Steve. +Mine's done. Now, let's have some orders. It's time we shook down to +reg'lar business." + +It took only a little while to arrange the duties for the whole band. +They were divided into two sections, each of which was to act as a +rule independently of the other. They were to take night duty week by +week, and when away from the fort, as it had now come to be called, +were to scour as much of the country as possible, so as to prevent +French parties from pouncing upon the woodcutters who were sent every +day from Fort William Henry. This arrangement would always allow half +the band to garrison the place, while the boom of one of the captured +cannon would quickly bring the other in, if that were necessary. +As to the weapons which had been captured, they had been mounted +on the front face of the hillock, and a little thought and skilful +handling by one of the band possessing some mechanical knowledge soon +removed the spikes which Steve had driven into the vents. Men were +told off from the two parties to act as gunners, and no sooner had +the arrangements been completed than Mac took these men in hand, and +commenced to drill them in their new duties. One other arrangement was +made. + +"If snow begins to fall, those who are out scouting will make at once +for Fort William Henry," said Steve. "They will endeavour to hit upon +the meeting-place where this rascal sells his news, while those who +are resting here will file off to that point on the lake, and will +draw a line out from it. It will be cold work, boys, but it may bring +success, and thanks from our commander. I think, too, that it might +help if the men engaged in this last duty were dressed as Indians, +for then a Frenchman who happened to catch sight of one of our number +would not take fright so easily. You see, we have very few braves +working with us, and they seldom come even as far from the fort as +this. The French have, on the other hand, some hundreds of Hurons, +Micmacs, and other braves, and they make long excursions." + +"It air a good thing that," agreed Pete. "What's more, there ain't +a one of us that can't dress as an Injun in quick time, and act the +part too. As for dress, there's plenty of the braves lyin' out in the +forest." + +For a week the scouting work of the band of trappers went on without +incident. The two parties fell into their duties as if they were born +to them, and all agreed that their lot was infinitely more pleasant +than it would have been had they remained at Fort William Henry. +Thanks to the care which Steve had taken, the men had ample time for +rest and sleep, and either half of the band on their return from +scouting always found a good meal ready, that being one of the duties +of those resting in the fort. + +"Reckon that 'ere attack and the way we beat 'em off has shook them +Frenchies and their Injuns up a bit," said Jim, one night as he sat +smoking in front of the cosy fire which blazed in the fort. "They've +had their own way for a precious long time, and it's kind'er taken +their breath away to have someone suddenly stop 'em. There ain't no +news from Fort William Henry, Cap'n?" + +"Only that the commandant thinks that whoever has been sending news to +the enemy has been quiet this last week. It has been fine, Jim." + +"Ay, and it'll snow afore many hours have gone. Jacob thar?" + +"Waal, what air wrong? What's wanted?" + +A bearded head, topped by a coon-skin cap of huge dimensions which +covered the ears, was thrust into the opening of the fort, while the +owner held the blanket aside with one of his thickly gloved hands. +The firelight shone upon his tanned face, and upon the hundreds of +tiny icicles which clung to his beard, his moustache, and eyebrows. + +"Waal?" he repeated. "What's amiss?" + +"Nothing, lad. But you air the boy on sentry go, as Mac calls it, and +it's reasonable to think that you've looked to the weather. What's it +doin'?" + +"Nothing. Jest cold as ever it was. But it's cloudy. There ain't so +many stars. Suppose it'll snow afore midnight." + +"Then sing out when the first flake falls," called Jim. "Now, shut +that 'ere door, Jacob, and quick with it. The wind comes in like a +knife, and we're warm and smokin'." + +The bearded face at the opening grinned, a grin denoting disgust +rather than merriment. + +"You was always like that, Huntin' Jim," Jacob growled. "Just wait +till it's your turn for sentry go. I'll be the boy then to sit snug in +thar and smoke, and I won't let you know it, oh no, of course I won't." + +He was gone, and they heard his feet scrunching the frozen snow +outside. The blanket fell into its place, and the men inside lounged +again, spreading their hands to the flare, smoking and gossiping, for +your trapper was not always the silent person he is sometimes painted, +but a garrulous individual, fond of company, and making the most of it +when he had the opportunity. A little later blankets were produced, +and the whole party lay down with their feet to the fire, over which +a huge iron pot of stew was left simmering. + +"It air snowin'. Jest rouse yerselves and come out. It'll liven some +of yer outside, for the wind air like a knife." + +Jacob's bearded face appeared again, and he roused the trappers with +no gentle hand. They sprang to their feet, rubbed the sleep from +their eyes, and prepared to depart. Ten minutes later saw them all +filing from the fort, all save two who were to act as guard. They were +dressed in their usual hunting costumes, under which all wore the +thickest and warmest garments that they could procure for otherwise +they could never have endured such exposure. And now, in addition, +each had an Indian blanket wrapped round him, while an eagle's crest +was secured to the warm fur caps which all wore. + +"We shall pass," said Steve, as he inspected his comrades in the +firelight. "Now, one word more before we go. This must be the work of +one man to-night. We shall be spread out over the ice, and should the +Frenchman come, he will probably be seen by one only of our number. +That one must pounce upon him promptly. Come along." + +He turned to the doorway and went out, the band following close upon +his heels. It was snowing outside, but not so hard as it did on the +day when the Indians and French attacked them. It was, in fact, just +the night that a man would choose for an expedition such as that of +meeting a rascal from the British force, and buying information from +him, for the snow would act as an excellent cloak, while it was not +so thick as to prevent a man from making progress in it. Then again, +though the wind was cold, it was not blowing strongly, and what there +was came from the south. + +Steve stepped over the snow wall which had been left in front of the +fort, and gaining the steep slope beyond it, promptly slid down, his +snowshoes scattering the white particles in a fine spray on either +side. One by one the band followed, floundering down to the bottom. +Then they moved off in single file, and very soon had plunged into +the depths of the silent forest. Three miles took them to the bank of +Lake St. George, when they struck out on to the ice, here clear of +snow, for the wind had been in the opposite direction, and had swept +it away. Their faces were now turned to the north, and they kept on in +that direction for half an hour. Then Steve halted. It was still very +dark, and snowing a little. But all were glad to find that the forest, +which clad the point below them, sheltered them from the keen wind, +and that it was considerably warmer. + +"We will spread now," said Steve. "If you find that you are getting +cold, swing your arms round your head. Don't beat them against your +sides, for the sound would carry." + +"It air likely, too, that some of the boys will fall asleep with +this cold and standin' still," whispered Jim. "Steve, supposin' yer +order the men to beat up and down past one another. That'll keep 'em +lively, and it'll make it more sartin that no one can get through." + +There were twelve in all, and their young leader at once adopted the +suggestion. + +"We'll divide again into two parties," he said. "Jim, you will have +command of the five out farthest, making with yourself six. I'll +command the other half. We will spread out for a quarter of a mile +from this bank, you posting yourself at the farthest point. The men +will be at intervals of about forty yards, and as soon as they are in +position they will commence to beat to and fro, each couple exchanging +places. In that way the ground will be thoroughly patrolled. +Understand?" + +"Right, Cap'n." + +"Then take your men. This fellow may be along at any moment." + +Within ten minutes the twelve watchers were in position, and for four +long and weary hours the men continued to patrol the snow-covered +ice. But trappers were used to such work, and made light of the +exposure, though the wind was so cold, even here in the shelter, that +untrained men would quickly have succumbed. However, Jim's idea helped +not a little, for the men patrolled backwards and forwards without +cessation, walking at a brisk pace, which kept their blood circulating +and their extremities warm. And as they watched, the snow still fell +silently and gently, sometimes almost ceasing altogether. The sky +overhead was still overcast, but not so much as before, and that added +to the reflection from this vast expanse of white made it possible for +all the men to see a few yards in all directions, and to retain their +relative positions. A deathly silence hung over the lake, broken only +by an occasional crash, as the wind sent a mass of snow tumbling from +the trees in the forest. Then the sound would reverberate down the +long expanse of ice, and go rolling away to the mountains far beyond. + +"It looks as if we were going to be disappointed, Jim," said Steve, +as he walked along the line to speak to the hunter. We have been in +position four solid hours, and have seen nothing." + +"Which don't say as there ain't nothin' to be seen, Cap'n," was the +answer. "I reckon it's somewhere's about three in the mornin', and a +good hour for this feller to be returnin'. P'raps he slipped past here +before we turned out of the fort. He may have made so far through the +forest, and then dropped on to the ice when the snow commenced. Give +him another two hours, and then we may as well get back to the fort +and curl up in front of the fire. It's cold here. Them chaps down at +Fort William Henry would ha' been asleep or frozen long ago." + +They separated again, and another half hour passed without +interruption. Then, suddenly, from the lower end of the lake there +came a shout, then a second, and almost immediately afterwards the +report of a rifle, heard very clearly at that distance, for the ice +acted as a sounding-board. At once all was excitement amongst the +waiting trappers. They lifted their coon-skin caps so as to make sure +that they would hear even the slightest sound, and ranged up and down +at an even faster pace. They were on the qui vive, and determined to +catch anyone who attempted to pass them. + +"Chances air that Pete and the other boys have come upon the meeting +of these varmint," said Jim, as he drew close to Steve. "They've +likely as not shot one of 'em, and will be followin' the other. +Supposin' we extend a little." + +The movement was carried out promptly, Steve stationing himself on the +far extremity of the line. An hour later, when the excitement had died +down and the trappers were beginning to murmur that there was little +use in staying, for the man, if he actually existed, must have already +passed, or have been shot lower down the lake, Steve thought he caught +sight of a figure flitting across the snow quite a distance out on the +lake. He could not be certain, but as it would not do to miss even +a chance, he hurriedly set off in the direction, trusting that the +trapper stationed next to him would be careful to notice that he had +gone, and would follow on his traces. Dashing ahead at his fastest +pace, it was not long before he came upon the marks of snowshoes, and, +thanks to the increased light out there on the lake, made sure that +two men had passed. Then he set off after them, sweeping over the snow +at a rate which would have taxed the endurance of an Indian, for +Steve was an old hand with snowshoes. A quarter of an hour later he +again caught sight of a figure, and within a few minutes made out a +second, in advance of the first. The time for action had arrived. He +took one swift glance behind him, and thought he saw the dull outline +of one of the trappers following in his wake. Then he started forward +again, and soon was within easy distance of the last of the figures. + +"Halt, there!" he shouted, as he lifted his musket to his shoulder. +"Throw your hands up, both of you, and return at once." + +There was an exclamation, a shout of alarm, and almost instantly the +two men threw themselves on their faces in the snow. Then there was a +short interval, followed by the loud report of a musket. A splash of +flame illumined the darkness, while a leaden ball raced past Steve's +head, and went humming into the distance. He was down in an instant, +and having waited to make sure of the position of the enemy, he took +careful aim and fired. Instantly there was a loud scream, one of the +dark figures started up, staggered, and fell again, to roll over and +over in the snow. Then something else happened. A dozen shots were +fired from a spot some little distance to the right, while Indian +war-whoops broke on the air. + +"They must have had friends waiting for them," thought Steve, as he +busily reloaded. "Where is Jim? He and the men should be here by now. +Ah! That must be their fire." + +[Illustration: "WHEN HE CAME TO HIMSELF AGAIN HE WAS BEING CARRIED ON +THE SHOULDERS OF FOUR INDIANS"] + +He swung round suddenly, for more shots had rung out behind him, +shots which he made sure came from the muskets of his friends. But +in a moment he found that he was mistaken. A series of loud reports +answered the last discharge, and the flashes told him that the muskets +were aimed in his direction. + +"Surrounded! The Indians have got between me and my friends," thought +Steve. "I must creep away, and make the best of a bad position." + +He knelt up stealthily, saw no one in his immediate neighbourhood, and +commenced to creep on hands and knees. But he was not allowed to go +very far, for one of the two dusky figures which he had been following +rose at once, and strode back a few paces. There was the loud ring of +a ramrod as the man drove in a bullet, and then came the report, the +crash of which rang in Steve's ears. Stars flashed in front of his +eyes, and the snow over which he was creeping turned to a blood-red +hue. He fell all of a heap, and lay there for some few seconds, while +the shouts of the combatants rang in his ears. Then he revived a +little, staggered to his feet and fell again, this time with a crash +which left him senseless. When he came to himself again he was being +carried on the shoulders of four Indians, the snow had ceased, and the +lights which twinkled in the distance were those of Ticonderoga. Steve +was a prisoner. + + + + +Chapter XIV + +Steve meets an Old Enemy + + +Steve Mainwaring was a prisoner, and as he realised that fact a +thousand misgivings filled his mind. For to be taken by the French and +their Indians was not a fate which even the boldest of the British +courted. + +"It may mean torture," he thought. "The French are not always able to +control their Indians, and even if they were always capable of doing +so, there are the backwoodsmen. We have heard what they are, and the +fugitives from our settlements have given us many a tale of their +ferocity." + +No one, in fact, could guess in those rough days what pains were +awaiting him if he fell into the hands of the French, and if there had +not been sufficient evidence already, there was to be abundance in the +near future. But that was hardly required. The thousands of unhappy +settlers who had been driven from the forests and the backwoods were +full of tales of brutality, of cruelty on the part of French pioneers +and Indians alike. And it was a known fact that even if the French +were kindly disposed and desirous of treating their prisoners well, +they often had to stand aside and look on helplessly while the braves +who were their allies wreaked a terrible vengeance on the unhappy +people who had been captured. This was the price which New France had +too often to pay for the allegiance of these monsters. + +"I have been taken in fair fight, and am a prisoner of war," Steve +said to himself. "That in itself should gain fair treatment for me. +But what is the use of worrying? I am cold, and have a severe pain in +my side. I suppose I have been wounded. Brothers, have you a blanket +with which to cover me? My blood runs cold with the frost and my +wound, and in a little while I shall be frozen." + +He spoke the last aloud, addressing himself to the Indians who carried +him, and speaking in the Mohawk tongue. All four instantly came to a +halt, there was a grunt from the leading man on the right, and then +Steve was gently laid on the ground. + +"Cold, brother?" said the leader, a fine specimen of a brave, if the +faint light could be trusted. "We will give you a covering and see +to your comfort. Tell us, how comes it that you speak our tongue, or +rather, that of the Mohawks? Have you lodged in their wigwams?" + +Steve answered with a nod. "I have lived and hunted with them," he +said feebly, for he was very weak. "They are firm friends of mine, as +are others of the Iroquois nation. They call me Hawk." + +At that there was another grunt, a grunt which denoted approval and +the small amount of astonishment which the brave would permit himself +to express. + +"Hawk. Yes, we have heard of you. Then you were the chief of those +whom we attacked a week ago?" + +"I was. The fight was a fair and open one. The Hurons attacked boldly, +but were unfortunate. Those who fell were as brave as those who lived +to return to Ticonderoga." + +This time all the bearers nodded their approval and grunted. For +these Indian braves, with all their faults, with all their ferocity +and their barbarous customs, had one redeeming virtue. They were +brave, and they respected bravery. It was the one great virtue after +which all strove, and if an enemy could speak well of their conduct, +then he was for the time being a friend. More than that, these wild +men of the backwoods, who had come so many miles to aid the French, +were accustomed, like other Indian nations, to make much of their +prisoners, provided they had fought with courage. A prisoner with +them was a man who had already shown fortitude, and who, by becoming +a prisoner, threw down the gage to his captors as it were, and boldly +asserted that if they were bold, he was still bolder, that if they +and their brothers could support hardship and pain amounting to the +acutest agony, he could support the fiercest pains which they his +captors could design. In fact, a prisoner was wont to boast loudly of +his own superiority, to defy his captors to make him flinch, and when +the time for the ordeal came, to endure hours of the most diabolical +torture, and finally the pangs of death without so much as a groan, +if possible with a smile of triumph on his quivering lips. And till +the time for torture arrived he was a brother and a man, deserving of +respect and attention, not a beast to be goaded and bullied and loaded +with chains. + +"Our brother is weak," said the brave. "He shall have a covering at +once, and we will carry him with all comfort and care. The Hawk is +our friend. We have heard of him. There are braves with us who met +the Hawk and his brothers on the Mohawk river and down in the great +valley beyond. Yes, of a truth, the Hawk is known to us as a man of +bravery and energy." He went off over the snow at a swinging pace, and +presently his tall figure appeared again, while in his hands he bore a +huge rug of bearskin. + +"This will keep the warmth in you, Hawk," he said kindly. "We will +wrap you in it till you are completely covered. Then your blood will +run again. You have lost much, brother. See, it is frozen on your +shirt." + +Steve had not felt the place before, but was glad to hear the news, +for he reckoned that if there had been severe bleeding from his wound, +as seemed to have been the case, for he was very weak, the frost had +arrested further hæmorrhage, and perhaps saved his life. He submitted +while the Indians wrapped him in the skin rug, and then felt himself +lifted on their shoulders again. Very soon he was in a comfortable +glow from head to foot, and that, combined with his weakness and +weariness, caused his eyes to close, and he fell asleep. An hour or +more later a light flashed in his face, for the dawn had not yet +broken, and on looking round, he found that he was in a big hut, the +walls of which were constructed of whole timbers. The light flashed +from a candle lamp hanging to the rafters, and showed beside the +walls and roof of the hut, the figures of the four Indians standing +about him, and some twelve French soldiers and as many backwoodsmen, +the irregulars on the side of France. Someone was speaking in the +background, and for a time he listened to the words. Then some +familiar note in the voice struck on his ear, and he found himself +wondering who was speaking, wondering why the voice caused his heart +to flutter so and his pulses to beat. + +"One captured, you say? Only one? Peste! Is this carrying out my +orders?" + +There was a bang as the speaker's hand came down upon a table which +stood close to one of the walls. + +"That is so, monsieur. One only was taken," came the answer, and by +dint of craning his head, Steve saw that it was a regular who spoke, +dressed in the familiar uniform of the French line, but now swathed in +warm furs, which, however, did not cover the chevrons, which showed +that he was a sergeant. "One only, monsieur," he repeated, as if +excusing himself. + +"And for this fine capture you paid well no doubt. What was the price? +Come, I am asking you." + +The voice was very calm now. There was a note of satire in it, and +those who listened could tell that the man who spoke was angry, that +his calmness was only the prelude to an outburst of temper. The +sergeant felt that, too. He drew himself up at attention, clapped his +pike close against his shoulder, and looked askance at his commander. + +"The price, monsieur. There was one killed by this prisoner, and three +others who fell within the five minutes which followed. Yes, four were +killed altogether, one of these being a messenger." + +"Ah! I hear. But there were three messengers. That was the +arrangement, friend, for if one were fool enough to be captured or +killed, then there were two left. You follow, sergeant? You give me +news of one of these fine fellows. I have been roused in haste, and +have come here expecting other news. You do not bring it. You have +only one beggarly prisoner to show. The whole tale, man. Let me have +it." + +This time the speaker's rage got the better of him, and he thumped on +the table as an excited Frenchman might be expected to do, leaning far +over it till his face was within an inch of the sergeant's. Not till +then did Steve catch sight of his features, and when he did so, he +fell back with a scarcely suppressed groan. It was Jules Lapon, the +very man who had hunted him and his friends out of house and home. + +"The whole tale, monsieur? You have heard it already, unless----" + +"Unless what? Speak fool. I am but just out of my bed, and have +gathered nothing, save the fact that you have returned without a +single messenger." + +"Then the news is still bad," came the faltering answer. "One +messenger was killed within four miles of this, while the hunter who +accompanied him as guide escaped unharmed. They were set upon near the +British fort, and they alone escaped. The other two messengers are +therefore accounted for. They were surrounded and attacked by hunters, +just as the two who escaped were suddenly followed and fired on at +this end of the lake. We put the enemy's numbers down at a dozen, and +of those we captured one. He is here, monsieur." + +The sergeant having unburdened himself of a disagreeable tale, +endeavoured to distract his angry commander's attention from himself +and his failure to the prisoner, and succeeded. Jules Lapon scowled at +him for a little while, drumming with his fingers on the table. Then +he cleared a path for himself by savagely sweeping the soldiers aside, +and in a moment was standing over the prisoner. + +"Bring a light and let us see the fellow," he growled. "Come, it is so +dark in this hole that one cannot see. Are you sure, sergeant, that +he is one of the enemy? You have done so well that perhaps you have +half-killed and then captured one of our own side. Mistakes are made +in the darkness." + +"By white men, perhaps, monsieur," came the answer, an answer which +caused Jules to writhe. "Indians were with us, monsieur, and they are +not often in error." + +"The lamp, man! Hold it higher, and pull that skin from his head. Ah!" + +He started back as if he had been shot, and gripped instinctively at +the tomahawk which was thrust in his belt. For a moment he looked +thoroughly frightened, and then of a sudden his features assumed an +expression of triumph and hate and of the most diabolical malice all +intermingled till those who watched him were amazed and horrified. As +for Steve, he was utterly bewildered. He knew well that the meeting +between himself and this Jules Lapon would hardly prove a pleasant +one, for the relations between them were somewhat strained. He and his +friends had, in