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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4911-h.zip b/4911-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4851d63 --- /dev/null +++ b/4911-h.zip diff --git a/4911-h/4911-h.htm b/4911-h/4911-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..158ea06 --- /dev/null +++ b/4911-h/4911-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7914 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Wacousta—Volume 3, by John Richardson +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac +Conspiracy--Volume 3, by John Richardson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy--Volume 3 + +Author: John Richardson + +Posting Date: September 6, 2009 [EBook #4911] +Release Date: January, 2004 +First Posted: March 25, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA--VOLUME 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks +and the distributed proofers. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WACOUSTA; +</H1> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> + or +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PROPHECY. +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Volume Three of Three +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +John Richardson +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="50%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0301">I</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0302">II</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0303">III</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0304">IV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0305">V</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0306">VI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="14%"> +<A HREF="#chap0307">VII</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0308">VIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0309">IX</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0310">X</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0311">XI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0312">XII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0313">XIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap0314">XIV</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0301"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<P> +The night passed away without further event on board the schooner, yet +in all the anxiety that might be supposed incident to men so perilously +situated. Habits of long-since acquired superstition, too powerful to +be easily shaken off, moreover contributed to the dejection of the +mariners, among whom there were not wanting those who believed the +silent steersman was in reality what their comrade had represented,—an +immaterial being, sent from the world of spirits to warn them of some +impending evil. What principally gave weight to this impression were +the repeated asseverations of Fuller, during the sleepless night passed +by all on deck, that what he had seen was no other, could be no other, +than a ghost! exhibiting in its hueless, fleshless cheek, the +well-known lineaments of one who was supposed to be no more: and, if +the story of their comrade had needed confirmation among men in whom +faith in, rather than love for, the marvellous was a constitutional +ingredient, the terrible effect that seemed to have been produced on +Captain de Haldimar by the same mysterious visitation would have been +more than conclusive. The very appearance of the night, too, favoured +the delusion. The heavens, comparatively clear at the moment when the +canoe approached the vessel, became suddenly enveloped in the deepest +gloom at its departure, as if to enshroud the course of those who, +having so mysteriously approached, had also so unaccountably +disappeared. Nor had this threatening state of the atmosphere the +counterbalancing advantage of storm and tempest to drive them onward +through the narrow waters of the Sinclair, and enable them, by +anticipating the pursuit of their enemies, to shun the Scylla and +Charybdis that awaited their more leisure advance. The wind increased +not; and the disappointed seamen remarked, with dismay, that their +craft scarcely made more progress than at the moment when she first +quitted her anchorage. +</P> + +<P> +It was now near the first hours of day; and although, perhaps, none +slept, there were few who were not apparently at rest, and plunged in +the most painful reflections. Still occupying her humble couch, and +shielded from the night air merely by the cloak that covered her own +blood-stained garments, lay the unhappy Clara, her deep groans and +stifled sobs bursting occasionally from her pent-up heart, and falling +on the ears of the mariners like sounds of fearful import, produced by +the mysterious agency that already bore such undivided power over their +thoughts. On the bare deck, at her side, lay her brother, his face +turned upon the planks, as if to shut out all objects from eyes he had +not the power to close; and, with one arm supporting his heavy brow, +while the other, cast around the restless form of his beloved sister, +seemed to offer protection and to impart confidence, even while his +lips denied the accents of consolation. Seated on an empty hen-coop at +their head, was Sir Everard Valletort, his back reposing against the +bulwarks of the vessel, his arms folded across his chest, and his eyes +bent