fact, obtained two consecutive victories over this +Frenchman and his band of Indians, and no doubt those successes had +roused the ire of Jules. But the tables were turned now, and had been +for some time. For if Jules had lost at first, he was the conqueror +now. He had turned Steve out of house and home, the settlement where +the hunters had lived so happily was his, by right of conquest if by +no other right, and now, to crown all, here was the Hawk his prisoner, +wounded and completely in his hands. Then why so much triumph and +hate? + +"Ah. Then this is your prisoner. The only one you say, sergeant?" + +The voice had become calm again. This Jules Lapon was now speaking in +even tones suggestive of kindness. + +"That is true, monsieur. The only one. He is the Hawk, the leader of +those men whom we attacked a week ago. It is a fine capture." + +"You have done well, sergeant. This man is of more value even than +that news could have been. He is wounded, you say?" + +"There is a bullet lodged in his ribs, Monsieur. He bled much, and is +weak, so that we were forced to carry him. But he may have recovered +now, and will stand if we lift him to his feet." + +At a sign from the sergeant, the Indians raised their prisoner, and +stood looking at him critically, wondering whether this pale face, of +whom they had heard before, would fail now, or whether he would have +sufficient courage to overcome his weakness. But they had little need +to fear the result, for though Steve was weak, as weak and weary as a +tired child, he had a determined spirit, and moreover felt intuitively +as if this was the supreme moment of his life, as if his future, his +safety in fact, depended upon his courage now. He set his teeth, +placed his feet well apart, and stood erect, his face towering above +that of Jules. + +"The Hawk thanks the braves who carried him," he said, as steadily as +he could. "They treated him honourably, and though he has no gift to +make, he gives them thanks a thousand times." + +"He is a man. We are satisfied," was the answer. + +"He is more. He is a spy!" + +Jules darted forward with a cry of delight, and snatched at Steve's +skin cap, to the top of which was attached an eagle's crest. + +"Tell me, sergeant," he said, swinging round with an air of triumph, +"this prisoner was captured out on the ice. Had he a blanket?" + +"Not when captured, monsieur. But all who supported him were dressed +so. They had the appearance of Indians." + +"Then this Hawk is a spy," shouted Jules. "He and his men came in this +direction with one object. They came to spy, and in order to help them +they dressed as Indians, knowing well that they would pass as such +with a crest and a blanket about them, so long as the snow fell. This +is a most important capture. See that this man is guarded well, and at +dawn march out a firing party." + +The sergeant brought his pike to his shoulder smartly as Jules swept a +path to the door and departed. Steve watched him go, and then stared +at the Indians and the soldiers and the backwoodsmen about him. He +was too weak to take in the full significance of that last command, +but vaguely wondered whether the firing party could be meant for him, +and whether he was to be executed. And as he wondered, he listened +to the chatter of those about him. It was evident that many of the +backwoodsmen, rough and brutal men as many were, who had become +tainted with the cruelty of the Indians, approved of the sentence. +They crammed tobacco into their pipes and smoked furiously, while they +acclaimed the decision of their leader with many an oath and with many +a glance at the prisoner. Some of the regulars were of their opinion +also, but not so the sergeant. + +"Disguise! Spy!" he cried, some minutes later, having talked the +matter over with some of his comrades. "This brave lad whom we have +taken had no more idea of spying here than I have of setting a watch +at Fort William Henry. I'll be bound that he and his friends knew of +the messengers going to the English fort, and set a trap for them. +They guessed that an Indian dress might help their plans, and adopted +it. Why, the same is done here amongst ourselves. Even this commander +of ours, who shouts into one's throat, and orders all as if they were +dogs, dresses as a brave, ay, and goes out with a following of Hurons." + +"Which does not alter the case as it stands, friend of the three +stripes," answered one of the trappers. "This leader of ours, a +backwoodsman like ourselves, fights in the garb that best suits him, +chancing capture. This fool here decks himself out in feathers, and is +captured. Both run the same risk. One is taken and shot as a natural +course, while the other, the smarter man, you understand, lives to +fight another day. As to shouting down a man's throat, there are some +dull dogs who want a deal of that, and still remain dull." + +For a little while it looked as if the two would come to blows, for +the sergeant strode over to the trapper who had spoken, a flush of +anger on his face. But evidently he thought better of the matter, +turned to the Indians, and in a little while was accompanying Steve +out of the hut. Borne on the shoulders of the braves, the prisoner was +transferred to a second hut, where he was placed on a low couch. + +"Whatever happens you shall have food and some attention, friend," +said the sergeant. "I will leave the Indians to see to your wound, +while I myself get you some victuals. Cheer up. You have still a +friend or two left in the world." + +He smiled kindly at our hero, and, taking a lamp, went out of the hut, +speaking a few words to the Indians as he went. The latter at once set +about tending to Steve's wound, for these sons of the lake and forest +were for the most part excellent surgeons. One placed a jar over the +fire, and blew at the embers till the flames roared round it. A second +crept from the hut, to return some ten minutes later with some soft +fleecy material, while beneath his arm he carried a bundle wrapped in +bark. Opening the last, he disclosed a heap of dried leaves, which he +commenced to pound between two stones, while some he even chewed. A +little water was added to the mass, and the whole worked into a soft +brown paste. + +"The Hawk will let us see and tend this wound, well knowing that +we have had experience," said the chief who had already shown his +friendly spirit. "We will carry you close to the fire, so that you +will feel no cold. That is well. The Hawk has won our favour. He +does not flinch at the prospect of a death which would be an eternal +dishonour to even the most cowardly brave. Fear not. There are men +here who will see that this indignity is not allowed. If die you must, +there are other and nobler ways of taking the life of a prisoner." + +Little did the fine fellow know what pangs he was causing our hero, +for to Steve, if he were condemned to die as a spy, shooting would be +infinitely preferable to the death by torture which the Indians would +inflict. He knew their customs well, and he told himself over and over +again that it would be better far to stand for one brief minute and +face the muskets than to be feasted for a day or more by these braves, +to be petted and praised by them, knowing full well that all the while +their preparations were being completed for the orgie of the morrow, +when all their diabolical ingenuity would be called into play to +provide a slow death for him, which in their opinion was alone worthy +of a warrior. Ugh! The very idea made him shiver. + +"You are cold. Cover our brother with the skin again," said the chief. +"Now, let us remove the shirt, and see what harm has come to him." + +Very gently they cut the leather shirt away and removed his clothing +till the wound was uncovered. By then the water in the jar placed over +the fire was comfortably hot, and with some of this and a portion of +the fleecy material the chief bathed the place till the nature of the +injury could be seen. + +"Ah! The bullet struck beneath the arm, Hawk, and ran round the ribs. +It is here. I feel it beneath my fingers." + +The chief ran the tips of his fine fingers over the ribs, and traced +the direction of the bullet from the entrance wound to the spot where +the hard mass could be felt to move under the skin. + +"Some water, brother," he demanded. "Nay, hotter than that. Heat it +till it bubbles." + +He sat patiently beside Steve while the jar was placed on the fire +again. And presently, when the water was boiling, he strode over to +it, and plunged the blade of his keen hunting knife deep into the +contents. + +"The Hawk has felt pain before," he said. "He will not flinch. The +bullet shall be within my hand in less time than it takes to count the +fingers. Lie so. Now, Hawk." + +Steve shut his teeth again, and never so much as winced as the keen +blade, wielded by a dexterous hand, cut down on the bullet. It was +extracted in a few seconds, and when Steve opened his eyes, there it +was in the chief's hand. + +"Good," grunted the brave. "The worst is done. We will dress the wound +now." + +Once more he had recourse to the jar of water. A wide piece of doe +skin was steeped in the boiling water first, and then, having been +wrung out, was made the receptacle for the brown paste already +prepared. The skin was then folded round, screwed up at the ends, and +again plunged into the water, and left there for a couple of minutes. + +"It is ready," said the chief. "Squeeze the mass dry, and bring the +skin to me." + +Up to that moment the wound had been smarting, particularly that +portion where the Indian had made use of his knife. But a minute +later, after the hot brown paste had been applied and covered by a +pad of the fleecy material, the pain disappeared, and Steve felt huge +relief. He was carefully bound up with long strips of doe skin, his +shirt replaced, and in a little while he was lying back on the couch, +expressing thanks to the Indians. + +"Here is the food, and you look as if you could enjoy it," said the +sergeant, entering a little later. "Come, drink this stuff. It is hot +and steaming, and will put warmth into your body." + +The kind-hearted fellow sat down and watched his prisoner eat and +drink. Then he propped his head up on the couch, drew the rug well +over him, and sat staring thoughtfully at his figure till Steve's eyes +closed and he slept. + +"A fine lad, and one who fights stoutly for a lost cause," murmured +the sergeant, as he watched the sleeper. "To look at him as he lies +there, one could take him for one of our country, though he is bigger +and stouter than we are built. And he speaks French, too. Yes, I +remember that. It struck me as strange when I heard him answer this +Jules Lapon. Can it be that he is partly French, his mother perhaps +being one of our land? There have been many such marriages, and often +they have turned out well." + +For a little while he lapsed into silence again, till his eye caught +the gleam of a long, thin streak of light which was pushing its way +through a chink in the roughly fashioned door. It was dawn, the hour +for the firing party, and the sergeant rose at once to his feet. + +"We shall see," he said aloud, as he moved towards the door, but still +kept an eye on Steve. "This lad is a brave one, and I am taken with +him. That is strange now, for up to this an Englishman has been to me, +as to all my comrades, just an Englishman, fit to be slain if need be. +I have pitied them often, to be sure, for it is hard to see them given +over to these braves. But it is necessary to keep the Indians in good +temper, and, therefore, what is necessary should not be grumbled at. +Why is it that this young Hawk has gained my goodwill?" + +He was of a reflective turn of mind, this French sergeant, and stood +again with his hand on the latch of the door, staring hard at Steve +and thinking aloud. + +"Peste take it! Why is this? Ah! It must be this Jules Lapon. I have +hated him ever since he came to us, and more so now that he is our +commandant in the absence of the colonel. He is a hard man, or else he +would never order the execution of a white prisoner without some sort +of trial. I doubt that he has the power. The colonel could intervene, +if only he were not chained to his bed with a broken thigh. _Mon +Dieu!_" + +He strode across the floor of beaten and frozen earth, and shook the +sleeper vigorously. His face was flushed, and there was an air of +excitement about him. + +"Pardon, monsieur, but I wish to ask a question. Monsieur, you are +awake, and I ask pardon for disturbing you. But this is a matter of +importance." + +Steve opened his eyes wearily, and acknowledged the presence of +the sergeant somewhat peevishly, for he had been enjoying a most +refreshing and dreamless sleep. He rubbed his eyes, stared at the +sergeant, and then caught sight of the streak of light penetrating +through the door. Then his senses returned with a rush, and he +remembered. + +"The dawn, sergeant," he said. "Then this Jules Lapon will carry out +his purpose. I am ready. Help me to get to my feet." + +"Not now, monsieur. I am about to go for the firing party, but wish +to ask an important question. Tell me, was it you who aided monsieur +le colonel, Colonel St. Arnould de Prossen, till a week ago the +commandant of this force?" + +He waited for the answer eagerly, as if his own life depended on it, +and gave a cry of joy as Steve replied that it was he who had found +the unfortunate soldier, and who had had him carried on to the lake +and handed over to his friends. + +"Then rest easy, monsieur. I go to the colonel, and we shall see if +this firing party assembles. Sleep again. Have I not said that you +have many friends? Even the Indians would save you now, not because +they wish to reserve you for torture, but because you have shown +bravery and much honour to themselves." + +He pressed Steve gently back on to the couch, and raced from the hut. +A few minutes later he was knocking at the door of his colonel's +quarters, thumping on the logs with an energy which brought shouts +of anger from within, and very soon afterwards the squat figure of a +French soldier servant came to the door. + +"Peste!" he exclaimed. "Are you mad, sergeant, to come and beat so on +the commandant's door? Go away before it is light enough for me to +recognise you. Go, I say, or I shall know you, and then there will be +trouble." + +"Give way. I have important information for the colonel. Let me pass," +gasped the sergeant, thrusting the man aside and pushing his way into +the hut. A moment or two later he was confronting the wounded officer, +and for some ten minutes the two were closeted together, much to the +amazement of the soldier servant. + +"There, there, Armand, you must leave us," said the colonel, as his +valet rushed in after the sergeant with the intention of ejecting the +intruder. "Our friend has news for me. Withdraw. Come again when I +knock, and have no fear. Our friend is in his sober senses." + +"I am glad that you have come to me, sergeant," he said, at the end +of their interview. "Glad to think there are some here who have kind +hearts still after all this bitter warfare. Not for worlds would I +have this lad injured, for he behaved with noble generosity to me. Go +now, summon your firing party, and march the squad to the hut where +this prisoner lies. If any dare give you an order to proceed with +this unjust and cruel execution, show this note. Though I am wounded +and incapable at the moment, I am still nominally, if not actively, +in command, and I will have my orders obeyed. Go, and I will follow +presently." + +Half an hour later Steve awoke to the fact that men were gathering +outside the hut in which he lay. He could hear the tramp of their +boots on the frozen ground, and the ring of their muskets as they +stood at ease. The voice of the sergeant came to his ears as he gave +the commands. "Attention! Shoulder your pieces! Stand steady there, +lads, for Monsieur Jules Lapon comes to inspect you." + +The door was thrown open, a gust of freezing air swept the apartment, +and there was Jules, muffled in furs, his face haggard and weary as if +he had some great weight on his mind which had kept him wakeful since +the arrival of the prisoner, two bright, hectic spots on his cheeks +and staring, blood-shot eyes which seemed to denote a fever. And +despite the cruel smile now on his lips, it wanted no acute observer +to see that this young man, with all his bravado, was hesitating as to +his course of action, not out of compassion for the prisoner, but for +fear of what might happen to himself. However, the sight of Steve's +calm face settled the question. + +"You are ready, sergeant?" he asked curtly. "Good. Then bring out the +prisoner. There is a wall yonder, where you will set him up and shoot +him promptly. He is a dog and a spy, and should thank us for giving +him bullets instead of a noose." + +"He will certainly not thank you for his life, monsieur. The lad is +too proud and too brave for that. He would not ask it of me, and much +less of you." + +The words, spoken in the coldest and most cutting tones, caused Jules +to swing round and face the open. He flushed to the roots of his hair, +and then turned deathly pale, while, like the coward and bully he was, +his lips at once commenced to frame lies and excuses. For his superior +was there. Four soldiers stood before him, bearing a bed, on which, +warmly covered with skins, lay the long figure of the colonel. + +"Have you no heart, man?" demanded the colonel fiercely. "Do you +not know that this prisoner was the leader of those men whom we +attacked last week? Yes, you know that, I see. Then it is also in your +knowledge that it is to that gallant youth that I owe my life. And yet +you would shoot him! You are suspended, monsieur. You will retire to +your hut till I can send you out of the fort. Sergeant, you will carry +monsieur the prisoner to my hut, where he will remain till completely +recovered. Tell off one of the men to wait on him." + +The colonel fell back on his pillow, waved to his bearers, and was +gone without deigning to glance again at Jules Lapon. Then the +sergeant's voice was heard. + +"Ground arms, my lads. Now pile them against the hut. Good. Enter now +and fetch monsieur. You will carry out the colonel's orders." + +In a minute Steve was being conveyed across the open, while Jules +Lapon looked on as if dazed. Then he turned, rushed across to his own +dwelling, and broke the door open with a furious kick. He was beaten. +At the very last minute the life at which he had been aiming for so +many months now, for some subtle reason of his own, was saved, and +the prisoner, in place of standing up before the muskets of a firing +party, was being quartered in the colonel's own hut. Jules ground his +teeth with fury, and filled the bowl of his pipe with savage energy. + + + + +Chapter XV + +Off to Quebec + + +"You have to thank a very fine and robust constitution, and the +open-air life which you have lived for your excellent progress, +monsieur," said the French colonel one morning, some six weeks after +Steve had been taken prisoner, as the two sat in front of a cozy log +fire in the speaker's hut, "and I have to thank fortune--bad fortune +for you, perhaps, monsieur--that some weeks of what would have been a +weary time for me have passed so very pleasantly. It is the fortune +of war, good for me, bad for you, and in either case to be taken +philosophically." + +"For myself, I admit that I am sorry to have been taken prisoner," +replied Steve with a smile, "but then I might have been in the hands +of Monsieur Jules, instead of in yours, colonel, and then----" + +"Monsieur Steve would not have been here. You have not forgotten the +firing party and the wall. Yes, that wretch would have had you shot, +for he has some spite against you. Tell me, Monsieur Steve, have you +ever done this compatriot of mine an injury, other than defeating him +in the course of this war?" + +Steve shook his head emphatically. "None," he said. + +"Then there must be some other reason for his enmity. You speak French +like a native, monsieur, while you are an English colonist born and +bred. That is curious." + +"My mother was French," explained Steve. "She was a Mademoiselle +Despelle before her marriage. More than that I do not know, for she +died when I was an infant, and my father has always been very reticent +about such matters. It is to him that I owe my knowledge of French, +for he speaks the language like a native." + +"And your name is Mainwaring. Monsieur Steve Mainwaring. Yes, there +must be some other reason for this Jules to have such spite against +you, and I shall endeavour to unravel the cause. Meanwhile, monsieur, +allow me to warn you most solemnly. For the moment this man is at +Crown Point, and therefore harmless; nor will he have a post of +authority again while I am able to prevent it. Still, beware of him, +monsieur. He is dangerous. And now to give you some information. In a +month perhaps the ice will have broken. Even now there are signs that +the end of this terrible winter is coming, and as soon as the spring +puts in an appearance you and I will go to Quebec, where I can promise +a welcome. For I do not forget that I owe my life to you. Monsieur +will be a prisoner on parole till the end of the war, while I--well, +I am a lame dog, and of little further use, I fear, and besides, I +have given my word to you--I am on oath not to fight again during the +course of this conflict." + +The tall colonel looked down woefully at his thigh, still heavily +bandaged, and then glanced at the crutch which lay beside his chair, +and which up till then he had never dared to use. Then he sighed, +brushed a tear away, and smiled. + +"I spoke of accepting fortune good or bad philosophically," he said. +"_Bien!_ I will act up to my words, but my fighting days are done." + +It was only too true, and none but those who have seen the keen +soldier struck down in his prime can realise what this gallant colonel +must have felt. For his prospects were brilliant; he was in command of +one of the most important advanced posts, and had everything before +him. Then a chance ball had fractured his thigh, and here he was, +one leg some two inches shorter than the other, lamed for life, and +unfitted for further service. But he did not permit his disappointment +to take the place of his gratitude to the young man who had befriended +him, who had discovered him deserted in the forest and restored him to +his friends, and to this colonel alone Steve owed his comfort during +the last few weeks. For his wound had proved to be a severe one, and +was followed by some amount of fever. However, he was practically +recovered now, and for quite a time had constituted himself nurse to +the colonel. As to his friends, Jim and Pete and the others, he had +been able to send them a few brief lines, telling them of his safety, +and promptly a note had come back, scrawled on a dirty piece of paper, +and conspicuous for its brevity. + +"You ain't dead yet, cap'n, and whilst there's life there's hope. Look +out fer a rescue." + +That was all. There was a blurred letter at the end which might have +been Jim's signature, or Pete's, or even Mac's. But the words were +clear enough, and somehow they gave Steve much comfort. + +"I am sure they will do something for me," he said, when he had +read the note, "but rescue here is hopeless, for there are too many +Indians. Then, when I reach Quebec I shall be still further away, +so that there is little hope of seeing them there. On the way up +though----" + +He considered the matter for a few seconds, for he had learned from +the colonel already that when he was removed from Ticonderoga it would +be by water. + +"No, I will send them no information of the move," he said. "It would +not be fair to do so, and besides, I shall be travelling with a man +who is unfit to fight. No, I fear that they will be able to do nothing +for me, and I shall have to rely on myself alone." + +With that Steve had to banish all thought of help from his friends, +and resigned himself to a long imprisonment in Quebec. A few weeks +later the frosts broke up, the sun melted the ice, and ere long the +green of a gorgeous country began to be seen again. + +"We will make for the headquarters of our Government," said the +colonel, now promoted to a chair outside the hut, where he could +bask in the spring sunshine and listen to the twitter of the birds. +"Anything will be better than to remain here, unable to stir a foot, +while others are active and busy. For you, Steve, I fear it means +removal from friends. But then it is inevitable." + +Ten days later Steve and the colonel were carried by road to Crown +Point, at the foot of Lake Champlain, and from there were conveyed +by canoe to the reaches of the Richelieu river. An escort of Indians +paddled beside them, and swept their own craft along at a pace which +very soon brought them to the mighty St. Lawrence. They turned into +the river, and in due course sighted the promontory on which the city +of Quebec is built, then a small and straggling place made up of +private residences and churches, and of numerous batteries, barracks, +and forts. As Steve's eyes rested on what is now, and was even then, +a queen of cities, bathed in the spring sunshine, he realized what +Wolfe and many another was to realize after him, namely, that this was +no trading place, a mart given over to business men and the trade +of the country. It was a stronghold devoted to the military and to +the church, for the predominant features were barracks and batteries, +spires and belfries, all clinging like flies to the steep cliff. + +"A jewel than which there is none more beautiful in the crown of +France," said the colonel, as he pointed out the various places to +Steve. "Quebec is the most regal-looking city I have ever seen, and I +never know whether she looks best as we see her now, with the spring +sunshine smiling on her, or in the winter, when she is clad in her +mantle of white. Monsieur, this struggle between our two nations may +end in victory for England, but whatever happens, this jewel I am +showing you will never fall. Quebec is impregnable. Look east and west +and you will see why I am so confident." + +It seemed indeed as if no other opinion could have been given, for +as Steve approached this fair Canadian city he, too, declared to +himself that nothing but starvation could cause it to surrender. For +Quebec stands on a steep promontory, as has been described, and has +to its immediate east the river St. Charles, and beyond that again a +long ridge continuing for some six miles and ending abruptly in the +beautiful falls of Montmorency, at that time of the year in their +full grandeur, for the melted snow and ice had added to the volume of +the river. This ridge, which was the southern extremity of an upland +plateau, fell sheer into the river, and a glance at it was sufficient +to discover the obstacles which would at once confront any foe bold +or rash enough to attempt to clamber to the top. Standing on that +same ridge on many a day after, Steve looked down upon the garden of +Canada, the Isle of Orleans, which the first navigator of the mighty +St. Lawrence had called the Island of Bacchus. + +To the west Quebec is even more strongly protected by natural +obstacles, for the ridge on the edge of which the fair city is built +runs westward for many miles, falling almost perpendicularly into the +river, while the St. Lawrence, just opposite the town, is suddenly +constricted by a projecting spit of land, known as Point Lévis, which +narrows the bed till it is barely three-fourths of a mile across, a +distance which the French rightly considered could be commanded by +their batteries. + +"This will be your prison, Steve," said the colonel, kindly, as the +canoes made in for the wooden stage, "and I think that you could +come to no more charming spot. I shall take you to see Montcalm, our +military leader, and shall advise you to give him your promise not +to attempt an escape. No. Do not refuse, I beg of you," he went on, +seeing Steve pull a long face. "After all, you can but try it for a +time, and can then formally declare your intention not to remain on +parole any longer. It will make all the difference to you just now, +for if you give your word, you will be allowed much liberty, and +you will be therefore out in the open. On the other hand, you will +be placed in confinement, which will be irksome, to say the least of +it, and not the best thing for your health. Then, too, consider the +circumstances. Miles and miles of forest now lie between you and your +friends, and there is not the smallest chance of your getting down to +them, or they up to you, for the country swarms with our backwoodsmen +and Indians. Such an attempt would be sheer madness. You must wait, +my lad, and, later, if your friends beat us back, perhaps it will be +worth your while to withdraw your parole and make that attempt of +which all prisoners dream. There, I am honest with you, am I not? If +matters were in my hands I should aid you to escape." + +He laughed heartily, patted Steve on the back, and then held out +his hand for our hero to help him ashore. For Steve had become +indispensable to the wounded colonel, and was more like his son than +anything else. + +"I suppose you are right, colonel," said the lad some little while +later, when they were ascending the steep hill. "I will give my parole +and try the arrangement for a time." + +A little later they were ushered into the presence of Montcalm, a +soldier whose memory is still kept green, and who, though an enemy of +ours, was undoubtedly one of the bravest and most honourable of foes +Englishmen have ever met. He shook hands gaily with Steve, asked +after his wound, and gripped his hand again when the colonel had told +him how this prisoner had saved his life. + +"Monsieur," said Montcalm, swinging round and regarding Steve with +shining eyes, "such an act of generosity should earn for you your +freedom. But I dare not give it, and I must ask you to reconcile +yourself to captivity here. You will give me your word?" + +"I will, general. For the present and until further notice I promise +not to attempt an escape, and to obey any orders as to my behaviour +which you may choose to give." + +"Good! Ha, ha, monsieur le colonel. You hear him? You hear this young +officer? _Bien!_ He promises not to escape till he warns us. Truly, +you English are droll! But I understand, monsieur, and I know how +honourably you will keep your promise. Now for quarters. You will be +posted with the colonel, at his express wish, and will be allowed the +same rations as our captains. As for pay, perhaps monsieur le colonel +will permit you to draw on him, and afterwards you can refund. I +hope you will find the time pass pleasantly. There are many here to +entertain you." + +That indeed proved to be the case, for Quebec in those days was filled +with young officers, and with a sprinkling of wealthy men. Balls and +routs were of frequent occurrence, and for a time Steve was a lion at +these entertainments, thanks again to the honesty of the colonel, who +had told his tale everywhere. + +"We hear, monsieur, that our beloved colonel owes his life to you," +said one of the numerous ladies then resident in the city. "Tell us +your story of this venture." + +Steve bowed in courtly manner, a trick which he had learned since his +arrival, flushed to his hair, and looked embarassed. + +"Madame must know, surely," he answered, desperately. "I saw the +colonel speaking with her a little while ago, and she is good enough +now to admit that she has heard this tale." + +"True, monsieur. But it is your version that I require," was the +laughing answer. "Come, monsieur, I will not permit you to disappoint +me." + +Thus pressed, Steve shuffled uneasily, admitted that there might be +truth in the colonel's tale, and then blurted out his own explanation, +as if he had need to make an excuse for performing what had been a +very generous action. + +"You see, madame, I was there," he said. "I chanced upon the colonel, +and could I leave him to die? I brought him in, and since we did not +desire to be troubled with a wounded man, why--well, we took him to +his friends." + +There was laughter at that, for some half-dozen other people had +gathered, amongst them the colonel, who leaned on his crutch. + +"You hear that, monsieur le colonel?" called madame, with a laugh, +catching sight of the wounded officer. "I thought I should like to +hear what this prisoner of yours had to say as to your rescue. You +should listen to him. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that these +English are naive. Monsieur tells me that having chanced upon our +wounded friend he brought him back to his friends for one reason only. +Guess at it, if you please. No. You cannot, mon colonel. Very well, +monsieur has the effrontery to say that he feared you would be a great +trouble to them. He would not be bothered with so useless a person as +our colonel." + +There was loud laughter at that, laughter which sent Steve flying from +the group, his cheeks aglow, while the gallant and merry colonel who +had so befriended him stood leaning on the back of a chair, shaking +his crutch after him. + +"Ah! Let me catch the rogue," he called out, and then, "Madame. It +is like the lad. Honest as the day. He says what he means whenever +possible, and at other times keeps silent lest he should give offence. +Despite what he says, I know him to be a brave and a generous lad." + +Many and many a time in the months which followed did Steve take rod +and line and cross to the river St. Charles. He was even given the +use of a gun and a canoe, and permitted to go on the St. Lawrence, or +even into the forest on the southern bank. But he was always careful +to return before dusk, and made a point of reporting his arrival. +And while he was a prisoner only in name, and the weeks grew into +months, the reader may wonder what had been happening in other and +more familiar quarters, for the war with France was now more than ever +a fact, and the two nations were preparing for the struggle which both +knew well must end in victory for one, and the consequent mastery of +this huge continent. + +Steve had gone to Fort William Henry in the winter of 1756, and the +spring of 1757 found him in Quebec. It will be remembered that he had +taken part in more than one of _les petites guerres_ at the foot of +Lake St. George. These conflicts had been of frequent occurrence, and +throughout the winter they continued, Jim and his friends, as well +as those in Fort William Henry, often sending out small parties to +attack the French. The winter months passed, in fact, without other +incident, save for one attempt made by the garrison of Ticonderoga. On +March 18, 1757, they descended over the ice of Lake St. George, hoping +to take the garrison of Fort William Henry by surprise. They were +easily driven back, and retired to their own fort, having accomplished +nothing. Elsewhere nothing of moment occurred, so that this long +winter season may be described as being barren of incident. + +Meanwhile the British Government had determined to support the +colonial troops, and regiments had been collecting at Cork, in +Ireland, preparatory to sailing for America. On the eighth of May +some hundred sail set out with these reinforcements, and finally +arrived at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, which the Earl of Loudon, now +in command of our forces in America, had recently reached with his +troops. Of these he had now under his immediate command some eleven +thousand, and with them he hoped to be able to attack and capture the +very formidable fortress of Louisbourg, which, it will be remembered, +had been erected at great cost on Cape Breton Isle, just north of +Nova Scotia. But information now came to hand that there were seven +thousand Frenchmen in Louisbourg, two-thirds being regulars, while +Indians swarmed in the vicinity. This formidable force, added to a +French fleet of no mean proportions, was considered too powerful for +the troops under Loudon's command, and in consequence the idea of an +attack on Louisbourg was given up, and on August 16 Loudon embarked +with the bulk of his troops, leaving the 27th, the 28th, the 43rd, and +the 46th regiments as a garrison for Nova Scotia. + +Valuable months had been wasted, and the projected descent on the +formidable French fortress had ended in fiasco. But Loudon cannot be +blamed alone for such a result. If reinforcements had been collected +earlier and despatched without delay, they would have reached Cape +Breton Isle before the French fleet put in an appearance. It was this +delay, together with the prompt crossing of the Atlantic by the French +fleet, which caused the expedition to be countermanded. But we lost +far more than valuable time and money in this useless movement. By +withdrawing his troops from America proper to Halifax, Loudon left +the disputed country south of the great lakes and west of the line +drawn north from the Alleghany mountains almost denuded of men. There +were some three to four thousand to hold this huge country, a force +insufficient even to keep back the French in the neighbourhood of Lake +St. George, if they wished to press south in that direction. + +It may readily be seen that Loudon was guilty of a serious error in +thus denuding an important stretch of country, and it may equally +be anticipated that the French were quick to take advantage of the +withdrawal of our soldiers. Montcalm had been busily gathering Indians +from far-off portions of Canada, Indians attracted to the French after +their victory at Oswego. These, with numerous regulars and Canadians, +he poured down the Richelieu river, massing them at Ticonderoga, till +he had nearly 8000 there. Some forty different Indian tribes were +represented, and if the native element had been cruel and bloodthirsty +before, it promised to be even more so now. For these sons of Canada +who crowded the huts at Ticonderoga were pure savages, vastly +impressed by the French, and more than ever eager to join in this +fray now that they had heard the tales of their brethren who had been +already engaged. + +On the British side General Webb, who had been left in command in +this area, had some 1600 troops in Fort Edward, while Munroe had +two thousand five hundred in Fort William Henry, or encamped in its +immediate neighbourhood. This latter force was surrounded by the huge +numbers at the disposal of Montcalm, and prepared to defend itself +as well as possible. The French had forty guns, and made no active +attempt upon the place till these were in position. Then, at a range +of two hundred yards, they opened such a fire that the fortifications +were splintered and flying in fragments before many hours had passed. +Munroe and his men made a gallant defence, but their ammunition soon +began to run out, while some of their cannon burst. They attempted two +sorties, which were repulsed, and waited in vain for some action on +the part of Webb and his men at Fort Edward. But no one came to help +them, and finally, when some hundred and fifty of the defenders had +fallen, Munroe agreed to surrender, further resistance being useless. +Terms were arranged, the garrison to march out with the honours of +war, and to proceed under escort to Fort Edward, there to remain till +they should be exchanged. + +What followed will for ever be a stain on the annals of New France +and a warning to all who employ the help of such ruffians as the +Indians had already proved themselves to be. The numerous braves +with Montcalm, accustomed to murder all their prisoners, seemed to +think that these men who had surrendered were theirs, with whom they +thought they could do as they wished. They were already nearly out of +hand, and as an earnest of what was coming, the miscreants promptly +slaughtered a dozen or more unfortunate fellows who from illness +or wounds had been left in the hospital. On the following morning +the British troops were to set out under escort, and seventeen more +unfortunate and helpless men were slaughtered by the Indians in the +sight of Canadian officers, who did not even venture to remonstrate. +Indeed, the Canadians engaged in this war looked upon the methods +and desires of the Indians with favour. They considered that the +scalps of the enemy were the natural reward for the services of these +miscreants, and there is not a shadow of doubt that at the surrender +of Fort William Henry they were, with few exceptions, if not actively +sympathetic with the Indians, at least callous onlookers at a tragedy +to which energy on their part could have put a summary end. Be that as +it may, the march had no sooner begun than the Indians got completely +out of hand. Montcalm, in place of drawing a cordon of his regulars +around the prisoners, endeavoured to arrest the excitement by his +own unaided efforts. Almost at once the war-whoop sounded, and in +a few seconds the howling demons were busy amongst the prisoners, +tomahawking them, or dragging them into the forest to slaughter at +their leisure when opportunity offered. It was a horrible exhibition +of cruelty and inhumanity, and it is a wonder that, seeing the +helpless methods adopted, Montcalm and his officers contrived to save +a single one of the unfortunates who had surrendered to them. Perhaps +a hundred were slain, and some six hundred carried off, of whom about +half were returned on heavy payment. The remainder were taken away by +the Indians on the following day, and who knows what happened to them? +Suffice it to say that this disgraceful and cruel affair shocked all +who heard of it, and raised such a storm of feeling in the breasts +of all who boasted British blood, that "Remember Fort William Henry" +became the cry of our soldiers in the future, and when the opportunity +came they remembered. The trigger finger which in days before might +have been steadied and withdrawn pressed sternly and without mercy +in the future. The Canadian who begged for his life, had to beg most +earnestly before he was sure that his captor would be merciful. For +bitterness had entered into this war, and the British were face to +face now with the fact that it was one of life and death, one which +aimed at their very existence in America. + +Another summer had gone and still the war was not ended, while the +French may be said to have been victorious all along the line. They +held the Ohio valley securely, their Indians and trappers still +ranged the forests along the Alleghany border, while their troops +occupied Ticonderoga, whither they had retired after the capture +and destruction of Fort William Henry. In other quarters also they +predominated, for Louisbourg constantly threatened Nova Scotia, while +the island of Cape Breton on which it was erected, offered immediately +in the neighbourhood of the huge fort a most excellent harbour to a +French fleet which was ever ready to descend upon our American ports. + +England wanted fresh troops, new and more enlightened leaders, and +a far more energetic policy if she was ever to raise her head from +the mire and despondency into which she had fallen. She wanted one +paramount general at home, to rouse the people in England from their +lethargy, to stimulate their zeal in the cause of the American +colonists, and to reinforce our men already in the field not by +driblets, but by a big army capable of coping with the difficulties +which stared us in the face. That able leader appeared early in the +year 1758, when Steve had been almost twelve months a prisoner. +The great Pitt came into power, and the nation at once felt the +change which he exerted. There was enthusiasm now, where there had +been apathy before, and men spoke of the end of this campaign with +confidence, forgetting that but a few months gone by the utter loss +of America had been prophesied. New energies were concentrated in the +conflict, money was voted with a freer hand, and the best that England +and her American colony could give in brains and generalship was +sought for. + +Ticonderoga was to be attacked, and Abercromby was to command, for it +was urgently necessary that this route to Canada should be opened and +the defeat at Fort William Henry wiped out. Then Fort Duquesne, for +some time a stinging thorn in our side, was selected for an expedition +which Brigadier Forbes was to lead to glory. Amherst was selected +for the most important of the expeditions, that to Louisbourg, in +which operation the fleet was to help also. With Amherst Lawrence and +Whitmore were to act as Brigadiers, while James Wolfe was selected +in the same capacity. At home preparations were made to capture or +destroy the provision fleets preparing to sail from France to Canada, +and Hawke and Osborn did excellent service in this respect. + +In fact, thanks to Pitt's energy, England showed her teeth during +this spring of 1758, and took up the struggle in a manner which +thoroughly alarmed Montcalm and his forces. There was less gaiety now +at Quebec, for matters wore a serious aspect. Preparations were even +made to resist an attack by the British, while all prisoners, of whom +there were many, who had hitherto enjoyed considerable liberty, were +confined to the fort and placed under a guard. + +"I offer you many apologies on behalf of the commandant, monsieur," +said the officer who brought the orders to Steve. "But you will +understand. There are certain necessary preparations. Work is going on +in the batteries which you must not see. You will remain in this fort, +and will leave it at the risk of your life. Also, you will confine +yourself to the front face of the fort, and will not venture to walk +along the other walls. I wish to warn you formally that the sentries +are under orders to fire the instant they detect an attempt at escape. +Pardon, monsieur. It is unpleasant to have to speak so to such a +friend as you are." + +Steve bowed, and thanked the officer, saying that he fully understood +the necessity for the order. + +Two months later, when the spring weather had fully set in and the +river was entirely free of ice, an Indian entered the courtyard of the +fort in which Steve was located. There were always numbers of braves +hovering about the batteries and barracks, and the presence of this +one was therefore not remarkable. Steve had not even seen him, for he +was leaning on the wall staring out at the green woods on the Isle of +Orleans. Suddenly the tinkle of some metal instrument attracted his +notice, and he swung round to catch sight of the Indian trudging past +him, and of a tomahawk which had fallen on to the stone paving of the +courtyard. + +"Stop," he called out in the Mohawk tongue. "Stop, brother, you have +dropped your tomahawk." + +Picking it up Steve followed the Indian and handed the weapon to him. +Then only did he look into his face. It was Silver Fox, painted and +daubed as a Huron Indian, cool and absolutely unruffled as of yore. + +"Greeting, chief. Silver Fox delights to look into the eyes of the +Hawk. Read this, and be ready to-night. I have spoken." + +He took his tomahawk, grunted his thanks, and passed on, leaving a +tiny note in Steve's hand. + +"My lad, my dear, dear lad," ran the note, which our hero carefully +opened when out of sight of the sentry, "we have tracked you to the +fort at Quebec, and have completed our arrangements for a rescue. Be +ready to-night. Listen for a voice beneath the front wall where you +are accustomed to walk. Your father." + +A rescue! That very night, too! Steve thrust the note into his pocket +and straightway commenced to whistle merrily, for he was tired of this +captivity, and longed to be free again, fighting and hunting with his +friends in the forest. + + + + +Chapter XVI + +The Return of the Hurons + + +Steve was filled with delight at the idea of rescue. A thousand +thoughts flashed through his mind, a thousand memories of the old +days, which seemed now so very long ago, for despite the easy terms of +his imprisonment, the time had dragged heavily. + +"To-night! To-night!" he said over and over again to himself as he +paced backwards and forwards. "And father is there. Where can he have +been, and how comes it that Silver Fox has managed to get into Quebec? +He seems to know the place, too, and is in no hurry to depart." + +He had purposely walked in the opposite direction to that taken by +the chief, but now he watched him out of the corner of his eye. +Silver Fox was dawdling idly in the courtyard, as many another Indian +had done on that and on previous days. He strolled along the wall, +looked out at the magnificent prospect spread out before him, at +the rolling waters of this, one of the mightiest of rivers, at the +green slopes of the Isle of Orleans, and at the blue and green vista +beyond, the forest-clad southern bank which stretched right away +across the much-debated frontier to America, the colony filled with +the hardy sons of Old England, and with fugitives from many parts of +the world. Silver Fox halted for quite a little while and filled his +pipe meditatively, striking flint and steel with great deliberation, +and puffing languidly as if he had nothing in the world to occupy him, +nothing to fear, and only desired to remain there and think and watch +the lovely country below. For half an hour at least he leaned against +the granite parapet, and then Steve saw him walk softly along some +dozen paces, turn his head to the place where the sentry was placed, +and then deliberately point below. + +"A signal undoubtedly," thought Steve. He dropped his hand to show +that he was watching, and then turned away again, while the Indian +chief daubed in the colours of the Hurons struck flint and steel again +as if his tobacco had not been lit sufficiently, and then sauntered +calmly from the courtyard. Half an hour later our hero ventured to the +same spot and carelessly looked over. Down below, some thirty feet +perhaps, was a narrow path running between the wall of the fort and +another wall which hemmed in the courtyard of a private residence. + +"That is where I am to expect them," he thought. "Well, it is a good +place, for the path is little used, and at night time it is densely +dark. Now how am I to get here without upsetting the sentries?" + +He thought for a little while, and then suddenly walked across the +courtyard, clambered up the flight of steps which led to the room +which had been allotted to him as his quarters, and promptly took off +some of his clothing. A minute later he had thrown himself on his +couch, where he lay half on his face, feigning illness. An hour or +more later there was a step outside, and the guard, whose duty it was +to make a round of the rooms occasionally, looked in at the door. + +"Ha! Monsieur sleeps," he said gently, for he was a good fellow, and +Steve had always been pleasant with him. "Monsieur is tired. I will be +careful not to wake him." + +He tip-toed away down the passage, and would soon have been out of +hearing had Steve remained silent. But that was the last thing he +wished to do. He desired to attract the attention of the man, and +promptly gave a groan as if he were in agony. + +"Did I hear correctly? Was it monsieur who groaned?" + +The guard stopped abruptly, and brought the stock of his ponderous +musket with a clatter to the ground, the jar being instantly followed +by a second groan. + +"Surely, it must be monsieur. What ails you, if you please, Monsieur +Steve?" he asked, coming