mechanically on the man at the helm, who stood within a few paces +of him,—an attitude of absorption, which he, ever and anon, changed to +one of anxious and enquiring interest, whenever the agitation of Clara +was manifested in the manner already shown. +</P> + +<P> +The main deck and forecastle of the vessel presented a similar picture +of mingled unquietness and repose. Many of the seamen might be seen +seated on the gun-carriages, with their cheeks pressing the rude metal +that served them for a pillow. Others lay along the decks, with their +heads resting on the elevated hatches; while not a few, squatted on +their haunches with their knees doubled up to their very chins, +supported in that position the aching head that rested between their +rough and horny palms. A first glance might have induced the belief +that all were buried in the most profound slumber; but the quick +jerking of a limb,—the fitful, sudden shifting of a position,—the +utter absence of that deep breathing which indicates the +unconsciousness of repose, and the occasional spirting of tobacco juice +upon the deck,—all these symptoms only required to be noticed, to +prove the living silence that reigned throughout was not born either of +apathy or sleep. +</P> + +<P> +At the gangway at which the canoe had approached now stood the +individual already introduced to our readers as Jack Fuller. The same +superstitious terror that caused his flight had once more attracted him +to the spot where the subject of his alarm first appeared to him; and, +without seeming to reflect that the vessel, in her slow but certain +progress, had left all vestige of the mysterious visitant behind, he +continued gazing over the bulwarks on the dark waters, as if he +expected at each moment to find his sight stricken by the same +appalling vision. It was at the moment when he had worked up his +naturally dull imagination to its highest perception of the +supernatural, that he was joined by the rugged boatswain, who had +passed the greater part of the night in pacing up and down the decks, +watching the aspect of the heavens, and occasionally tauting a rope or +squaring a light yard, unassisted, as the fluttering of the canvass in +the wind rendered the alteration necessary. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Jack!" bluntly observed the latter in a gruff whisper that +resembled the suppressed growling of a mastiff, "what the hell are ye +thinking of now?—Not got over your flumbustification yet, that ye +stand here, looking as sanctified as an old parson!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell ye what it is, Mr. Mullins," returned the sailor, in the +same key; "you may make as much game on me as you like; but these here +strange sort of doings are somehow quizzical; and, though I fears +nothing in the shape of flesh and blood, still, when it comes to having +to do with those as is gone to Davy Jones's locker like, it gives a +fellow an all-overishness as isn't quite the thing. You understand me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm damned if I do!" was the brief but energetic rejoinder. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then," continued Fuller, "if I must out with it, I must. I think +that 'ere Ingian must have been the devil, or how could he come so +sudden and unbeknownst upon me, with the head of a 'possum: and then, +agin, how could he get away from the craft without our seeing him? and +how came the ghost on board of the canoe?" +</P> + +<P> +"Avast there, old fellow; you means not the head of a 'possum, but a +beaver: but that 'ere's all nat'r'l enough, and easily 'counted for; +but you hav'n't told us whose ghost it was, after all." +</P> + +<P> +"No; the captain made such a spring to the gunwale, as frighted it all +out of my head: but come closer, Mr. Mullins, and I'll whisper it in +your ear.—Hark! what was that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hears nothing," said the boatswain, after a pause. +</P> + +<P> +"It's very odd," continued Fuller; "but I thought as how I heard it +several times afore you came." +</P> + +<P> +"There's something wrong, I take it, in your upper story, Jack Fuller," +coolly observed his companion; "that 'ere ghost has quite capsized you." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark, again!" repeated the sailor. "Didn't you hear it then? A sort of +a groan like." +</P> + +<P> +"Where, in what part?" calmly demanded the boatswain, though in the +same suppressed tone in which the dialogue had been, carried on. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, from the canoe that lies alongside there. I heard it several +times afore." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, damn my eyes, if you a'rn't turned a real coward at last," +politely remarked Mr. Mullins. "Can't the poor fat devil of a Canadian +snooze a bit in his hammock, without putting you so completely out of +your reckoning?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Canadian—the Canadian!" hurriedly returned Fuller: "why, don't +you see him there, leaning with his back to the main-mast, and as fast +asleep as if the devil himself couldn't wake him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then it was the devil, you heard, if you like," quaintly retorted +Mullins: "but bear a hand, and tell us all about this here ghost." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark, again! what was that?" once more enquired the excited sailor. +</P> + +<P> +"Only a gust of wind passing through the dried boughs of the canoe," +said the boatswain: "but since we can get nothing out of that crazed +noddle of yours, see if you can't do something with your hands. That +'ere canoe running alongside, takes half a knot off the ship's way. +Bear a hand then, and cast off the painter, and let her drop astarn, +that she may follow in our wake. Hilloa! what the hell's the matter +with the man now?" +</P> + +<P> +And well might he ask. With his eyeballs staring, his teeth chattering, +his body half bent, and his arms thrown forward, yet pendent as if +suddenly arrested in that position while in the act of reaching the +rope, the terrified sailor stood gazing on the stern of the canoe; in +which, by the faint light of the dawning day, was to be seen an object +well calculated to fill the least superstitious heart with terror and +dismay. Through an opening in the foliage peered the pale and spectral +face of a human being, with its dull eyes bent fixedly and mechanically +upon the vessel. In the centre of the wan forehead was a dark +incrustation, as of blood covering the superficies of a newly closed +wound. The pallid mouth was partially unclosed, so as to display a row +of white and apparently lipless teeth; and the features were otherwise +set and drawn, as those of one who is no longer of earth. Around the +head was bound a covering so close, as to conceal every part save the +face; and once or twice a hand was slowly raised, and pressed upon the +blood spot that dimmed the passing fairness of the brow. Every other +portion of the form was invisible. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord have mercy upon us!" exclaimed the boatswain, in a voice that, +now elevated to more than its natural tone, sounded startlingly on the +stillness of the scene; "sure enough it is, indeed, a ghost!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! do you believe me now?" returned Fuller, gaining confidence from +the admission of his companion, and in the same elevated key. "It is, +as I hope to be saved, the ghost I see'd afore." +</P> + +<P> +The commotion on deck was now every where universal. The sailors +started to their feet, and, with horror and alarm visibly imprinted on +their countenances, rushed tumultuously towards the dreaded gangway. +</P> + +<P> +"Make way—room, fellows!" exclaimed a hurried voice; and presently +Captain de Haldimar, who had bounded like lightning from the deck, +appeared with eager eye and excited cheek among them. To leap into the +bows of the canoe, and disappear under the foliage, was the work of a +single instant. All listened breathlessly for the slightest sound; and +then every heart throbbed with the most undefinable emotions, as his +lips were heard giving utterance to the deep emotion of his own +spirit,— +</P> + +<P> +"Madeline, oh, my own lost Madeline!" he exclaimed with almost frantic +energy of passion: "do I then press you once more in madness to my +doting heart? Speak, speak to me—for God's sake speak, or I shall go +mad! Air, air,—she wants air only—she cannot be dead." +</P> + +<P> +These last words were succeeded by the furious rending asunder of the +fastenings that secured the boughs, and presently the whole went +overboard, leaving revealed the tall and picturesque figure of the +officer; whose left arm encircled while it supported the reclining and +powerless form of one who well resembled, indeed, the spectre for which +she had been mistaken, while his right hand was busied in detaching the +string that secured a portion of the covering round her throat. At +length it fell from her shoulders; and the well known form of Madeline +de Haldimar, clad even in the vestments in which they had been wont to +see her, met the astonished gaze of the excited seamen. Still there +were some who doubted it was the corporeal woman whom they beheld; and +several of the crew who were catholics even made the sign of the cross +as the supposed spirit was now borne up the gangway in the arms of the +pained yet gratified De Haldimar: nor was it until her feet were seen +finally resting on the deck, that Jack Fuller could persuade himself it +was indeed Miss de Haldimar, and not her ghost, that lay clasped to the +heart of the officer. +</P> + +<P> +With the keen rush of the morning air upon her brow returned the +suspended consciousness of the bewildered Madeline. The blood came +slowly and imperceptibly to her cheek; and her eyes, hitherto glazed, +fixed, and inexpressive, looked enquiringly, yet with stupid +wonderment, around. She started from the embrace of her lover, gazed +alternately at his disguise, at himself, and at Clara; and then passing +her hand several times rapidly across her brow, uttered an hysteric +scream, and threw herself impetuously forward on the bosom of the +sobbing girl; who, with extended arms, parted lips, and heaving bosom, +sat breathlessly awaiting the first dawn of the returning reason of her +more than sister. +</P> + +<P> +We should vainly attempt to paint all the heart-rending misery of the +scene exhibited in the gradual restoration of Miss de Haldimar to her +senses. From a state of torpor, produced by the freezing of every +faculty into almost idiocy, she was suddenly awakened to all the +terrors of the past and the deep intonations of her rich voice were +heard only in expressions of agony, that