back to the room. "You are ill and in pain. +What is the matter?" + +Steve was not the one to sham as a rule, but he knew that he could +not very well remain in the courtyard that night unless he had some +plausible reason. He was not ill. In fact, he had never felt better +or more energetic in his life. But he was 'cute, as Hunting Jim had +already observed, and he was determined to manufacture some complaint. + +"It is nothing," he answered, letting another feeble groan escape him. +"I do not feel very comfortable. I have pain here. Perhaps monsieur +would speak to my servant and ask him to bring me something warm to +drink." + +Steve placed his hand over his stomach and rolled on to his face +again, for he was fearful that his healthy colour would betray +him. The guard trailed his musket promptly, and went off at a run, +bellowing for the soldier who had been detailed to wait on the +prisoner. + +"Quick," he cried, accosting the servant in the courtyard, "Monsieur +is ill. I discovered him lying on his couch, groaning horribly. He +desires something warm to drink. Run to the kitchen and see if you can +obtain some milk." + +A little later Steve was sitting up and sipping the warm milk, while +his servant looked on sympathetically. + +"Pardon, monsieur," he said, "but the pain will be better shortly. +Monsieur looks well, and I am sure that this is only a little matter; +for think, monsieur was in the courtyard two hours ago and I heard him +whistling as if he had not a care in all the world, and as if he were +with his own friends again." + +Steve winced at the words, knowing that they were only too true. But +a man who wishes to escape must act the part he has selected to the +utmost of his ability, and he did so promptly. + +"You are right, Jean," he said. "It is only a little thing. Some food +has upset me. In a little while I shall be better. You are a good +fellow to come so quickly. Now leave me, for I think I can sleep, and +perhaps later the sentries will allow me to have some exercise." + +"Truly, monsieur. They are asking kindly after you already, for +monsieur is a favourite. I will go to them, and you will walk when you +feel inclined." + +He went out of the room, closed the door, and slipped silently down +the passage. + +"He is better," he cried gaily as he came to the guard-house. +"Monsieur makes light of his pains. Another would be groaning and +groaning, till one would imagine he was on the point of death. But our +prisoner sips his milk and asks to sleep, so that he may trouble no +one. Ah, yes, and he wishes to know if he may walk in the courtyard +later, just to exercise, you understand." + +"Certainly," came the answer. "Let monsieur walk if he wishes, though +one would have thought that it would have been better were he to keep +his bed till to-morrow. But there, these English are strange. They +walk and walk, just for exercise as they say. Surely a man is better +and lives longer when he rests, and rests often." + +Steve did not long remain on his couch. In a little while he was +seated at the table with which he had been provided, and was engaged +in writing. To the commandant he scribbled a few lines thanking him +for his constant courtesy and kindness, and stating deliberately that +he was tired of being a prisoner, and intended to escape if possible. +Then he wrote a short note for his servant, enclosing a handsome +amount of money and many thanks for his attention. Also he gave him +instructions to make his adieus to a number of friends in the garrison. + +"Now I am ready," he thought. "It is dark now, and must be about +seven o'clock. I shall wait till ten, and then go out. If they are +suspicious I will return and then creep out again." + +He threw himself on his bed and dozed for a long while, till a step +outside roused him. He sat up then to find Jean standing over his +couch. + +"Monsieur is better?" he asked. "Then he will sleep, and to-morrow I +will come later than usual to rouse him. Monsieur has no pain?" + +"Pain! You are a wonderful physician," answered Steve heartily. "I +declare that I never felt better in all my life. What is the night +like, Jean?" + +"Fine, monsieur, but somewhat dark. It is also crisp, and cold for +this time of the year." + +"Then it is just the night to brace me up. I shall have a stroll, +Jean, and then turn in. Yes, wake me late to-morrow, and, by the way, +I am hungry." + +Jean was delighted with his master, and promptly produced food. + +"You are a strange person, monsieur," he said with a grin of +satisfaction. "You are ill and in great pain at one moment, and then, +behold! after a little sleep you are well again and wish to eat and to +walk." + +"You forget. There was the warm milk, and Jean gave it to me," smiled +Steve. "But I am hard. I have roughed it in the forests ever since I +was a little fellow, and have had very little illness." + +He sat down at the table and ate a hearty meal. Then he lit his pipe +and strolled into the courtyard, passing a few words with the sentries. + +"He is a fine young fellow, this monsieur," said one, to his comrade, +when Steve had passed on. "If all are like him we shall have but a +poor chance. Jacques, can you tell me why it is that our prisoner has +never attempted an escape?" + +"Perhaps he is afraid, comrade. Men have been shot for that in the +last few months." + +"Afraid! Not he!" came the answer. "It is this way, Jacques. Monsieur +is a man of honour, though he is only a youngster. He has been on +parole up till lately, and that is why he has made no attempt. As +to why he does not go now, well, I will give you the reason. He is +no fool, comrade. Understand that. He is no fool, I say, for he +knows that the sentries here are old soldiers and keep a good watch. +Besides, could a cat escape from this place, and if it did, where +is it to go? Nowhere! Unless a prisoner is tired of life and throws +himself into the river. That would be better than to be butchered +by the red villains whom we have hanging about the place. Tobacco, +Jacques? Help yourself, but be gentle, please, for I have but my +slender pay and allowances, and a smoke is a luxury." + +They stood together chatting for a while, and then separated to patrol +the courtyard, passing Steve on each occasion and noticing that he was +walking up and down rapidly, as was often his custom. + +"_Vraiment!_ These English make me smile," laughed one of the men, as +he met his comrade opposite the guard-house. "One would think that +monsieur earned his rations by walking this place. Now, if I were +he----" + +"You would draw the rations first and sleep, leaving another to do +the walking," was the laughing answer. "Peste take these English. +It is because they are so energetic that they still keep up their +opposition. Others would have given in long ago after suffering so +many defeats." + +They stood together chatting for a time, their talk turning upon the +surrender of Fort William Henry and the massacre which followed. Then +they shook their heads and agreed that such a catastrophe would have +ruined their own cause, while, strangely enough, it had made the enemy +even more determined. + +And while they chatted Steve gradually approached the wall, and +finally halted at the spot where Silver Fox had given his signal. It +was absolutely dark down below, and though he peered into the black +shadows, even his trained eyes failed to see any object. He was in the +act of withdrawing his head when there was a movement below, and the +faint bark of a dog. Then someone whispered. + +"Steve? Is that you, lad? Then catch this tackle." + +Something swished in the air, a bright object shot up from the black +abyss, and the prisoner gripped an iron hook, to which a stout rope +was attached. To place the hook in position was the work of a second, +and within a minute he was down at the bottom of the wall, with his +hand gripped firmly in that of his father. + +"Come. They will discover that you are gone in a very few seconds +perhaps, and then there will be a noise. Ah! The sentries are calling." + +Steve clutched at his father's sleeve, and allowed himself to be led +away through the darkness. They ran along the narrow path, darted out +into one of the roads which ascend the cliff, and soon afterwards were +making their way along another path. + +"They're at it! Listen to 'em shoutin'." + +Steve suddenly heard a well-remembered voice speaking a foot or two +behind him, and with a gasp of surprise realised that Hunting Jim was +one of the party. But he had no time to greet him, and, indeed, little +opportunity of doing so, for Judge Mainwaring hurried him on at a +rapid pace, shouts from the fort having plainly shown them that the +escape was already discovered. In fact, the sentries who had been so +eagerly discussing the English nation and their idiotic absurdities, +as they were pleased to call several of their customs, were smart +fellows, in spite of all their chatter. Steve had been gone less than +a minute when one of the men became suspicious. + +"_Ma foi_, but I believe this monsieur has given us the slip already," +he suddenly exclaimed. "I cannot see him. Jacques, get along and +report if he is there." + +The last-named ran along the courtyard, and presently his voice was +heard. "He is nowhere to be seen," he cried. "Had we not better fire +so as to give the alarm?" + +"Fire! And so wake the whole garrison! Not for worlds. Get across to +monsieur's quarters, and report if he is there. It is possible that he +entered while our backs were turned." + +It was not long ere the sentry returned with the news that Steve's +room was empty, and then, indeed, the alarm was sounded. The sentries +shouted to the sergeant of the guard, and the sergeant, having +promptly turned his guard out and interrogated the sentries, roused +the officer in command of the fort. A cannon was then fired, a signal +agreed upon beforehand to mean that a prisoner had escaped, and very +soon the garrison was acquainted of the fact. + +"Now to the left," whispered Steve's father when they had run the +better part of a mile and were on the outskirts of the city. "That is +excellent. We are now on the plains of Abraham, and in a little while +should be in safety." + +Breaking into a fast walk, the fugitives kept straight ahead for +another mile, till they came to a dip in the ground. There was the +reflection of a fire hanging over the dip, and presently Steve caught +sight of a native wigwam of large proportions. His father gave a cry +of delight, and in a few seconds they were all inside. A smothered +greeting welcomed them, and at once Steve was gripping the many hands +held out to him, for there were now seven persons crowded into the +wigwam, and a lantern which hung to one of the roof poles shone on +their painted faces, and enabled the rescued prisoner to see them. Not +that he easily recognised these friends, for they were all heavily +daubed with paint and decked out in all the feathers and finery of +the Huron Indians. However, he was sure of his father, the huge, +raw-boned chief who stood beside him, holding him affectionately by +the shoulder, for the voice betrayed him at once. But for that, Steve +would have passed him by without recognition, for the Judge had shaved +his beard, and now presented a smooth face, than which there was none +more noticeable for the power and reserve which it expressed. + +"You ain't forgot me, Cap'n, I hope," burst in one of the men, painted +hideously to represent a fox. "You ain't quite forgot Pete, as took up +quarters with yer 'way back thar down by Lake St. George." + +"Nor me, if ye plaze, Masther Steve, Cap'n, beggin' yer honour's +pardon," said someone else, pushing to the front and holding out a +huge paw, which was painted now, but which at other times was freckled +and tanned to a colour that matched that of an Indian. It was Mac, a +grin stretching from ear to ear, clean shaven, and with his brilliant +locks cut back to form the conventional scalp lock of the Hurons, +and dyed; yes, Mac boasted hair of the blackest jet now, and but for +his speech, his huge grin, and his squat, powerful figure, was quite +unrecognisable. + +"You've took the Cap'n aback," cried Jim, pushing Mac aside. "It ain't +likely as he'd recognise an old pal in a beauty sich as you air. Why, +Mac, you was never so good-lookin' in all yer life before, and ef +you'll take a bit of advice from me, why, you'll stick where yer air. +Jest take to bein' a brave for the rest of yer natural existence." + +That brought a still wider grin to the broad face before Steve, a grin +which seemed to sever it into two complete portions, and which showed +a most excellent set of teeth. + +"Bad scran to ye now, Huntin' Jim, ef I don't take ye by the neck +this instant and scalp ye. 'Tis yerself that's uncommon handsome +to-day. Stand up and let the Cap'n see ye." + +He retired into the background, and gave Steve an opportunity of +setting eyes on the tall trapper who had been such a staunch friend. +He, too, was decked as an Indian, and in his case the disguise was +perhaps even more natural than in that of the others. For Jim was +tall and wiry. He was trained by constant wanderings in the forest +to the very last ounce, and his muscles, though small and not of +Mac's proportions, stood out like whipcord. Then, too, his sharp and +intelligent features helped in the deception, while the habits which +this old hunter had learned in the fifty years of his busy life had +given him that imperturbable look common to the Indians. + +"You was never so surprised in all yer life, Cap'n, I reckon," he +said. "You was mighty sick of roostin' up there in the fort, and no +doubt thinkin' of having a turn for liberty yerself. Then Silver Fox +come into the fort, and I'll bet what yer like that he walked about as +ef he'd been thar many a time, and as ef he wasn't on no account to be +hurried. He's that cool, he's like an icicle." + +"He is a gallant fellow, and I thank him. Chief, I owe a lot to you as +well as to these other friends. But who is the stranger?" + +A tall Indian had stood in the background looking on at the scene with +a half-suppressed air of contempt on his finely chiselled features, +for your Indian could not understand the need for such warmth and +such hand-shakings over a meeting. Silver Fox beckoned to him. + +"This is my brother, Hawk," he said, "this is Flying Bird, a Mohawk +once, and later a Huron. He is now again one of our tribe." + +"And thereby hangs the tale of your release, my boy," broke in Mr. +Mainwaring. "The story is soon told. This Flying Bird was born in the +same wigwam as our old friend Silver Fox, and would have been there +to this day had not the village been raided. The Hurons made a sudden +descent, and Flying Bird was carried away. He was then seventeen, and +almost a brave. He was spared, and became one of the Hurons, marrying +into the tribe. Now he has lost his wife, and taking advantage of the +fact that the Hurons were marching into the country adjacent to that +in which the Mohawks lived, he made a journey to find Silver Fox. He +came in the nick of time. I had just returned to find you a prisoner, +and the band of scouts which you had formed near Fort William Henry +about to be disbanded. They had been fortunate in escaping from the +fort before the surrender, and of course there was little left for +them to do. + +"Well, we made plans to meet again at the breaking of the winter, and +two months ago we gathered at Silver Fox's village. His brother had +returned to Canada for the cold months, so as to allay suspicion, and +we fell in with him ten days ago south of the St. Lawrence. As to how +we reached that part, why, the movements of our troops are beginning +to worry the French, and they are concentrating at the threatened +places, leaving the upper reaches of the Richelieu and the country +to the west of that river almost denuded of trappers and Indians. We +slipped through, and----" + +"And here you are, father. What is the next move?" + +"We wait here for a week perhaps, till the hue and cry for you is +over. Then we take to the river, capture some sort of craft, and sail +for Nova Scotia." + +Everything had, in fact, been carefully mapped out, and so far the +plans of the rescue party had gone without a hitch. But there was +a great deal still to be done, and many dangers would have to be +faced before Steve and his friends could hope to reach safety again. +However, they were not the men to flinch at the thought of danger. +Indeed, they rather enjoyed the prospect and the novelty of their +present position, and on the following morning eagerly scanned the +city and its neighbourhood for signs of searchers. + +"Fortunately for us they have very few Indians at their beck and call +just now," said Mr. Mainwaring, "for they have sent them down to +Ticonderoga and to the country about Louisbourg. There are a few lazy +fellows still remaining, the ne'er-do-wells of the various tribes, and +there is of course this small party of Hurons." + +He smiled at Steve, and proceeded. + +"You see, there was need for a party to lie close to Quebec, for it +would have been impossible to spirit you away from the city in the few +hours we had at our disposal. You will see why shortly, for the river +will swarm with canoes, and what Indians there are will be sent off +in search of your tracks. We had to have some arrangement whereby we +could take up our quarters near the city, and Jim settled the matter +very quickly." + +"Thar warn't nothin' in it," growled the trapper. "We wanted to lie up +here, and Flyin' Bird gave us the word that all the redskin varmint +was off to other parts. Waal, Cap'n, we fixed it up that we should +be a kind of deputation of Injuns from the Huron tribe come back to +complain of the favouritism shown to other redskins. That air a likely +tale, for these braves air always rowin' among theirselves. Flyin' +Bird's seen the commandant, they've had a palaver. We're here waitin' +for a proper palaver with this officer, and I reckon when he's ready +we won't be so anxious to get our grievance to his ears. But there +ain't no hurry. The French know how to deal with redskins, and they've +larned long ago that time ain't anythin', that ef yer hurry matters +yer show unnatural weakness and anxiety. So this officer'll wait a +while, and when he sends, he won't find no one to greet him." + +"And meanwhile we are fairly safe from interference," chimed in Mr. +Mainwaring. "The Hurons are accustomed to stand aloof from other +braves, and therefore we are hardly likely to have visitors. If some +come, Flying Bird will entertain them." + +Daylight showed that the authorities at Quebec were determined to +retake their late prisoner if possible. Canoes filled with soldiers +and trappers swarmed on the river, and the steep shore all along on +either side of the city was closely scrutinised. Then a strong party +was sent out along the banks of the St. Charles river, for that was a +likely direction for a fugitive to take. Once a party of trappers even +came to the Huron wigwam lying in the hollow. + +"We seek a pale face who has broken away from the city," said their +spokesman, addressing Flying Bird, who alone appeared to meet them. +"Have you seen traces of him. He broke away last night." + +"Then his trail will have been stamped out by the coming and going of +the people," was the curt answer. "Here, however, there may be traces, +my brothers. I have not looked for them, but if they are here surely +you who are accustomed to the forest and the trail should be able to +discover them. For us, we are resting. We require favours before we +will help your countrymen." + +Flying Bird remained seated all the while, smoking placidly. The +Frenchmen stared at him doubtfully, muttered words beneath their +breath, and moved away. + +"Let the dog sit there and rot if he will," growled + +[Illustration: "WE SEEK A PALE FACE WHO HAS BROKEN AWAY FROM THE +CITY"] + +one. "These Indians are either completely out of control, and far too +eager even for our hot bloods, or they are sulky and will not stir a +finger. Let the dog sit and smoke." + +They moved away in none of the best tempers, for these trappers and +the French in general were more than beginning to see that the price +they had to pay for the use of their numerous tribes of ruthless +savages would prove heavy in the end. Already they knew that it had +roused the British from their apathy. There were tales even then in +Quebec that the backwoodsman and the regular who fought for England +had a new battle cry, that bayonets were more vengeful and terrible +than ever before. + +A week later the hue and cry had died down, and the party made ready +to escape. Flying Bird sauntered off towards Quebec early in the +morning, his musket over his shoulder, and a fishing line strung to +his belt. Entering a canoe down by the stage, he paddled out into the +river, rounded the promontory to the west of Quebec, and sent his +craft along parallel to the steep cliff, at the top of which lay the +Plains of Abraham. His comrades above saw him occasionally, for he had +paddled to the far shore, and was diligently fishing. He was there at +dusk, and those who had the curiosity to look at him from the city saw +that he was pulling up his line and preparing to return home. + +"It will be dark by the time he is over this side of the river," said +Steve's father, "and by that time we shall be near him. You can find +this trail, Silver Fox?" + +"On the darkest night, Chief." + +"Then we will go. Pick up your traps, boys." + +The party filed out of the wigwam, leaving their late home standing, +and, with the Indian leading, strode off towards the edge of the +cliff. Steve had been decked as a Huron, and he took his place +third in the line. They reached the edge, and without the smallest +hesitation the Indian chief scrambled over it. + +"Be careful, brothers," he cautioned them. "The way is steep. A fall +would end in death." + +One by one in quick succession they lowered themselves over the edge, +and gripping boulders and grass and the roots of bushes, finally +reached the bank below. The canoe was there, and they stepped into it +silently. Jim pushed off from the shore, and in a little while they +were shooting down the centre of the river, hidden in the darkness, +from which they watched a hundred and more twinkling lights which +glimmered from the windows of the fairy city of Quebec. + + + + +Chapter XVII + +Down the Mighty St. Lawrence + + +"We ain't out er the wood by no means," said Jim, when the canoe had +shot past the city and had lost the lights behind a promontory of the +Isle of Orleans, "cos there's the journey back. Judge thinks as we'd +best make down stream for the sea, and cut out to Halifax or some +other place, wherever our chaps may be. There's talk of an expedition +to Louisbourg, and, of course, that's somewheres at the mouth of the +river. Now, ef it was me alone----" + +"You'd make up stream, or even enter the Richelieu," burst in Mr. +Mainwaring, "and for the simple reason that you have never even seen +the ocean, nor even a big ship. You are at home in the forest, and +feel that you could more surely reach friends in that way." + +"Thet's the case, Judge, in a nutshell." + +"But I happen to know that the forests south of this are swarming with +Indians. We had the utmost difficulty in making to the north, and we +have to remember that the escape of the prisoner will within a couple +of days be associated with the disappearance of the band of Hurons. +That will rouse the French, and they will send urgent messages down to +the neighbourhood of Ticonderoga. No, my friends, I have good reason +to know that Frontenac is almost deserted at this moment, so that we +might escape that way. Even then there would be a very long strip of +forest to traverse, and many enemies in it. The mouth of the river +is our easiest way, for once clear of the neighbourhood and safe on +a suitable vessel, no one can catch us. And French vessels down the +stream will be deceived by our hoisting a French flag, while the mouth +itself is patrolled by our fleet." + +Mr. Mainwaring had, in fact, supplied himself with all the available +information before venturing on this hazardous journey to Quebec, +for an intelligent man, such as he was, knew very well that such an +expedition was fraught with much danger, and that if not carefully +planned in every detail, it would very likely end in disaster. The +reader will remember that Pitt had come into power, and that one of +the chief items of his programme against the French was to be an +attack on the formidable fort of Louisbourg. Our ships were on the way +there from Halifax already, and it was clear that safety lay in that +direction for Steve and his friends if only they could descend the +river. + +"I can see that it will be easier to make down by the water than to +march miles and miles through the forest, scouting every foot of the +way," Steve said. "What about a suitable boat, father? We shall want +something bigger than this canoe, for this would never live down at +the mouth. I understand that it is like an open sea there, and that it +is often very rough." + +"It is swept by sudden gales, even in the summer," was the answer. +"As for a boat to take us to our friends, there is one lying down at +the tail of this island, and just within sight of Quebec. She lies, I +should say, eight or ten miles from the city, so that any commotion +aboard will not be seen or heard. That is the vessel we are going to +capture, Steve. How we are going to do it is another matter. We must +discuss that. Meanwhile we shall paddle down beside the island till +about a mile from the end, and there we shall tie up." + +Accordingly the paddles were kept moving gently, for the stream was +strong here, and it was hardly necessary to urge the canoe along. Half +an hour later the signal was given, and they turned the nose of the +bark canoe into the bank, and Silver Fox made her fast there to some +overhanging branches. + +"Guess we can put in a sleep," said Jim, yawning widely. "The nights +are getting very short now, so it won't be long before we are up and +doin'. Who'll take the watch?" + +"I will," answered Steve promptly. "Turn in all of you and sleep. I +will rouse you an hour before it is light. By the way, shall we settle +this question of the capture of the boat to-morrow?" + +"Onless you've got somethin' fixed already, Cap'n. Blest ef you ain't +now. I knows that by yer voice. Spout it out, boy, and let's know +what it is. He was always like this when cap'n of the band, Judge. +Kind er suggestin' a discussion when he'd got the hul thing settled in +his own mind. Spin it out, Steve." + +"There is nothing in it, only I thought we had better settle the +matter now. We shall be dull and sleepy in the early morning. I fancy +our best plan is to be that Huron party out fishing. There are plenty +of Indian canoes about on the river every day, and often enough the +men are fishing. We can do the same, and gradually drift down to the +boat. But have we lines aboard?" + +"You bet. There's half a dozen in Flyin' Bird's pouch." + +"Then I will bait a couple now and fish. We must have a few fish with +us, and when we get opposite the boat we will offer some to the men +aboard. Thus we shall have an excuse for hanging on to the boat, and a +couple can clamber aboard. If the rest of us cannot do the same---" + +"You've said enough, Steve, so you have," cried Mac, opening his +capacious mouth for the first time for many an hour. "If others cannot +follow, why, me name's not Mac. Sure, we'll be rhunnin' over the decks +afore you can count yer fingers." + +"Then pass the lines and get to sleep." + +Steve sat in the centre of the canoe while the hours of darkness +passed. On either side of him sprawled his companions, lying packed as +closely as possible, for a bark canoe is never of great dimensions, +and though this was a large one, it gave little room for men who +wished to sleep. In addition, a craft of this sort was very liable +to capsize, particularly when manned by novices. But Steve and his +friends had learned to manage these canoes when they were very young, +and could move about in them, spear fish over the side, and even sleep +in them with the utmost security. + +Almost before he was prepared for it, Steve saw a streak of white +break across the black sky towards the east, and knew that dawn would +not be long in coming. In half an hour it was beginning to get light, +and he at once roused his companions. + +"Time's up," he called out softly. "Rouse yourselves and rub the sleep +out of your eyes. Now, I vote for a meal before we start. Then, if +there is trouble, we shall be able to struggle on for a long while +without wanting food." + +They followed his advice with eagerness, for the night's adventure had +sharpened their appetites. But very soon the meal was ended, and there +being nothing further to wait for, they cast off from the branches, +paddled well out into the river, and then, taking in their paddles, +drifted down the stream, each one of the party, with the exception of +Jim, who steered with the tip of his paddle, having a line overboard. + +"There yer air," he said some minutes later. "Best not look all +together, lest they should get suspicious. Thar's the boat, boys, and +a bonny one she seems. I reckon she's ten times bigger'n this." + +"Forty times," answered Mr. Mainwaring. "She is quite a large craft, +and not far short of eighty tons. If so, there are few of larger +size that ever venture up the river. That is a peculiarity about the +French. I believe they have seldom brought a boat of more than a +hundred tons up to Quebec. And yet there must be sufficient water, +though there are shoals here and there, and the passage is considered +dangerous. She will suit us well, boys. In a little while we shall be +exchanging our rôle of Huron Indians for that of a sailor. Lucky it is +for us all that one of our numbers has sailed a boat before." + +"We ain't aboard yet, Judge," said Jim, rather suddenly. "Steve, +you've lived a year in these parts. What do yer make of them critters +away over thar under the island? You others keep on fishin'. 'Twon't +do to seem curious." + +Steve raised his head slowly, drew in his line, and threw it out from +the other side of the canoe. The movement gave him the opportunity +of looking in the direction Jim had indicated, where he saw a large +ship's boat pulling out from the tail end of the island. She was +manned by six sailors, and swept through the water at a rapid pace. In +addition, the white coats of four passengers proclaimed that they were +regulars from the French garrison, while an equal number of Indians +crouched by the thwarts. In the stern sat a man who was huddled in a +cloak, for the early morning was chilly. + +"I should say that she is a patrol, probably ordered to search all +vessels and boats which come south of the island. Perhaps her crew +have directions to turn all back who come so far. I don't like the +look of those fellows, but we must not appear to be alarmed. Go on +fishing, all of you, and just see that your muskets are handy. Flying +Bird, be ready to answer them." + +He addressed the Indian in Mohawk, and then tossed his line again, +pulling up a fish a moment or two later quite coolly and leisurely. +Meanwhile his comrades went on with their fishing, without even +turning their heads, for they were one and all trained men, who +knew by experience that the simple turning of a head was sometimes +sufficient to cause suspicion. They betrayed not the slightest +curiosity, but pulled in their fish or rebaited their hooks with +wonderful unconcern. Jim still steered the canoe languidly, glancing +now and again at the strangers, while Steve was able to keep his eyes +on them without appearing to do so. + +"They are making direct for us," he said suddenly. "I will turn round +for fear that they might recognise me. I was a prisoner so long, and +quite free to move about that the majority of the troops in Quebec +know me." + +Suiting the action to the word, he swung round and dropped his line +in on the far side. Presently a hail came over the water, while the +splash of paddles could be heard. + +"Ef they order us back, why, we've got to obey," said Jim. "Better to +please 'em and put the critters off the scent than to run our heads +against a wall. Let the beggars sing out again before you answer them." + +Flying Bird nodded curtly, for he had picked up a deal of English, and +could understand the drift of the conversation. He went on fishing +calmly, without even turning his head, till they were hailed again, +this time in the Indian language. + +"Hi! Put about there and wait till we come up with you. Who are you, +and where are you from?" + +In a little while the boat came seething alongside, where she lay, +held by an occasional stroke of the oars, while the man in the stern +repeated his questions. Steve did not dare to steal so much as a look +at him, while Jim suddenly ducked his head and turned, so that the +Frenchman could not see his face. For once again Jules Lapon's voice +was heard. Once again had this odious Frenchman come upon the scene +when least desired, and at the most inopportune moment. It was he +without a doubt, more sallow than of yore, his overbearing manners +almost as openly displayed as on the last occasion when Steve had +faced him. + +"Where from, and who are you, Indians?" he demanded curtly, in the +Huron tongue. "We have orders to search all who come this way, and to +send them back if they have no good reason for coming." + +"The chief can see what our business is," answered Flying Bird +steadily. "Does the Frenchman wish to be assured that these are +fish?"--and he held up one of their catch--"or does he suspect us of +other business? As to who we are, this is a party of Hurons from the +south country. We are awaiting a palaver with your big chief. That is +all." + +He baited his hook and tossed it into the river, turning away at once +and ignoring the Frenchman. But Jules was a man of keen perception, +and possessed of a suspicious mind. Unknown to Steve, he had recently +come to Quebec to take up some duty there, and had almost instantly +heard of the escape of the prisoner whom he had cruelly ordered to be +executed down at Ticonderoga. A backwoodsman, such as he was, knew the +difficulties with which a fugitive would have to contend, and he had +at once assured himself that Steve must have friends who were helping +him, and that in place of making away from the neighbourhood of the +city at once, he was probably in hiding close at hand, awaiting a +favourable opportunity to escape. + +"And this is just the party to help him," he said to himself as he +stared at the occupants of the canoe. "I will not let him slip through +my fingers if he is here. We will go a little closer, and then have +a look at the far side. It is distinctly suspicious that they should +have their faces turned away." + +Very slowly the big boat was rowed past the canoe till she was above +her. Then she dropped down again, and drifted past while Jules Lapon, +standing at the tiller, and still wrapped in his cloak, carefully +scrutinized the painted faces before him. Jim's angular features he +passed without a second look, while Mac stared back at the Frenchman +with a boldness and an impudence which had the desired effect. He +went on to Steve, found nothing suspicious in his open face, and +passing Pete, Silver Fox, and Flying Bird in turn, came at length to +Mr. Mainwaring. Something in the strong face and in the huge build of +this brave seemed to strike him. He gave an exclamation, and, bending +forward, looked closer. Then his sallow cheeks were suddenly suffused, +he bent forward to take a closer view, swept his eyes along the +occupants of the canoe again, and stopped when he came to Steve. + +"The prisoner," he shouted at the top of his voice. "Hurrah! I have +found him as I had hoped to do. Cover them with your muskets. Drop +those paddles and sit upright or we will fire." + +Jules had indeed made a discovery of the utmost importance. But +he was a man who always found it hard to curb his passions or his +impetuosity. Had he done so now, he would first have warned his men +that he had made some discovery, and so have had them in readiness. +As it was, the four soldiers who sat in the boat did not understand +a word of Huron, and had no knowledge of what had passed. They had +been on this duty for the past six days, and were heartily tired of +it, particularly as this leader of theirs had already treated them to +more than one false alarm. They sat half asleep, lolling against the +thwarts, by no means pleased to be turned out at such an early hour +without their breakfasts. The sudden order took them absolutely by +surprise. They had not even powdered the pans of their muskets. + +"Peste! Up with your muskets and cover them, fools!" shouted Jules, +seeing them hesitate. "I tell you that that is the prisoner. Shoot him +down if he moves a muscle." + +"You will be good enough to seat yourself, Monsieur Jules. Jim, you +are our best shot, and will cover him." + +It was Steve's voice which spoke, and at the order the heavy deckard +which the trapper carried went to his shoulder, and his eye squinted +along the sights. + +"Covered," he growled, "and jest you watch it over thar. This here +gun's got a way of its own of goin' off sudden. Jest watch it or +you'll know why. It's shot many a varmint before, and it won't take +long to treat a skunk like you to a bullet." + +"Mac, and you, father, and Silver Fox cover the soldiers and the +Indians. Now, messieurs, you know me perhaps. I am the prisoner, as +this Jules Lapon tells you, I am about to escape, and I advise you to +be satisfied with that statement. You,"--and he pointed to one of the +men,--"will oblige by throwing your musket overboard. Good! Now your +pouch and horn and your bayonet. That is excellent. Your comrades will +follow suit." + +Long before those in the boat had recovered from their astonishment +every musket aboard the canoe was levelled at their heads. And one +by one the muskets and bayonets aboard the French boat were tossed +overboard, the Indians being compelled to follow the example set +them. So far not a shot had been fired, for the band of supposed +Hurons had been too quick for their enemies. But if eyes could have +fired bullets, then every one of the occupants of the canoe, and in +particular Steve and his father, would have been slain by Jules, for +this curiously bitter Frenchman glared at them furiously, and finally +turned his eyes on Jim. Up till then he had been too excited and too +angry to take note of the tall Indian who covered him with his weapon. +But now an uncomfortable feeling crept down Jules Lapon's spine. He +swore under his breath, tried to stare back at the squinting eye +of the man who levelled the sights, and then was suddenly overcome +by that strange sensation. His knees shook and his legs doubled up +beneath him. He crouched in the stern, his face hidden in his hands, +tears, induced partly by sheer terror and partly by mortification, +streaming down his cheeks and welling out between his fingers. + +"Others has felt like that and weakened," growled Jim, lowering his +piece. "There's better men nor you has looked into a gun and felt ill +and sick. I've done it myself, and I knows that queer feelin' that +you've got. But fer all that I ain't never played the coward like you. +A leader's a man as should stand up to the worst, and face everything, +so as to show his men he's worth his salt. You ain't. Reckon you're +the biggest coward as I ever set eyes on." + +The trapper spat derisively into the water, laid down his musket, and +commenced to fill his pipe. + +"What next, Cap'n?" he asked, a grin on his hard features. "Thar's +work to be done. Beg pardon, Judge, but it seems natural like to turn +to Steve after being away thar at the hollow with him." + +"And you could not do better. Let the lad lead us. I have perfect +confidence in him. Steve, what is the next move?" + +For a little while there was no answer, for our hero was engaged in +looking closely at the boat which they had decided to capture, and +then over his shoulder at the river. There was not another boat in +sight, while, though he looked very carefully, no one seemed to be +stirring aboard the ship. + +"We shall want men aboard that boat to manage the sails, for I know +nothing of seamanship, and Pete and Mac and Jim are the same. But we +are lucky. Here are the very hands we want." + +He pointed to the sailors aboard the boat, at the stern of which the +discomfited officer sat, and at once a smile broke over the faces of +his friends. They saw his meaning in a flash, and the coolness of +their old captain amused them. + +"Shucks! Ef he ain't the most----" + +"Jest the slimmest, 'cutest, cussedest chap as ever you or me set eyes +on, Pete," burst in Jim. "No wonder that 'ere Frenchie thar has dug +his head into his hands. Reckon it makes him kind er faint to look at +him." + +"I said that we should need sailors. There they are. Monsieur Jules, +you will be good enough to come aboard this canoe and bring your +soldiers with you. My men, you have nothing to fear. We are merely +about to change places with you." + +At a nod from Steve, Jim and Mac dug their paddles into the water, and +presently they were alongside the boat. Jim leaped aboard at once, +took Jules Lapon by the shoulder with no very gentle hand, and lifted +him to his feet as if he were a babe. + +"Ef you ain't able to hold yerself up, why, I'll sling yer across +to the canoe. Bah! Man, show some spirit. From all accounts yer can +be bold and hard enough when things air right and you've got a poor +prisoner to deal with. There's the cap'n thar as can tell a yarn about +yer." + +The exchange of boats took only a few minutes, and very soon the party +of Hurons were seated in the one which had belonged to Jules, while +that worthy, with his soldiers and his Indians, was crouching in the +canoe. They were given a couple of paddles, and were ordered to row up +stream. + +"If we see you turn, or if you shout, we shall follow," said Steve. +"It would be better for you to go quietly back to Quebec." + +They watched as the Frenchman and his disconsolate crew paddled away, +and soon they were round the bend of the island, prepared to attack +the vessel which they hoped would take them to the sea. + +"You have nothing to fear," said Steve to the sailors who still manned +the oars, "and I promise to set you free as soon as we can get along +without your services. How many are aboard the ship?" + +"As well make the best of a bad job," came the answer. "There are two +only, monsieur, and you can climb aboard as soon as you like. You say +that we shall be set free, monsieur?" + +"I give you my promise. We shall make this boat fast astern, and +tow her down. When you can be spared you shall take the boat and +sufficient arms and provisions and go. Is that a bargain?" + +"You can count on us, monsieur, and our comrades aboard would prefer +such terms to the hard knocks which you are able to give." + +A few words passed between the Frenchmen, they smiled at Steve and +his friends, and seemed to enter into the spirit of this adventure of +theirs as though it was as pleasant to them as service with their own +comrades. + +"'Tis a poor heart which cannot make light of troubles, monsieur," +laughed their spokesman. "A minute ago it seemed that we should be +shot. Now we are promised safety, and are commanded by one who speaks +kindly to us, and even says 'monsieur' when he gives us an order. That +is good. We welcome a change after that ruffian." + +By now the boat was very close to the anchored ship, and presently she +struck against the counter, and one of the French sailors hung on with +a boathook. + +"We shall trust you to go aboard and let your comrades know what is +happening," said Steve to the spokesman of the sailors. "Otherwise +shots might be fired and useless opposition shown. Get aboard, my lad." + +"You can come up," shouted the man a little later, appearing at the +rail above with two strange faces beside him. "My comrades see the +wisdom of behaving quietly, particularly since I took the liberty of +promising them what you offered us. Is that correct, monsieur?" + +"Perfectly. You will be rewarded also if you behave properly. Now make +the boat fast and place yourselves under the orders of monsieur here, +who is my father." + +It was wonderful to see with what eagerness the French sailors sprang +to obey Mr. Mainwaring. For though the huge Englishman was dressed +as a Huron, and plentifully daubed with paint, yet he spoke perfect +French, and held himself as only a white man could do. But surely +never was there a stranger sight than this, a ship commanded by +Indians, and worked by pale faces. + +"We shall have to make a change, Steve," said his father. "Just hunt +out some old clothes from the lockers down below. They will serve a +double purpose. We shall be more comfortable, and then, in case of our +meeting another ship sailing under French colours, we shall pass all +the easier." + +That night, as the darkness began to get deeper, the ship was anchored +close in to the southern bank, and remained swinging to her cable +there till the dawn came again. Then she went on her course again. +And so, without incident, the sea was reached, the island now known +as Prince Edward Island sighted, and finally the bleak slopes of Cape +Breton Island. + +"If monsieur would allow us to escape in the boat within the next few +hours we could reach our friends in Louisbourg," said the sailor who +had spoken for his comrades before. "The wind is fair for us, and we +should not have a long pull." + +Steve and his friends at once agreed, the boat was pulled alongside, +and food and water lowered. Then Mr. Mainwaring presented each of the +six sailors with a small sum of money and sent them down to the boat. +They pushed off, waved their adieux, and put out their oars. Then the +tiller of the big ship was put up again, the sails filled, and she +bore away to the far end of the island. Rounding that, and giving the +land a wide berth, the party aboard saw a ship stealing along close to +the island. At her fore flew the fleur de lis of France, and sighting +the boat out in the offing, her head was turned and she came surging +out towards Steve and his friends. + +"She is a big boat. It would be hard if we were to see the inside +of a French prison after all our trouble," smiled Mr. Mainwaring. +"But I doubt that she will have the courage to come far, for if my +information has been correct, the British fleet must be hereabouts. +They have been blockading the mouth of the river since the winter +broke up. Ha! Steve, what do I see?" + +There was a white dot away in the far distance, a dot which might +have been a bird. But it held the same position steadily, except +for the fact that it grew gradually bigger, proving that it was a +ship approaching. And presently a huge eighty-gun frigate, with the +British ensign at her mast-head, came into clear sight and ranged up +alongside the captured Frenchman. A gun was fired, and hardly had the +boom been heard when a boat dropped from the side of the frigate, a +smart naval officer tumbled into it with his crew, and, being joined +by another individual, raced across the water. They were alongside in +five minutes, and a ladder being lowered the naval officer and his +companion came aboard. + +"A party of seven. So far so good," exclaimed the officer, running his +eye over Steve and his friends. "Is this the ship we were to expect?" + +"It is," answered Mr. Mainwaring promptly. "Allow me to introduce the +party, general. I am Mr. Mainwaring, though somewhat altered, I fear. +And here are my son, Hunting Jim, Mac, Pete, Silver Fox, and Flying +Bird, all old friends and staunch companions. I have to thank you for +picking us up. My friends, this is General Wolfe." + +"Indeed, I fancy the term picking you up hardly meets the case. You +seem very well able to look to yourselves, and, if my observation is +correct, have been fairly comfortable." + +The officer who spoke turned to Mr. Mainwaring, and then shook hands +with every one of the party, giving Steve an opportunity of inspecting +him closely without seeming to be rude. General Wolfe, whose name +was then prominently before the world, was a tall, gaunt man with +no other particular feature about him to attract unusual attention, +unless it was his hair, which, like Mac's, was decidedly red. He was +quiet, reserved, a typical officer and gentleman, and evidently one +accustomed to discipline and to be obeyed. Little did Steve think +as he watched this brigadier that Wolfe was to be the hero of this +conflict with France in Canada, and that he himself was to be closely +associated with him in the conquest of that fair city from which he +had so recently escaped. + + + + +Chapter XVIII + +The Attack on Louisbourg + + +"You have turned up in the very nick of time, gentlemen," said General +Wolfe, as he surveyed the party standing before him on the deck of the +French vessel. "Our fleet and transports have arrived in these waters, +and we are about to attempt a landing on Cape Breton Island. After +that we shall lay siege to the fort of Louisbourg. Can I be of service +to you in any way?" + +He swept his eye over each one of the group, smiling at the strange +appearance of Steve and his white friends, for they were now dressed +in the rough sailor clothing which they had found aboard, and for +the most part looked curious objects. Their paint and feathers had +disappeared entirely, but all clung to their fringed hunting shirts, +while rough trousers of sailcloth protected their legs, and French +sailor hats covered their heads where only a few days before there had +been scalp locks and the crests of eagles. + +"Come, gentlemen, now that you are free, you have the world to choose +from. You can return to England, you can make for your old haunts +near Ticonderoga, where I am sure Hawk and his band of scouts will +be welcome, or you can remain here and help us a little. Personally, +I should be glad if that were your decision, for I am training a +number of the men of my brigade to fight in open order, making use +of cover as do backwoodsmen. I could not have better instructors than +yourselves." + +[Illustration: The TRIANGULAR ROUTE Between CANADA and our AMERICAN +COLONY 1755.] + +"You can put me down, then, general," sang out Jim, promptly, raising +his arm. "Only there's jest one condition of service I bargain for +after rations and pay are earned. I fight under my old cap'n. He's +here, and he's fit to lead a hul regiment." + +"Pay and allowances will be the same as formerly. As to your +condition, that can be arranged if Mr. Steve Mainwaring wishes to take +up a commission again." + +Steve promptly agreed to do so, and within a very few minutes the +general had obtained seven valuable recruits for his new regiment. + +"You will be able to enter upon your duties almost at once," said the +general. "As I said, we are about to attempt a landing. Up to this the +sea has been too rough for such an expedition, but there is every sign +of its getting calmer, and should it do so, our boats will put out. We +will now return to the frigate, where the master-tailor can supply you +with suitable clothing, for, after all, I fear that we could not allow +you to take your places in our ranks in such dress as you now wear." + +He walked to the rope