entered into the most +iron-hearted of the assembled seamen; while they drew from the bosom of +her gentle and sympathising cousin fresh bursts of desolating grief. +Imagination itself would find difficulty in supplying the harrowing +effect upon all, when, with upraised hands, and on her bended knees, +her large eyes turned wildly up to heaven, she invoked in deep and +startling accents the terrible retribution of a just God on the inhuman +murderers of her father, with whose life-blood her garments were +profusely saturated; and then, with hysteric laughter, demanded why she +alone had been singled out to survive the bloody tragedy. Love and +affection, hitherto the first principles of her existence, then found +no entrance into her mind. Stricken, broken-hearted, stultified to all +feeling save that of her immediate wretchedness, she thought only of +the horrible scenes through which she had passed; and even he, whom at +another moment she could have clasped in an agony of fond tenderness to +her beating bosom,—he to whom she had pledged her virgin faith, and +was bound by the dearest of human ties,—he whom she had so often +longed to behold once more, and had thought of, the preceding day, with +all the tenderness of her impassioned and devoted soul,—even he did +not, in the first hours of her terrible consciousness, so much as +command a single passing regard. All the affections were for a period +blighted in her bosom. She seemed as one devoted, without the power of +resistance, to a grief which calcined and preyed upon all other +feelings of the mind. One stunning and annihilating reflection seemed +to engross every principle of her being; nor was it for hours after she +had been restored to life and recollection that a deluge of burning +tears, giving relief to her heart and a new direction to her feelings, +enabled her at length to separate the past from, and in some degree +devote herself to, the present. Then, indeed, for the first time did +she perceive and take pleasure in the presence of her lover; and +clasping her beloved and weeping Clara to her heart, thank her God, in +all the fervour of true piety, that she at least had been spared to +shed a ray of comfort on her distracted spirit. But we will not pain +the reader by dwelling on a scene that drew tears even from the rugged +and flint-nerved boatswain himself; for, although we should linger on +it with minute anatomical detail, no powers of language we possess +could convey the transcript as it should be. Pass we on, therefore, to +the more immediate incidents of our narrative. +</P> + +<P> +The day now rapidly developing, full opportunity was afforded the +mariners to survey the strict nature of their position. To all +appearance they were yet in the middle of the lake, for around them lay +the belting sweep of forest that bounded the perspective of the +equidistant circle, of which their bark was the focus or immediate +centre. The wind was dying gradually away, and when at length the sun +rose, in all his splendour, there was scarce air enough in the heavens +to keep the sails from flapping against the masts, or to enable the +vessel to obey her helm. In vain was the low and peculiar whistle of +the seamen heard, ever and anon, in invocation of the departing breeze. +Another day, calm and breathless as the preceding, had been chartered +from the world of light; and their hearts failed them, as they foresaw +the difficulty of their position, and the almost certainty of their +retreat being cut off. It was while labouring under the disheartening +consciousness of danger, peculiar to all, that the anxious boatswain +summoned Captain de Haldimar and Sir Everard Valletort, by a +significant beck of the finger, to the side of the deck opposite to +that on which still lay the suffering and nearly broken-hearted girls. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Mullins, what now?" enquired the former, as he narrowly scanned +the expression of the old man's features: "that clouded brow of yours, +I fear me, bodes no agreeable information." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, your honour, I scarcely knows what to say about it; but seeing as +I'm the only officer in the ship, now our poor captain is killed, God +bless him! I thought I might take the liberty to consult with your +honours as to the best way of getting out of the jaws of them sharks of +Ingians; and two heads, as the saying is, is always better than one." +</P> + +<P> +"And now you have the advantage of three," observed the officer, with a +sickly smile; "but I fear, Mullins, that if your own be not sufficient +for the purpose, ours will be of little service. You must take counsel +from your own experience and knowledge of nautical matters." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, to be sure, your honour," and the sailor rolled his quid from one +cheek to the other, "I think I may say as how I'll venture to steer the +craft with any man on the Canada lakes, and bring her safe into port +too; but seeing as how I'm only a petty officer, and not yet +recommended by his worship the governor for the full command, I thought +it but right to consult with my superiors, not as to the management of +the craft, but the best as is to be done. What does your honour think +of making for the high land over the larboard bow yonder, and waiting +for the chance of the night-breeze to take us through the Sinclair?