ladder, swung himself down with wonderful +agility, and was followed by Steve and his friends and by the naval +officer. An order was then given, and the two men at the oars pulled +away for the frigate, a couple of sailors being left aboard the +captured vessel. + +"We have lost a few of our ships since we sailed from Halifax," said +the general, "and as I expect that you have no further use for the +ship you captured, we will put her into commission at once. There is a +permanent Prize Board sitting, and they will inspect her and decide on +her value to-day. That money will be yours, gentlemen, for you are the +owners." + +Some hours later as Steve walked the broad deck of the frigate, he +could hardly believe that he had so recently escaped from prison. +The days had flown since his father and his old friends came to his +rescue, and they had been so filled with incident. He felt strange on +this big vessel, and found it difficult to realize that he was again +under orders, holding a captain's commission, and about to take part +in the conflict between England and France. + +"This is a very different affair from those up by Ticonderoga, Steve," +said his father, coming up to him. "Look at the force we have; there +must be ten thousand men at least. I mean soldiers of course, and am +not counting the crews of the ships." + +"Of the ships there are nearly two hundred," answered Steve, for he +had been busily counting them. Indeed, Mr. Mainwaring might well +observe that this was a big affair, for on this sunny June morning +those who patrolled the deck of the frigate could see numerous ships +of war, sloops, frigates, and transports, all cruising backwards +and forwards off Cape Breton Island. Boscawen, "Old Dreadnought," +was the admiral in command, and his fleet had only recently reached +Halifax, where he had picked up the vessels remaining there, and had +brought them on with him. Amherst, whom the reader will recollect, +was in command of the troops, had now some twelve thousand men aboard +the ships and transports, for on his arrival at Halifax he had +strengthened his own force with the troops taken to this port by the +Earl of Loudon in the previous year. Nor had he a single regiment too +many, for the task before him was a formidable one. + +Louisbourg, like Quebec, may be said to have been the stronghold of +the military, while, owing to its excellent harbour, it was also a +rendezvous for the French fleets. It consisted of private residences, +churches, and innumerable barracks and forts. In fact, it was a vast +fort, constructed at huge expense and pains, and designed by the very +best engineers of France. Seen from the edge of the harbour, its most +prominent features were the king's bastion and barracks, the hospital, +and the Recollects church nestling under the walls of the former. +There were fish stages and wharves, for Louisbourg was occupied by a +large number of men who looked to the sea for their living. In all +there were some four thousand inhabitants at this period, and these +consisted of the fisher folk above mentioned, of numerous priests, and +of many others whose business was connected in some way or other with +the military or with the navy. + +This vast fortress undoubtedly existed for war alone, and the French +had made enormous efforts to make it impregnable. Once before the +gallant New Englanders had captured the place, but a shortsighted +English ministry had handed it back to France, whose ministers were +possessed of far keener perception. They realized that the struggle +between the two nations would break out again, and since it had come +into their hands after capture, they had spared no pains to complete +their preparations for offence and defence. There were four thousand +French and Canadian regulars behind the two miles of granite walls of +the fortress, making eight thousand defenders if the civil population +are counted. Four hundred cannon grinned from the embrasures, while +the store-houses contained ample ammunition and food for a year. Add +to these preparations against attack the natural defences of the +place, for the seas were rough, and the coast rocky for miles on +either side, save for an occasional cove capable of easy defence, +and the reader will be able to gather some idea of the difficulties +before our forces. In addition, the seven-mile circumference of the +harbour prevented all approach from the sea-side to the fortress, and +sheltered seven battleships and five frigates, which together added +five hundred and fifty guns and three thousand men to the strength of +the garrison. + +"There will be a landing to-morrow," said General Wolfe that evening, +as he joined Steve and his father on the deck. "This sea is settling +down, I am thankful to say, for I am the worst of sailors, and if only +the wind will remain fair we shall embark during the night. You will +take part in the landing." + +That night, in fact, it became known through the fleet that an +endeavour would be made to land in the early hours of the following +morning, and sunrise found the troops embarked in the ship's boats, +and hanging on to their sides awaiting the signal. Three spots had +been selected for the expedition to attack, and in consequence the +force at General Amherst's disposal was divided into three divisions. +The first and second of these were under the command of Brigadiers +Lawrence and Whitmore respectively, and they were to attack the two +coves nearest to the fortress on its west. Wolfe was in command of +the third division, with orders to row along the rocky coast till +he came to Le Coromandiere, which while being the most likely spot +for a landing, being easier than the former two, was at the same +time strongly defended by the enemy, who had trenches, rifle pits, +and strong barricades, with mounted cannon. It was four miles from +Louisbourg, so that it was some little while before the boats of this +division arrived near the cove. Meanwhile our fleet opened a terrific +fire on the fortress. + +"Listen to that fer cannon," said Jim, who sat beside Steve, his +musket, now provided with a bayonet, set upright between his legs. +"I've never in all the course of my days heard the like of it. It's +thunder and worse." + +"Our men are just giving the French in the fortress a taste of what +they have in store for them," laughed Steve. "But take a look at the +cove, Jim. Those are guns there, and there must be a large force of +men ready to receive us." + +"Then the more the merrier, lad. I've fought behind trees many a score +of times. I've been shut in a fort with a couple of hundred redskin +varmint howlin' and firin' outside, but I've never in all my days +tried my hand at this sort of thing. Somehow we rangers think we're +better soldiers than air these here reg'lars. But I ain't so sartin. +No doubt when it's a war with braves, or a fight in the forest, we're +the best boys at the game. But out here, a job of this sort ain't done +by hanging behind trees and rocks. It wants a rush, and to make that +a man has to have downright pluck. Yes, I'm beginnin' to see that a +reg'lar has got heaps o' grit when he fights in his own way, and as +he's been taught. Whew! Did yer feel that?" + +Steve did. It was the shot from one of the French batteries which, now +that the boats were within some hundred yards, opened on the flotilla +suddenly. The shot, round and grape, hissed and hummed through the +air, and striking the water for the most part, sent up cascades which +blew away in spray, drenching many of the occupants of the boats. +Had that cove been sheltered it is probable that Wolfe's division +would have suffered terribly, for there were twelve hundred Frenchmen +waiting for their attack, and they had many guns. But this barren, +rockbound coast gave little or no shelter, and it happened that a big +swell was running, which made correct aim impossible, and a hit more +a matter of chance than of skill. And so it turned out that little +damage was done. The bellow of the cannon was answered by a derisive +cheer, and at once the boats' crews bent to their oars and raced for +the narrow beach. + +"Thunder! That air wuss nor bullets," sang out Jim, half rising to his +feet, for this was a weird and new experience for the hunter. "Reckon +another of them bangs and there won't be much of this crowd left to +fight. Cap'n, it air clean mad to keep out here in the open when +there's a bit of a rock thar that'll shelter us from them guns and +give a landing at the same time." + +This time the trapper got to his feet, in spite of the shouts of the +ensign in command of the regulars aboard the boat, and as if to show +how right he was, there came the crash of a second discharge, round +shot and ball, hurtled about the boats, striking some of the men, and +splashing foam and spray everywhere. + +"Look thar," cried Jim, in no way abashed by the gold lace and smart +uniform of the young officer. "Yer'll never set yer toe on the beach, +but yer'll get to hand grips with them ere Frenchies ef yer'll make +away where I'm pointin'." + +The officer was on his feet in a moment, scanning the rock to which +the trapper had drawn his attention. Then he gave a sharp word of +command, which caused the tiller to be put over and the bows of the +boat to sheer off in that direction, while the crew, who had lain on +their oars and looked doubtfully about them after the last discharge +of cannon, bent to their work again with a will. Another boat near at +hand followed their example, and a third was not slow to do the same. +It became a race, and the water was churned into froth at the bows of +the boats. + +"Steady! That's near enough. Over we go. Hurrah!" + +A wild cheer burst from the men as they leaped into the surf, and with +their young officer and Steve ahead made for the shore. + +"Make way for the other men and just get your breath, my lads," sang +out the officer. "Sit down and keep close to the rock. They cannot see +us here, and we shall be able to form up for a charge. Ha! Look at the +brigadier. He is following. Did anyone see his signals?" + +He looked round anxiously, passing his eyes from face to face till he +came to Steve. The latter nodded, while a smile played on his lips. + +"I fancy I did," he laughed. "The brigadier was in a hot place, and +saw that his men would be shot to pieces. I rather think I saw him +signal to the whole flotilla to retire." + +This, in fact, was the case. General Wolfe, seeing the narrowness of +the beach, its difficult approach, and the batteries which commanded +it, had signalled for the flotilla of boats to retire at once, for he +was fearful of losing his men. But he was not the officer to allow a +breach of discipline of this sort to arouse his anger. His boat came +surging up to the rock upon which the first party had landed, and in +a trice he was being carried ashore on the shoulders of a stalwart +sailor. + +"Well done! Well done, indeed, my lads. A very smart manoeuvre, which +may save the situation for us. Lucky none of you saw my signal." + +There was a dry smile on his thin lips, and he looked at the young +officer directly, causing him to flush to the roots of his hair. + +"Now we shall turn those gentlemen out, my lads. Will any one follow +me?" + +There was a shout at that, a bellow of excitement, for the men had +been roused by the small losses already suffered, and were stung +by the fear of failure. In a trice they were lined up behind the +brigadier, who faced round to inspect them, a simple cane his only +weapon. And beside this gallant officer stood Steve and Jim, the +latter looking grim and determined. + +"What reg'lars can do, so kin I," he growled. "But I 'low as this +fightin' in the open air enough to scare a chap as is used to the +forest. Let's get ahead with the charge. I'm warm and ready." + +So were the men. Their blood was thoroughly up. They gripped their +muskets, and held the bayonets levelled with their chests. Then the +brigadier gave the word, and the troops, now all collected, save for +those who had been hit, or who had been drowned in the surf, gave a +shout and set off towards the intrenchments held by the French. + +"Steady, boys. Here are some of their grenadiers. Let the left +flanking company get down and open fire. Steady. Drive them back, or +they will take us in the rear." + +The brigadier brought the column to a halt for a few moments, while +the company selected sent out its riflemen, for a company of French +grenadiers had suddenly put in an appearance. However, the English +soldiers were not to be gainsaid on this particular day. There were +a number of defeats to be wiped out. The memory of Braddock's defeat +was still fresh, while Fort William Henry and its dastardly massacre +was always before them. Those skirmishers fired a hail of bullets into +the grenadiers sent down by the enemy to oppose the landing, and then, +finding that their powder was damped by the sea-water, for very few +of the men had escaped a drenching, they clapped bayonets to their +muzzles, gave a fierce shout, and heads down charged the enemy, the +long and terrible weapon, which they knew so well how to wield, held +well in advance. + +Meanwhile the column, thanks to Jim's sagacity and to the sharpness +of the ensign and of the other two commanders of boats who had +followed to the spit of rock, lay out of range of the French cannon +and musketry fire. The enemy lying in their rifle pits and trenches +above could not see them, and were forced to remain idle while the +company of grenadiers they had sent down attempted the impossible task +of turning the invaders back. Nor did it improve their steadiness when +they saw these same grenadiers flying back for their lives, a draggled +and drenched crew of red coats charging after them, with bayonets +flashing in the June sun and shouts of triumph on their lips. For +that sight gave them an idea of what they might expect in a very few +minutes, and caused many to have doubts. Brigadier-General Wolfe did +not give them long before showing them his intentions. + +"We will charge now," he sang out, standing there before the column +as cool as an iceberg, while he swished the air with his ridiculous +little cane. "There are batteries, with some hundreds of men to defend +them. We are about to take those batteries and to chase the French +back to the walls of their fort." + +There was a shout from the officers, who had by now got their +companies into order, a shout which was taken up deliriously by the +men. The brigadier turned, waved a signal, and set off steadily +round the spit of rock. Then he broke into a trot, and as soon as +the companies swung round from the shelter, they wheeled so as to +face the enemy's position, opened out a little, preserving wonderful +steadiness in spite of the bullets and round shot hurtling about their +ears, and then broke into a fast run which very soon changed into a +most determined and furious charge. The men's blood was undoubtedly +up. All thought of personal safety was gone. They forgot the fact that +bullets were flying, forgot that they were drenched to the skin, and +that their powder was wet, for they had no need for it now. This was a +day for cold steel, and the thought of that, the determination to get +up to those batteries, to fling the French back and punish those who +had fired at the flotilla alone filled the minds of the men. + +"It 'ud do a lot of trappers a power of good to see 'em," shouted +Jim, as with Steve beside him he swung out from the shelter of the +rocks. "This air fightin'! This I 'low would take all the grit a +backwoodsman's got, 'cos there's no cover. Air yer ready?" + +He turned to find that Steve was not only ready, but was already +rushing away from him. For our hero had caught the infection spread by +these gallant fellows under Wolfe's command. He had no wish to kill. +He felt only a huge desire to be amongst the very first to reach those +batteries, come what might, and when he was there, not a Frenchman +would dare to remain. He would see to that. He was armed with a sabre +on this occasion, and dressed in the red coat and pantaloons of an +officer who had died on the voyage from England. He felt more than +ever now that he was an officer, to whom the men would look. And that +thought, as well as his own natural dash and gallantry, stimulated +him. He shouted with the loudest, swung his sabre above his head, and +then raced through the bullets and the cannon shot. A low wall of rock +stood in his way, and Brigadier Wolfe was in the act of scaling it. +With one leap Steve stood on the summit. Then he turned, caught the +brigadier by the arm and hoisted him up. The two were now ahead of the +charging column. + +Brigadier Wolfe faced the tall young officer for a second, and +coolly shook him by the hand, gripping his left, for Steve had his +hilt in the right. The sight of such an act of coolness brought a +frantic shout from the men. Steve turned to look at them for one +brief moment, and noted the set expression of their faces, the grim, +determined looks, the gaping nostrils and the heaving chests. Then, +as the brigadier waved his cane, he faced the enemy again, and with a +shout went on at the head of the men. A huge Frenchman, armed with a +ponderous musket, suddenly shot up from behind a barricade, brought +his piece to his shoulder, and aimed at our hero. There was a flash, +the powder in the pan spluttered up into smoke, while the bullet swept +within an inch of Steve's head, thudding heavily on something just +behind him. + +"Ef I don't get even with that ere chap, why, I ain't Huntin' Jim," +shouted a voice at his elbow. "Jest wait a minute. Ha! Yer'd shoot +me down. That's jest to make yer remember that I ain't so soft as to +fall 'cos a bullet's happened to strike me." + +[Illustration: "IN ANOTHER SECOND HE HAD BAYONETTED THE FRENCHMAN"] + +It was Jim undoubtedly, all his old backwoods coolness gone, all +his cunning and his Indian ways forgotten in the excitement of this +moment. His eyes were wide open, his lips set close together, while +rage was written on every feature. The stolid hunter had been struck +through the fleshy part of one arm, and the sting of the wound had +served only to increase his excitement. With a bound he passed Steve, +and in another second he had bayonetted the Frenchman, bringing the +grenadier to the ground with a terrific crash. By then the head of +the column was up at the batteries, and for a few moments a desperate +hand to hand contest was fought, while the gunners endeavoured to +fire their charges of grape into the midst of the rear of the column. +However, English bayonets had before then driven the French off the +field, and on this occasion our gallant fellows were not to be denied. +They drove those of the enemy who dared to remain out of their rifle +pits with their murderous bayonets, broke down and shattered their +defence, and sent them racing for the fortress. Nor did that entirely +satisfy them. They broke into more open order, and with Jim and Mac +and Steve to lead, chased those fugitives to the very gates of the +fortress, till reinforcements poured out of Louisbourg, and until +the cannon of the fortress began to ply them with shot. Only then +did they deign to retire, showing a defiant face to the enemy, now +outnumbering them by many hundreds. + +"Very gallantly done, lads," said the general, when the column was +again drawn up, and the wounded had been seen to. "I congratulate +officers and men on the brilliant dash which they have shown, and on +having won a most valuable landing-place for our army. To-night you +will have the place of honour in the general's published orders. Let +me not forget to thank those gentlemen who have so recently come from +a visit paid to the French in Quebec. Their gallantry and dash were +most stimulating, while I myself owe some help to their leader." + +There was a shout at that, for long ago the men had been made +acquainted with Steve's history. But these men of the backwoods were +as yet strangers to the majority of the attacking party, who had but +lately arrived from England. They had heard many a time of their +particular methods of fighting in the forests, of their cunning and of +their value as scouts. It did them good to find that these same men +could stand in the open and deliver a charge when bullets and round +shot were flying, and when there was no cover to be obtained. + +"I expect we shall soon have some of our old scouting work now," said +Steve that night, as he and Jim and Mac sat under a tent which had +been brought ashore, and discussed the action of the morning. "One of +the first duties of the general will be to see that the country round +about the fortress is clear, for there are many Indians about, and a +canoe can easily be paddled across from the mainland. While we are +scouting, the troops will be busily engaged in getting the guns ashore +and making ready for a proper siege. That will be slow work, and I for +one shall not care to take part in it." + +Two mornings later our hero was sent for to the tent of Brigadier +Wolfe. + +"You will at once be attached to my light companies," he said, as +Steve saluted. "Your friends will, of course, be with you, and you +will do all you can to give instruction. The men had about two weeks' +work at Halifax, but are, of course, very inexperienced. They are all +young and active, and picked as marksmen." + +On the following day, therefore, Steve and his friends walked over to +the officer in command of these light infantry companies, and promptly +set to work. On his advice the men were at once taken away from the +camp, and divided into smaller parties, each of which was under one +of the backwoodsmen, for Pete and Mr. Mainwaring had now come ashore. +There was dense forest within easy reach, as well as some more open +ground, on which, however, it was possible to find cover. And here +for hours at a time the men were practised, till they were fairly +proficient. Then one half was set to fight the other, the men being +roused to such keenness by these methods that they hardly seemed to +notice any fatigue. + +"They are the fellows who will help us to win this war," said the +brigadier a few days later, as he watched them at their work. "But now +for my news. The rough seas are delaying the landing of stores, and +until they are all ashore we cannot, of course, undertake to lay siege +to the fortress. Meanwhile the general has ordered me to march round +to the far side of the harbour and erect a battery there. I will take +these companies. We start at daybreak to-morrow." + +It would be tedious to narrate how Steve and his friends accompanied +this expedition, and how, in spite of a galling fire from the +batteries and the ships, General Wolfe managed to construct his +earth-works and batteries at Lighthouse Point. It was a class of +warfare which, like the attack on the cove, was entirely new to them, +and all agreed in admiring the persistency and the cool bravery, not +to say recklessness, of the soldiers. + +That battery, in spite of the heavy fire poured upon it, silenced +the French guns, and broke to pieces a battery on Goat Island in +the middle of the harbour. Its fire was soon followed by the bellow +of the huge siege guns which had now been brought ashore, and very +soon the din about the fortress of Louisbourg was such that men were +deafened, and Steve had never heard the like of it before. Sorties +were delivered, and were promptly met and driven back. The siege was +pressed vigorously, shot and shell pouring on the devoted place, while +the politest messages passed between besiegers and besieged. Then the +Canadians and their Indians outside our lines delivered their attack, +an attack which Steve and the light regiments, now employed as scouts, +were able to detect in good time and drive off easily. + +And so a month passed, a month of endless cannonading, till the +fortress was shattered, and the walls and buildings flying in +fragments everywhere. The French were in desperate plight, and wisely +agreed to surrender, having fought most gallantly. Thus the formidable +fortress came into our hands, and Pitt's forward policy began to +bring a long-looked for success. We had captured a place for long the +greatest menace to our power in America, and with it had taken some +six thousand soldiers and sailors, thus reducing the enemy's strength, +while it set ten thousand of our own troops free to operate in other +quarters. As for the fortress itself, it was of no use to us, and some +two years later was torn to pieces and utterly dismantled. Hardly a +stone of that fine costly place can be seen to-day. + +Steve did not long remain at Cape Breton, for scouts were required +at Ticonderoga, and an urgent message had been sent through to +General Amherst to ask for a supply. Steve and his friends were sent, +therefore, and arrived in the neighbourhood of Fort William Henry, +now reconstructed, only to hear the doleful tidings of a defeat, +the effects of which required even more than the crowning victory +at Louisbourg to counteract. For General Abercromby had made a most +hopeless and inexcusable failure of his long projected attack on +the French fort at Ticonderoga. Nor was this failure due to want of +careful preparation, to unsuitable troops, or to lack of courage. +Of the troops there were plenty and to spare. Had the attack been +delivered by the same troops again, properly led over ground which +had been carefully reconnoitred, there would have been a different +result, in spite of the stubborn and wonderful gallantry of the +French. But Abercromby made no use of the excellent scouting material +which he possessed. He made no use of the few guns dragged to this +part with infinite labour, but left them six miles in his rear. He +had six thousand troops, all burning to avenge the massacre at Fort +William Henry, and he launched his regiments one after another over +open ground in a frontal attack upon the _chevaux de frise_ which +the French had erected. Time and again gallant souls dashed forward, +only to be beaten down and slain by the bullets and cannon of unseen +marksmen and gunners. Why, the youngest subaltern, inexperienced +in war, would have ordered all further attacks to cease till he +had brought up his guns and smashed those formidable but flimsy +defences to pieces. Not so General Abercromby. He had shown no lack +of astuteness and organising ability up till now. But at this the +critical time in the actions of this expedition he ruined all by +his helpless and singularly unsuitable tactics, or, rather, by his +absolute disregard of the simplest of tactics. + +That bitter defeat cost us two thousand men, for the most part men +of the regular regiments, though the colonial militia did their duty +admirably. Indeed, as has been said, there was never any lack of +bravery. The soldiers one and all were filled with the utmost courage +and zeal. + +Steve and his little band soon found more work to do, for Bradstreet, +a popular and very dashing New England officer serving with +Abercromby, jumped at the news which Mr. Mainwaring was able to give. +Frontenac, a French port at the entrance to Lake Ontario, and almost +opposite the forts at Oswego which Montcalm had captured and burned, +had for a long time been of the utmost importance to the French. But +to meet Abercromby at Ticonderoga, and Amherst at Louisbourg, the +French had been compelled to denude it of its troops. Bradstreet at +once took advantage of this news. With Steve and Jim leading his +forces, he went by river and land, taking the Mohawk route, and after +a long struggle reached the lake. From there he paddled across to +Frontenac, captured the place, for there were only a hundred soldiers +to defend it, and promptly burned the forts and town, together with +some armed vessels lying off it, and enormous stores of food and +armaments, powder and ball, which had been collected there. In fact, +he delivered a blow of the utmost consequence, and one which helped +not a little to counteract the defeat we had received at Ticonderoga. +Let any reader who may happen to sail into Lake Ontario just glance at +the fine city of Kingston, and remember that it was there, on the site +which this city occupies, that Steve and his friends, with Bradstreet +in command, inflicted a blow on the French which was of the utmost +consequence, and which helped to make this eventful year of 1758 stand +out prominently in our annals. + +To their success was added that of Forbes, sent against Fort Duquesne. +It will be remembered that it was here that Braddock had met with +defeat, and that the fort from its position was necessarily a thorn +in our sides. Forbes was faced with stupendous difficulties, not +the least of which was the terrible weather he met with. It seemed, +indeed, as if he would never reach his destination, for he had miles +of forest to traverse, and a host of undisciplined troops to deal +with. So certain did it appear that he would not persevere in his +attempt, that the French reduced their garrison. However, Forbes, +in spite of ill-health, was a man of bull-dog determination, and he +eventually reached the fort, took it, and changed its name to that +of Pitt. The thriving city of Pittsburg now occupies the site where +Duquesne stood. + +One other item has to be mentioned in the description of this year's +doings. A gallant Moravian missionary, one Post by name, offered to +undertake a journey to the Ohio Indians, who, led by the French, had +for so long been harrying our Alleghany frontiers. This brave man +went not once only, but twice to these people, at the risk of almost +certain torture and death, and finally persuaded the fierce braves +to give up their alliance with the French, to cease their slaughter, +and to bury the hatchet with the six nations. For the tide of war was +changing. The tale of Frontenac, and of Louisbourg, had reached to the +farthest wigwams, and no Indian existed who did not desire above all +things to be on the winning side, the side to which most reward and +plunder would come. + +Thus our generals found themselves with a huge weight off their +minds. Ticonderoga still existed, and it alone barred our advance up +those lakes, St. George and Champlain, to Canada itself. The winter +of 1758 found Pitt with another policy, pushing on his preparations +for carrying it out when the spring should have come to break up the +ice in the mighty St. Lawrence. Quebec was to be the objective, and +Brigadier-General Wolfe, the silent, active leader, was to command. +Nor was Steve to be left out of the expedition, for hardly had the +month of May, 1759, come when a message reached him. + +"To Captain Steve Mainwaring," it read, "From General Wolfe. Please +make it convenient to travel to New York at the earliest date, and +from there join the fleet making for Quebec. I have urgent need of +your services." + +Steve packed his clothing, took Jim and Mac and his father with him, +and set off at once, eager to see again the fair city in which he had +been so long a prisoner. + + + + +Chapter XIX + +Wolfe makes his Last Attempt + + +"Listen to that, boys. There is music for you," said Mr. Mainwaring +some weeks after he, Steve, and the two trappers had set out for New +York. "Listen to our guns, and do not say after this that we shall be +too late. Quebec is not to be taken in a day. The city is one of the +very strongest, and has a big army to defend it. I said long ago that +we should be in time to see and take part in the crowning act of this +campaign." + +"And you've stuck to that through thick and thin, Judge," chimed +in Jim, standing at the rail of the ship, and looking his old self +again, for the hunter was dressed at this moment just as he had been +on that day when we first made his acquaintance. Steve, too, was in +his trapper's clothing, looking taller and broader now after his many +months of campaigning, and bearing on his face more character perhaps +than ever before, for the anxieties of command had developed the +natural self-assurance which he had possessed from the first. + +"I am delighted to feel that we are here at last, and in time, too, +father," he said. "I confess that I had doubts about reaching Quebec +before the city was taken, for we have been so long delayed. But +here we are, and, of course, the very first thing will be to seek an +interview with the general. I have my letter, and that should gain an +interview for me. As to the city being easily captured, I am sure that +our troops have their work cut out for them." + +The little party was gathered on the deck of a small transport which +they had picked up at Louisbourg. For having arrived at New York in +accordance with the wish expressed in General Wolfe's letter, they had +taken the first trader for Louisbourg, and had had the huge misfortune +of running into big seas and nasty weather. Indeed, as if to make the +task of our general harder, this season proved to be an extremely late +one. Spring was very long in coming, and the expedition, which sailed +from England early in the year, was much delayed by contrary winds. +Even when it did arrive in the harbour of Louisbourg the seas were +encumbered with ice floes, and ice was floating thickly in the harbour. + +The same difficulties had been encountered by the ship on which Steve +and his friends sailed, and when at length they reached Louisbourg +the fleet had sailed for Quebec some weeks before, while their own +arrival there was delayed further by having to await a transport. But +here they were at last, and within a few hours were landed at the huge +camp which the general had pitched on the western end of the Isle of +Orleans. Promptly they went to the quartermaster-general to report +themselves. + +"Better late than never, gentlemen," he said, as Steve handed him his +letter, "and I can promise you a very warm welcome from our leader, +that is, as soon as he is recovered. He has very bad health as a +general rule, as you may know, and now I regret to say that he is +down with an attack of fever, and lies in bed over at the camp by +the Montmorenci. Now, I shall allot tents for you, and you will draw +rations in the ordinary course. You must find wood for yourselves, and +must appoint your own cook." + +"That ain't no difficulty to men as has been cooking their own grub +all their lives," said Jim, with a laugh. "Reckon I'll take that 'ere +job till the time comes for fightin'. Then I'm off to try what a +charge feels like again. General, fightin' in the forest ain't nothin' +for excitement compared with the rush of these 'ere soldiers. A man +feels a man when he sees the enemy plain before him, and when he's +made up his mind to reach 'em and turn 'em out whatever their numbers." + +"The kind of spirit which I fancy fills our gallant fellows," came the +smiling answer. "If I make no mistake you are Hunting Jim." + +"You've struck it, General. That's me." + +"Then I have heard of your dash at the landing on Cape Breton Island. +You will have other chances, my man, for Quebec has still to be +taken. Now I wish to warn you. Those guns are being fired from Point +Lévis, just opposite the city, and should you make in that direction +you will do wisely to keep well in rear of our batteries. The work +there is rather warm at times. As to your duties. You will, of course, +wait till you have seen the general. But there is much for you to +do. We have Rogers, a gallant colonial, and Stark, and others, too, +in command of bands of trappers and scouts like yourselves, and for +weeks they have been in the forests, meeting the French irregulars and +their Indians. There have been some very fierce encounters between +the different parties, and I am glad to say that our men have driven +the French and their allies back, and have penetrated even as far as +Montreal. You might very well join one of those bands." + +"And what of the fighting here, sir?" Steve ventured to ask. "We +rather feared that we should arrive too late, for we have been very +much delayed. It is already September." + +"And very soon we shall have to be returning, for the winter will be +upon us. But it will not come to that, I hope. Frankly, gentlemen, +we are face to face with what would appear to be an insuperable +difficulty. We have made attempts on the city without success, and +our leader is almost in despair. As to what we have actually done, we +brought our fleet right up the river, much to the amazement of the +French, who have never dared to do such a thing with their own ships. +That proves that our navy is very capable, and, indeed, we owe a +tremendous amount to it. We pitched our camp here promptly, while the +fleet lay off the island, and were almost at once in difficulties, for +the French sent down fire ships. However, our tars made short work of +the flaring ships, and, indeed, enjoyed the fun of towing them away. +Then we captured Point Lévis, and commenced to build batteries. Our +guns have been at work, just as you hear them now, almost incessantly +for eight weeks, and the lower parts of the city are crushed to +pieces. But still the garrison is there, with strongly entrenched +lines stretching east from the city to the Montmorenci, and known to +us as the lines of Beauport, while there is also a force watching +the ford which exists higher up the river Montmorenci. Our aim is, +of course, to get on to that plateau, and on one occasion we landed +troops below it, close to the falls, and failed to gain a footing +above, though our men made a gallant and very reckless charge, without +having received orders to do so. + +"At the present moment we are contenting ourselves with a constant +cannonade, and with feints here and there, while our ships, some of +which have passed Point Lévis, and run up above the city, drift down +during the night, thus making the French think that we may attack +at any moment. Prideaux has captured Niagara, which has resulted in +a movement of Montcalm's troops, Bougainville having been sent with +1500 men to Cap Rouge, which, you know, is some seven miles west +of Quebec, at the end of the ridge which faces the river there, and +offers an insuperable barrier to us." + +"The one on which we lay hidden for a week, or rather where my friends +took me after they had rescued me from prison," broke in Steve. "I +remember the ridge well. The heights above are known as the Plains of +Abraham." + +"You recollect the ridge, sir? How do you mean?" demanded the +quartermaster-general suddenly, a faint flush spreading over his face. + +"We descended to the river that way," came the answer. "There is a +rough path, which we scrambled down during the darkness. A canoe was +waiting for us at the bank, and we set off in her. After that we +captured a ship and----" + +"Stop! One moment!" + +To Steve's amazement the quartermaster-general came a step closer, and +stared at him with a curious expression of excitement. + +"You clambered down that ridge, sir?" he asked. "Up to this we have +considered that an impossible feat. Are you sure?" + +"Certain. I was a prisoner for some months, and was allowed great +liberty. I have scrambled down from the plains many a time, and could +clamber up again. What defences do they have there?" + +"None. There are fifteen hundred men at Cap Rouge, as I have just +explained, and here and there are guards to watch the ridge. But +Montcalm believes, just as we have always believed, that to scale +those heights is impossible. You could clamber up? You are certain? +You could find a place?" + +"I am positive," came the swift answer. "Give me a boat in which to +run up river and inspect, and I am sure I can find a place." + +[Illustration: QUEBEC in 1759.] + +By now there was little doubt of the excitement into which the officer +had worked himself. His face was red and white by turns, his hands +were clenched, and he strode to and fro as if he could not remain +still. + +"I will do it," he said. "The general is ill, very ill, I fear, +though he is reported to be a little better this morning. But this is +important information, and he must have it at once. Be good enough to +accompany me." + +He beckoned to Steve, turned, and strode to the river, where there was +a boat belonging to one of the men-of-war, fully manned, and at once +the officer stepped into her, Steve taking his place beside him. + +"Pull for the Montmorenci, lads," he cried. "This is urgent business, +and your officer must excuse my taking his boat. Let one of your +number stay behind to tell him that the quartermaster-general was +compelled to borrow it." + +The oars splashed and the boat put off into the river. Then she surged +over to the far shore, for the sailors could see that something urgent +was afoot. And presently the bows struck the far bank, and Steve found +himself walking beside the general to a hut situated in the English +camp. + +"Tell the general I am here and wish to see him on the most urgent +business," said the officer. "I know he is ill, but this news cannot +wait." + +A minute later Steve was gripping the feeble hand of his old +commander, who lay in a camp bed, prostrate with fever. But even +though he was ill and suffering he could remember old friends, and at +once greeted our hero. + +"Our escaped prisoner," he smiled, somewhat wanly, "come at my +bidding, but very late, I fear." + +"We were delayed, sir," answered Steve. "We feared that we should +arrive too late." + +"Would that you had, my lad. But Quebec is still not ours, and I have +grave doubts about taking it. Montcalm has sixteen thousand men to +defend the place, to say nothing of the enormous natural obstacles +which aid him. I have seven thousand men, gallant fellows every one, +and finely equipped and disciplined. If it were possible they would +have captured the city for us by now. But it is not. I see no way out +of the difficulty." + +"Knowing that, I ventured to bring this young officer with me," said +the quartermaster suddenly. "General, Steve Mainwaring was a prisoner +at large and knows every foot of the surroundings of Quebec. He can +tell you of a place where an attempt might be made." + +Wolfe shot up on his couch as if he had been stung, and stared at our +hero with blood-shot eyes, which plainly showed the fever from which +he was suffering. + +"You know of a place!" he cried eagerly. "Where? Where?" + +"I mentioned that I had escaped down the cliff which falls from the +Plains of Abraham. There are several tracks down it, and one I often +used when I was a prisoner is known as the Anse du Foulon. Men could +climb there, General, if the place were pointed out to them." + +"Will you find it? Will you lead the men there?" + +The hollow eyes of the general stared at Steve eagerly, while the sick +man sat on the edge of his couch as if about to stand. + +"I could," was Steve's emphatic answer, "I or any of the three friends +with me, one of whom is my father. If you will give us the order, sir, +we will carry out the duty, and will do our best to take a party to +the top so as to hold the place. Then others can ascend." + +"You shall go at once. The quartermaster-general will make all +arrangements for me. You shall be taken aboard one of the sloops of +war, and sail up the river. That will allow you to get your bearings. +When you have identified the place come back to Point Lévis. I shall +be there, and we will make final preparations." + +The general dismissed them with a nod, and as they left the hut they +heard him calling to his servant. + +"A gallant gentleman, cursed with execrable health, but possessed +of wonderful spirit and ability," said the quartermaster-general. +"Captain, your news will do more for him than any amount of rest or +physic. Find this path for him, and our leader will be happy." + +Indeed, our hero seemed to have arrived in the very nick of time, and +as a result perhaps of his news, the general was soon out of his bed, +and making his way from point to point, inspecting the batteries and +camps, infusing new spirit into the men, and causing the enemy many a +qualm. The news of a possible attempt on the Heights of Abraham was +kept a dead secret while Steve was engaged on his search, and every +effort made to harass the French. In order to carry out this programme +effectively the camp at Montmorenci was broken up, and the troops +brought to Point Lévis or to the Isle of Orleans. Then a garrison +was selected for these two posts, and all save a regiment of seven +hundred men secretly embarked upon the ships of the fleet, the men +who remained being posted close to Point Lévis. Thenceforward, for a +few days the French had many an alarm, for fleets of boats, filled +with troops from the camp at Orleans, or from that at Point Lévis, +put off from the bank as if about to make an attack, only, however, +to return as promptly, for it must be remembered that they were the +only available garrison now for those points. Ships opened fire on the +city from various stations, while the fleet massed up by Cap Rouge, +and so many feints were made that Bougainville was severely harassed. +As for Montcalm, the brave and able commander of the French, he saw in +all these feints a projected attempt on the mouth of the St. Charles +river, under the very shadow of Quebec, and disposed his troops +accordingly. + +Meanwhile Steve, his father, and the two trappers had embarked on a +sloop, and having sailed during the night up to Cap Rouge, drifted +down river on the following day. Twice in succession they repeated the +performance. + +"I am satisfied now that we have found the place," said our hero, +when sent for by the general. "From the river here the land looks so +different that at first we were a little uncertain. But we have picked +up our bearings, and there can be no doubt. It remains now only to +make sure that the enemy is not above, and if they are there, to get +such a hold that they cannot drive us down before reinforcements +arrive. May we have a canoe, General? and whenever you select the +night for the attack, we will slip ashore, find the path, and signal +to the men." + +"We are ready now," came the answer, for Wolfe was nothing if not +eager and impetuous. "But the weather is against us. It is dull and +inclined to rain, and that, in my opinion, would spoil our chances. We +want a fine night. Return to the sloop, Steve, and when the hour comes +I will send for you." + +Steve left the general stalking restlessly backwards and forwards in +front of his tent, looking wan and ill after his attack of fever. But +Wolfe was full of energy and determination. This coming attempt, he +felt, was to be his last. It was to be the one great stroke upon which +the success of the whole campaign depended, and nothing should cause +failure that care and attention beforehand could obviate. He went +aboard the fleet, and himself studied the face of that cliff up which +his battalions were to clamber. Then he published his orders, gave his +final instructions, and sent a short note to Steve. + +"The weather is settled now, and the night will be fine," he wrote on +the twelfth of September. "Carry out your plan to-night. As soon as it +is dark make for the shore, and find this path. When you are sure that +you are near it lie close down by the water and listen. My men leave +three hours after it is dark. Show them a lantern as they pass you." + +That was all. This General Wolfe, a keen organiser himself, was one +of those officers who had the happy knack of rapidly discovering the +good points of those who served him. Once assured of an officer's +discretion, he could give an order and leave it to the officer in +question to carry it out in every detail without interference. And +now he sent his final orders to Steve, intimating to him that on his +discretion depended the success or failure of the whole expedition. + +"Then we will make our preparations," said our hero, when he had +read the note. "We already have a canoe, and I advise that we put +some provisions into her, for the troops may be delayed. We will go +alone, and will take knives and tomahawks. A musket might go off +accidentally, and in any case we shall be glad to be free of the +weight." + +"Another o' Steve's 'cute ideas," cried Jim. "This 'ere game as we've +got air the biggest I reckon of any as we've ever tackled, 'cos, yer +see, ef we make jest the smallest mistake and the French hear us, +waal, what's the good of troops? They'll be down upon us at once." + +"But not in force," answered Steve quickly. "Remember, Jim, that +Montcalm has the majority of his men either in the city or in the +Beauport lines. There are men at Cap Rouge, but only posts along the +cliff we are to climb. We will find the path, clamber up it, and leave +two at the top to watch. If a French sentry should come along and hear +the noise made by the men as they disembark, those two must silence +him. After that it will take only a few minutes to get some of our +fellows up, and then Montcalm will want an army. Our boys will not be +turned off the cliff by anything less. Jim, you and Mac will take that +post up at the top. Father and I will descend and give the signal." + +Darkness had fallen barely more than a quarter of an hour when the +party of four prepared to leave the sloop. Those aboard her now knew +what was about to happen. Indeed, the English troops aboard the fleet +were aware of the attempt about to take place, and were already +silently embarking in the boats secured to the ships' sides. As to the +French, they still believed that an attack in force was impending at +the mouth of the St. Charles, or against the Beauport lines, for the +feints of the fleet at Cap Rouge had ceased entirely, while Montcalm +did not even suspect that the bulk of Wolfe's army was aboard. There +was a curious calm up the river, where there had been so much energy +a few days ago, while down stream, at Point Lévis, the guns thundered +even more loudly than before, and there was very obvious activity at +the camp on the Isle of Orleans. Indeed, perched as they were high up +in Quebec, and the ridge on either hand, the French could see every +movement of the English, unless cloaked by the darkness. Montcalm had +been an attentive watcher, and on this very night his charger stood +ready saddled, so that the commander might gallop along the Beauport +lines, wherever circumstances might call him. Little did Montcalm +think that it was towards the opposite direction that his horse's +hoofs would carry him. + +"Good luck, boys. Remember we're waiting. Remember that every man +aboard the fleet looks to you to-night, and that every mother's son in +Old England will sing your praises if you are successful." + +The captain of the sloop, a rough old sea dog, gripped each one of the +party by the hand as they prepared to step into the canoe. Then he +gave Steve a bag containing a dark lantern, flint, and steel. + +"Light it ashore," he said earnestly. "Even the best lamp of this sort +might show a glimmer, and the French would see it. Get under cover +when you strike the flint, lad. Don't forget. Under cover." + +There was a faint murmur from the men as Steve dropped gently into the +canoe, while the clatter of booted troops lowering themselves into the +boats of the fleet came softly to the ear. + +"Push off," he whispered. "Out paddles. Jim, take post in the stern." + +It was a silent party which floated down the mighty St. Lawrence, for +up above there might be many listening ears. The paddles dipped ever +so gently, while at the stern Jim sat stolidly, his nerves strung to +high tension, for this was new work again, his paddle deep in the +river, and his eyes following the faint line of the ridge. + +"Put her in. We have floated far enough, and, I think, are nearly +opposite. H-u-u-s-h!" + +There was a sound high up above the river, and close at hand, for the +canoe was now within a few yards of the bank. Then, startlingly loud +on this calm night came the voice of a sentry. + +"_Qui va là?