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do whatever you think best," returned the officer. "For my part, I +scarcely can give an opinion. Yet how are we to get there? There does +not appear to be a breath of wind." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's easily managed; we have only to brail and furl up a little, +to hide our cloth from the Ingians, and then send the boats a-head to +tow the craft, while some of us lend a hand at her own sweeps. We shall +get close under the lee of the land afore night, and then we must pull +up agin along shore, until we get within a mile or so of the head of +the river." +</P> + +<P> +"But shall we not be seen by our enemies?" asked Sir Everard; "and will +they not be on the watch for our movements, and intercept our retreat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Now that's just the thing, your honour, as they're not likely to do, +if so be as we bears away for yon headlands. I knows every nook and +sounding round the lake; and odd enough if I didn't, seeing as how the +craft circumnavigated it, at least, a dozen times since we have been +cooped up here. Poor Captain Danvers! (may the devil damn his +murderers, I say, though it does make a commander of me for once;) he +used always to make for that 'ere point, whenever he wished to lie +quiet; for never once did we see so much as a single Ingian on the +headland. No, your honour, they keeps all at t'other side of the lake, +seeing as how that is the main road from Mackina' to Detroit." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, by all means, do so," eagerly returned Captain de Haldimar. "Oh, +Mullins! take us but safely through, and if the interest of my father +can procure you a king's commission, you shall not want it, believe me." +</P> + +<P> +"And if half my fortune can give additional stimulus to exertion, it +shall be shared, with pleasure, between yourself and crew," observed +Sir Everard. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank your honours,—thank your honours," said the boatswain, somewhat +electrified by these brilliant offers. "The lads may take the money, if +they like; all I cares about is the king's commission. Give me but a +swab on my shoulder, and the money will come fast enough of itself. +But, still, shiver my topsails, if I wants any bribery to make me do my +duty; besides, if 'twas only for them poor girls alone, I would go +through fire and water to sarve them. I'm not very chicken-hearted in +my old age, your honours, but I don't recollect the time when I +blubbered so much as I did when Miss Madeline come aboard. But I can't +bear to think of it; and now let us see and get all ready for towing." +</P> + +<P> +Every thing now became bustle and activity on board the schooner. The +matches, no longer required for the moment, were extinguished, and the +heavy cutlasses and pistols unbuckled from the loins of the men, and +deposited near their respective guns. Light forms flew aloft, and, +standing out upon the yards, loosely furled the sails that had +previously been hauled and clewed up; but, as this was an operation +requiring little time in so small a vessel, those who were engaged in +it speedily glided to the deck again, ready for a more arduous service. +The boats had, meanwhile, been got forward, and into these the sailors +sprang, with an alacrity that could scarcely have been expected from +men who had passed not only the preceding night, but many before it, in +utter sleeplessness and despair. But the imminence of the danger, and +the evident necessity existing for exertion, aroused them to new +energy; and the hitherto motionless vessel was now made to obey the +impulse given by the tow ropes of the boats, in a manner that proved +their crews to have entered on their toil with the determination of +men, resolved to devote themselves in earnest to their task. Nor was +the spirit of action confined to these. The long sweeps of the schooner +had been shipped, and such of the crew as remained on board laboured +effectually at them,—a service, in which they were essentially aided, +not only by mine host of the Fleur de lis, but by the young officers +themselves. +</P> + +<P> +At mid-day the headlands were seen looming largely in the distance, +while the immediate shores of the ill-fated fortress were momentarily, +and in the same proportion, disappearing under the dim line of horizon +in the rear. More than half their course, from the spot whence they +commenced towing, had been completed, when the harassed men were made +to quit their oars, in order to partake of the scanty fare of the +vessel, consisting chiefly of dried bear's meat and venison. Spirit of +any description they had none; but, unlike their brethren of the +Atlantic, when driven to extremities in food, they knew not what it was +to poison the nutritious properties of the latter by sipping the putrid +dregs of the water-cask, in quantities scarce sufficient to quench the +fire of their parched palates. Unslaked thirst was a misery unknown to +the mariners of these lakes: it was but to cast their buckets deep into +the tempting element, and water, pure, sweet, and grateful as any that +ever bubbled from the moss-clad fountain of sylvan deity, came cool and +refreshing to their lips, neutralising, in a measure, the crudities of +the coarsest food. It was to this inestimable advantage the crew of the +schooner had been principally indebted