_ Who goes there? Reply or I fire." + +"Be silent. We are a provision boat. You will show the enemy our +position." + +Quick as thought Steve gave the answer in French, and at once the +figure which had stood dimly silhouetted against the clear sky and the +stars above disappeared. + +"Paddle back a little," whispered Steve, when the man had gone. "Now +lie off the bank for a while, dipping your paddles gently. In a few +minutes we will drop down again." + +They took their frail craft some two hundred yards up stream again, +making out into the river as they did so. Then, having allowed some +minutes to pass, they struck for the bank again, floated down without +using a paddle, and grounded noiselessly. There was no need now +for talking. Steve stepped softly ashore, and was followed by his +comrades. Together they lifted the canoe, and laid it on the bank some +yards from the brink. Then they turned their faces to the cliff, crept +over the grass, and between bushes and brambles till they were at its +foot, and then separated. Five minutes later they had gathered again +at the same spot. + +"Struck it, Cap'n," whispered Jim, a thrill of excitement in his +usually even voice. "I jest hit nicely on it. Come." + +On hands and knees now the four crept along at the foot of the cliff +till Jim stopped them. They turned to the left abruptly, and as Steve +felt the ground his fingers detected the hollow track which he had +used on former occasions when a prisoner at Quebec. They were on +it now, Jim leading still, and Mac in rear, clambering through the +darkness. + +"H-u-u-u-sh! What in thunder air thet?" + +Jim spoke in a whisper, and Steve, who followed closely after him, +squeezed up to his side. There was a mass of wood and earth clinging +to the face of the cliff, and entirely blocking a portion of the +zig-zag Anse du Foulon. + +"Get round it," whispered Steve, when he had run his fingers over the +obstruction. "Quietly! I think I heard someone moving up above." + +Creeping to the right, and making use of every possible stump and +rock, Jim clambered round the obstruction, and reached the path again. +Another minute and he had gained the summit of the cliff, here some +two hundred feet in height, and was stretched on the grass which clad +the edge. And there the four lay listening for some few minutes. + +"There's a sentry or two 'way over thar," whispered Jim, after a +little while. "I can hear the tap of his boots, and what's thet?" + +"A song. He is doing what many a sentry does to pass the hours of +darkness. Humming a little tune all to himself. It's company to a man +posted on such a lonely beat. Well, Jim, we'll go. Keep a bright +look-out." + +Steve and his father slipped from the edge, past Mac and Jim, and +groped their way down the steep path. On any other occasion they would +have placed their heels against the earth and slid, for the path gave +little holding, while its steepness was lessened by the fact that it +ran zig-zag across the face of the cliff. But a slide now would bring +the sentries to that quarter, and so the two groped their way down +till they reached the bottom. Then Mr. Mainwaring unstrapped a blanket +which he had carried attached to his back, and he and Steve sat down +beneath it, dragging the edges close to the grass. The rasp of a flint +on steel followed, and within a few seconds the candle in their dark +lantern was alight. + +"Close the dark slide now, Steve," whispered Mr. Mainwaring. "I will +take charge of the lamp while you watch. Then you can sing out when +I am to expose the light. Remember, lad, you are in command of this +little party." + +He took the lamp and sat down close to the edge of the water, his +eye fixed on the dark figure of his son. As for Steve, he stood +like a rock, listening intently and watching the river. Ah! A voice +broke from the summit of the cliff, the sing-song tones of which he +recognised. It was the sentry again. + +"Who goes there? Halt, or I fire!" + +And almost at once, in the most excellent French, came the answer. +"Silence, fool, can you not see that we are provision boats floating +down to Quebec. Silence, I say!" + +The sentry was satisfied. He shouldered his arm and strode off, +complimenting himself on his sharpness. As for the boats which he +had detected, they were, in fact, the leading craft of the flotilla +which bore our troops, and the officer who answered in such excellent +French was a Highlander, sent in advance for the very purpose, in +case the necessity to reply to a challenge should arise. The time had +come. Steve clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, a signal +which his father instantly followed. There was the low squeak of the +moving slide, and then a pencil of light shot out from the bank, to be +extinguished in less than five seconds. + +One, two, three, Steve counted the boats as they ran in to the bank +and grounded. He ran forward, greeted the officer in command, and then +turned to lead them. They reached the cliff, gained the track, and +commenced to ascend. Hark! Above the faint noise made by the boots of +this advance party, above the deep breathing of the men there came a +sharp challenge from above. + +"Who is there? Ah! I hear men moving down below, and there are boats. +Fire!" + +Then followed a sudden shriek, there was the sound of a conflict +above, and within a few seconds a body crashed on the path some yards +beneath the top of the ridge, rebounded, and fell with a sickening +thud to the bank below. At the same instant a shot was fired, while +shouts arose in the distance. + +"Charge. Up with yer, boys. We've got 'em. There ain't more then a +score here. Up yer come, every one of yer." + +Jim shouted the words, and as Steve clambered to the top, he came +across the trapper standing to his full height, jubilant at the +success of the leading party. + +"Did yer hear that air varmint strike?" he asked coolly. "Yer did. +Then you've nothing more to fear. It air that fellow Jules Lapon, +who's come up against us this many times. Reckon he won't be troubling +no longer." + +Steve had barely time in which to grasp his meaning before the first +of the men were up. And after them, struggling up the track and at a +hundred and more other spots, came the rest of the troops, excited +and eager, fiercely determined to win on this occasion. Reckless +of danger, staunch to a man, and with childish confidence in their +officers, these gallant fellows gained the heights, paused to gather +breath, and then fell into their companies. When the daylight came, +Montcalm looked with consternation to the Plains of Abraham. For Wolfe +was there with four thousand three hundred seasoned and determined +men, who stood eagerly awaiting the expected battle. + + + + +Chapter XX + +The Plains of Abraham + + +The sun, rising in all its early autumn splendour on that eventful +thirteenth of September, 1759, looked down upon an historic scene +which England should never forget. The slanting rays pierced the +mists overhanging the side reaches of the St. Lawrence, and slowly +disclosed to view the promontory on which the city of Quebec was +built, now no longer that fairy place which Steve had known it, but +a mangled heap of ruins, with debris of fallen houses, convents, and +barracks choking the tortuous streets. The lower portions of the +city were gone, while above, where the cannon shot from Point Lévis +had failed to reach, the batteries and walls stood out prominently +on this fair morning, as defiant as ever, frowning upon the English +camp on the Isle of Orleans, and upon the two long plateaux on either +hand. There was turmoil in this upper city. Soldiers and civilians +were rushing aimlessly about, horsemen galloped from the walls with +frantic messages, while Montcalm, that gallant soldier, discussed the +situation with the Marquis Vaudreuil, governor of Canada. + +The news had just reached the city, and as the French commander looked +towards the Plains of Abraham, spying them through his glass, he saw +that it was only too true. + +"At last," he said, "they have outwitted us, these fine Englishmen and +their persevering leader. They are waiting for our soldiers. I must +go." + +In his own heart Montcalm knew in what a desperate plight he and his +force were, for he had already learned that the enemy who had for so +long faced the city were trained men, veterans, determined to win. + +"We have a breathing space," said General Wolfe, looking haggard +on this early morning as he stood surrounded by his officers. "Let +the men lie down and eat their rations. And send for Captain Steve +Mainwaring and those gallant friends who helped us last night." + +He stood, his glass to his eye, watching the distant city and the men +bustling about the walls. Then he turned to his own battalions and +inspected them critically. + +"They will not fail me," he said, in tones of the utmost confidence. +"Though they are but a few more than four thousand, they will beat +these French. But I must remember that there are enemies in front and +behind." + +Wolfe was, in fact, in a precarious position, had the French but known +it, for by placing his army on the Plains of Abraham, within little +more than half a mile of the city, he had wedged his force in between +Montcalm's city garrison and the soldiers holding the Beauport lines, +and the force, now amounting to over two thousand, which held Cap +Rouge under command of Bougainville. These separate bodies of troops +might march to attack him at the same moment, and he would find +himself assailed in front and rear, a very serious position for so +small a force as he possessed. However, to the brave many things are +possible, and it happened that Wolfe's daring tactics on this occasion +threw the enemy into hopeless confusion. The guards along that +ridge where the Anse du Foulon had been ascended rushed with their +information to Quebec, shouted the alarm, and caused Montcalm hastily +to gather troops from the city and the Beauport lines, where he had +imagined the attack would be delivered. In the flurry of the moment no +one thought of Bougainville and his men, and while the fate of Canada +lay in the balance, this officer remained within six miles of Wolfe's +position, ignorant of what had happened, and expecting hourly an +attack in force on his own entrenchments. Not till the cannon roared +and the volume of musketry fire reached his ear did he gather what was +happening, and then it was too late. Even then it is doubtful whether +Bougainville would have been right in leaving the post entrusted to +him, for cannon were for ever booming in the neighbourhood of Quebec. + +"Gentlemen, at such a time I can say little to show my appreciation +of your conduct," said General Wolfe as Steve and his comrades ranged +up before him and were closely surrounded by the officers. "I thank +you from the bottom of my heart, for you have given me and these fine +fellows of ours our opportunity. You shall see that we will take the +fullest advantage of it." + +He shook them each warmly by the hand, and then turned to watch the +enemy. As for our hero, he went back to the ranks with burning cheeks, +feeling that there was nothing he would not do for his commander. + +"There's goin' to be some of the old work to-day," said Jim, as he +munched at a hunch of bread which he had brought in his pocket. +"Cap'n, set an eye over thar to our left. Do yer see?" + +"There are Indians and Canadian irregulars filing off into the bush," +came the answer. "They will creep closer, and open fire from the +cover. Jim, we will collect a few of the rangers, and do our best to +hold those men in check." + +A number of scouts and trappers attached to the regulars had returned +to camp two days before, and these had only now put in an appearance, +having crossed the river with the seven hundred troops left just above +Point Lévis. Steve at once went to their leader, pointed out that the +enemy were massing their irregulars in the bush to the left of our +troops, and asked if he would obtain orders to operate against them. + +"Certainly," was the answer. "It is just the work for us." + +The stalwart leader of backwoodsmen went off at a run to the general, +and very soon the trappers, with Steve, his father, Jim, and Mac, +were creeping into the bush. By now Montcalm had gathered some troops +together, and had massed them just outside the western wall of the +city. At ten o'clock he was ready, and advanced with some three +thousand five hundred men, to which some fifteen hundred irregulars +must be added, these hanging on to his right flank and making for the +thickets and bush and cornfields which lay on Wolfe's left flank. + +"The men will load with two bullets, and will reserve their fire till +the enemy are at close quarters." The order, issued from the cool +leader of our men, went down the ranks, and at once there was the +ring and tinkle of ramrods as a second ball was pushed into place. +Men powdered their pans and looked to their locks carefully, and then +all eyes went to the enemy. They were less than half a mile away, and +already their cannon, three of which had been hurriedly brought into +position, were plying our ranks with their shot, while from the flank +came a hail of bullets, sent by unseen marksmen. + +Never in all his after-life could Steve forget that morning and the +scene upon which he looked, for he lay at the edge of a scrap of +cover replying to the fire of the French irregulars. The French line, +consisting of regulars and militia, advanced steadily, firing when +they came into range. They were mixed together in a heterogeneous +mass, and their shouts and the clatter of their pieces filled the +air. Steve watched them closely, and noted that already they were +thrown into some confusion, though our troops had not yet fired a +shot, for their militia backwoodsmen, once they had fired, threw +themselves down on the ground to reload, causing gaps in the ranks. +But still they were coming, looking formidable, and as if determined +to succeed. Then he gazed at the English troops, and a glow of +enthusiasm suffused his cheeks. For our men have won the unstinted +praise of everyone for their action on that morning. They were formed +in a triple line, and lay on the ground, waiting, while the cannon +shot and bullets plunged in amongst them, killing and maiming many. +Here and there stood an officer, talking quietly to his men, joking, +laughing, keeping their temper in hand, as our officers have always +known how to do. But the time for action had come. Wolfe, calm and +patient, yet itching to commence operations, walked to the front of +the Louisbourg Grenadiers and lifted his cane. + +They were up. As one man the English regiments scrambled to their +feet, lined up, and brought their pieces down to the charge. + +"Remember orders. Men, hold your fire till the word is given." + +The officers could be heard calling to the men while they dressed the +lines for the coming charge. Ah! Wolfe was advancing. Steve saw him +wrapping a handkerchief about his wrist, which had been shattered +by a ball. The French were close at hand now. Men could catch the +gleam of bayonets, and could see into one another's eyes. But there +was not a sound from the English. They still advanced, silent and +awe-inspiring. They were within forty yards when the signal was given, +officers stepped to the flanks of their companies, a loud command +was heard, and in an instant a line of flame spouted from the ranks, +while the crash of the muskets sounded more like the discharge of +cannon than of smaller weapons. Then, indeed, did our men shout. Their +voices deafened the air, for they cheered enthusiastically. As for +the French, they were thrown into instant confusion. Huge gaps were +torn in their ranks, while men fell in all directions. They stood +spellbound for the most part, while some of their militia fled, for +this was almost the first time in this momentous campaign that they +had stood face to face with our men. + +"Load again. Ready. Present! Fire!" + +The order went rolling down our thin ranks, and again Steve heard the +clink and ring of the ramrods. Then came a second rattling volley, the +bullets crashing into the French ranks. Hurrah! Our men were advancing +again. The bayonets were breast high, while the broadswords of the +Highlanders flashed in the sun. Another shout went down the ranks, and +then there was heard the clatter of bayonet on bayonet, the hoarse +cheers of Highlanders, and the frantic shouts of New England lads, +and men from Old England. The French held their ground for a moment, +bravely contesting the path. Then they turned, broke into small +parties, and for the most part fled, a few veterans here and there +standing shoulder to shoulder to the last. + +But where was Wolfe? The Indians and Canadians were flying with their +comrades now, and Steve was no longer required on the flank. He slung +his musket over his shoulder, and went off at a run till a small +gathering of officers attracted his attention. Wolfe, the gallant, +lion-hearted officer had been hit in the wrist at the commencement of +the action, and afterwards in the groin and through the lung. He was +mortally wounded, and called to Lieutenant Browne. "Support me," he +cried, "lest my gallant fellows should see me fall." + +The officer was too late, and arrived at the general's side to find +him on the ground. Then a Mr. Henderson and Colonel Williamson +arrived, while Steve came on the scene a second or so later. Together +they lifted the poor general and carried him to the rear, where they +laid him gently down again, for he was in great pain and almost +unconscious. + +"They run! See how they run!" cried an officer. + +The words seemed to rouse the dying man. "Who run?" he asked eagerly, +but with feeble voice. + +"The enemy, sir. Egad, they give way everywhere!" + +"Go one of you, my lads," said Wolfe, "with all speed to Colonel +Burton, and tell him to march down to the St. Charles river and cut +off the retreat of the fugitives to the bridge." + +Those were almost his last words. Even as he lay dying this fine +officer thought of his duty and of his country. He turned on his +side, exclaimed, "God be praised, I now die in peace," and becoming +unconscious, he died within a few minutes. Wolfe had won fame indeed. +His last hours of life had been devoted to the welfare of his country, +and this crowning stroke had won Quebec, had wrecked the French power, +and given to England another colony, a gem which shines in our crown +as brightly as do any. Many and many a winter has come and gone since +Wolfe laid down his life on those Plains of Abraham, the maple leaf +has gladdened the eye with its wonderful autumn tints on many an +occasion, while thousands of our population have blessed the man who +helped to win us this fine province. Let England and her sons not +forget. It is to devoted heroes such as Wolfe and his officers and +soldiers that she owes in great part this flourishing empire over the +seas. + +Montcalm, the brave commander of the French, was also wounded on this +field, and died on the following morning. An obelisk stands now on +the heights of Quebec in honour of these two men who won renown on +the Plains of Abraham, and pays its tribute to their bravery in the +following lines: + + Mortem Virtus, Communem + Famam Historia, + Monumentum Posteritas + Dedit. + +Canada was won, but was not altogether in our hands, for Vaudreuil, +the French governor, still had many troops and irregulars, not to +mention the murdering Christian-Indians, at his beck and call, while +there were garrisons on Lake St. George, and at Niagara and other +forts during this summer. However, Prideaux marched against the last, +and the place was taken, while Amherst, ascending Lake St. George, +found Ticonderoga deserted and blown up, and Crown Point destitute +of troops. The following year brought an attack on Quebec, then +garrisoned by English, who were for a time in desperate plight. But a +fleet ascended the river, and relieved them, while Amherst appeared +upon the scene, took his troops to Montreal, and so overawed the +French that they capitulated. + +To describe all these actions, to tell of the gallant doings of +our soldiers and the daring enterprises of Rogers and many another +backwoods hero would be to occupy more space than is available. We are +more concerned with the doings of Steve Mainwaring, now a captain in +the British army, a post he had won by his gallantry. He fought his +way with his old comrades right through this eventful campaign, and in +the end returned to that settlement from which Jules Lapon had driven +him. As to Lapon, his strange enmity was explained by Mr. Mainwaring +on that very morning after Jim had struggled with the Frenchman and +had tossed him to the bottom of the famous Anse du Foulon. + +"He is gone, Steve," he said. "Let us speak well of the dead, whatever +his faults. This misguided young man had a grudge against you and me, +a grudge which must have caused him many an hour of bitterness. He was +a connection of yours." + +"A connection?" Steve lifted his head in astonishment. He knew well +that his mother had been French, but to hear that through her he was +related to this Jules Lapon was astounding. + +"Yes, a connection," said Mr. Mainwaring. "Listen, lad. Your father is +the eldest son of a wealthy man living in England, a proud gentleman +who had his own aims and views for his son. He had arranged, when I +was only a boy, that I should marry the daughter of his old friend. +I travelled, and in due course spent some months in France. There I +met your mother and married her, much to my father's indignation. +He disowned me after settling a sum of money on me so that I should +not starve. As to your mother's parents, they were pleased with our +union, I believe, but not so a Monsieur Lapon, your mother's cousin, +and father of this unfortunate Jules. He was older than I, and for +years had been the accepted suitor. My marriage to your mother raised +his hate and anger, and for years he attempted to do me an injury. He +sailed for Canada, for he was a poor man, while I made for America. +There he discovered me, and before he died he set his son on my track. +There, my boy, the mystery is explained. Had this Monsieur Lapon been +wedded to your mother he would have been a rich man. Yes, rich, for +her father left her a big property. That will be yours, Steve, when I +am gone." + +Steve took his pipe and went away to think over the matter. His +father's conversation had cleared up a mystery which had often +troubled him. Now he understood why at times his father found need +to absent himself. He had to go to France to look to the welfare of +this property which had come to him through his wife. And now, too, he +gathered why this unfortunate young Jules had followed him so often, +and with such bitterness. He was a disappointed man, who considered +that this English family had filched wealth from his own. + +"And in the end his strange bitterness brought about his downfall," +thought Steve. "He would have done better had he left us alone, and +settled peacefully in the country. But there. I know now why he had a +spite against me, and I forgive him." + +In the course of years Mr. Mainwaring died, and Steve found himself +a rich man, the owner of many broad acres in America, and of more in +France and in England. But he never left his native country. The charm +of the backwoods held him a prisoner, while he could never forsake Jim +and Mac and Pete and many another trapper, now grown old and feeble +and dependent upon him. The storm of the American revolution, which +lost us one of our finest possessions, passed over his head like a +huge rumbling cloud, leaving him unharmed. For he remained a neutral, +in spite of threats and fines, declining to fight against his old +comrades-in-arms, though he was conscious that his fellow-colonists +had many grievances. When that struggle was ended, Steve made his way +up those historic lakes, St. George and Champlain, found the hillock +which he and Jim and their comrades had defended, and fought his +battles over again. That zig-zag path up the face of the ridge at +Quebec attracted his attention, and he clambered to the summit of the +Anse du Foulon. His steps took him to that spot where the gallant soul +of Wolfe had departed, and once again he saw the triple line of the +English, heard the roar of their double-shotted weapons, and watched +the charge of those gallant fellows. He was a lad again. The years +which had flown past since those momentous times were bridged for the +moment, and once again he was Captain Steve Mainwaring, fighting for a +noble cause, the friend and leader of a gallant band of trappers and +redskins. + + * * * * * + +[Transcriber's Notes: + +The transcriber made these changes to the text to correct obvious +errors: + + 1. p. 120, "If all is right, --> If all is right, + 2. p. 127, embarassment --> embarrassment + 3. p. 136, separted --> separated + 4. p. 184, tree." --> tree. + 5. p. 229, "We will return --> We will return + 6. p. 281, Levis --> Lévis + 7. p. 300, own friends again. --> own friends again." + 8. p. 372, Levis --> Lévis + 9. p. 374, Levis --> Lévis + 10. p. 382, Levis --> Lévis + +End of Transcriber's Notes] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of How Canada was Won, by F. S. Brereton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43364 *** |