for their health, during the +long series of privation, as far as related to fresh provisions and +rest, to which they had been subjected. All appeared as vigorous in +frame, and robust in health, as at the moment when they had last +quitted the waters of the Detroit; and but for the inward sinking of +the spirit, reflected in many a bronzed and furrowed brow, there was +little to show they had been exposed to any very extraordinary trials. +</P> + +<P> +Their meal having been hastily dispatched, and sweetened by a draught +from the depths of the Huron, the seamen once more sprang into their +boats, and devoted themselves, heart and soul, to the completion of +their task, pulling with a vigour that operated on each and all with a +tendency to encouragement and hope. At length the vessel, still +impelled by her own sweeps, gradually approached the land; and at +rather more than an hour before sunset was so near that the moment was +deemed arrived when, without danger of being perceived, she might be +run up along the shore to the point alluded to by the boatswain. Little +more than another hour was occupied in bringing her to her station; and +the red tints of departing day were still visible in the direction of +the ill-fated fortress of Michilimackinac, when the sullen rumbling of +the cable, following the heavy splash of the anchor, announced the +place of momentary concealment had been gained. +</P> + +<P> +The anchorage lay between two projecting headlands; to the outermost +extremities of which were to be seen, overhanging the lake, the stately +birch and pine, connected at their base by an impenetrable brushwood, +extending to the very shore, and affording the amplest concealment, +except from the lake side and the banks under which the schooner was +moored. From the first quarter, however, little danger was incurred, as +any canoes the savages might send in discovery of their course, must +unavoidably be seen the moment they appeared over the line of the +horizon, while, on the contrary, their own vessel, although much +larger, resting on and identified with the land, must be invisible, +except on a very near approach. In the opposite direction they were +equally safe; for, as Mullins had truly remarked, none, save a few +wandering hunters, whom chance occasionally led to the spot, were to be +met with in a part of the country that lay so completely out of the +track of communication between the fortresses. It was, however, but to +double the second headland in their front, and they came within view of +the Sinclair, the head of which was situated little more than a league +beyond the spot where they now lay. Thus secure for the present, and +waiting only for the rising of the breeze, of which the setting sun had +given promise, the sailors once more snatched their hasty refreshment, +while two of their number were sent aloft to keep a vigilant look-out +along the circuit embraced by the enshrouding headlands. +</P> + +<P> +During the whole of the day the cousins had continued on deck clasped +in each other's arms, and shedding tears of bitterness, and heaving the +most heart-rending sobs at intervals, yet but rarely conversing. The +feelings of both were too much oppressed to admit of the utterance of +their grief. The vampire of despair had banqueted on their hearts. +Their vitality had been sucked, as it were, by its cold and bloodless +lips; and little more than the withered rind, that had contained the +seeds of so many affections, had been left. Often had Sir Everard and +De Haldimar paused momentarily from the labour of their oars, to cast +an eye of anxious solicitude on the scarcely conscious girls, wishing, +rather than expecting, to find the violence of their desolation abated, +and that, in the full expansion of unreserved communication, they were +relieving their sick hearts from the terrible and crushing weight of +woe that bore them down. Captain de Haldimar had even once or twice +essayed to introduce the subject himself, in the hope that some fresh +paroxysm, following their disclosures, would remove the horrible +stupefaction of their senses; but the wild look and excited manner of +Madeline, whenever he touched on the chord of her affliction, had as +often caused him to desist. +</P> + +<P> +Towards the evening, however, her natural strength of character came in +aid of his quiescent efforts to soothe her; and she appeared not only +more composed, but more sensible of the impression produced by +surrounding objects. As the last rays of the sun were tinging the +horizon, she drew up her form in a sitting position against the +bulwarks, and, raising her clasped hands to heaven, while her eyes were +bent long and fixedly on the distant west, appeared for some minutes +wholly lost in that attitude of absorption. Then she closed her eyes; +and through the swollen lids came coursing, one by one, over her +quivering cheek, large tears, that seemed to scald a furrow where they +passed. After this she became more calm—her respiration more free; and +she even consented to taste the humble meal which the young man now +offered for the third time. Neither Clara nor herself had eaten food +since the preceding morning; and the weakness of their frames +contributed not a little to the increasing despondency of their +spirits; but, notwithstanding several attempts previously made, they +had rejected what was offered them, with insurmountable loathing. When +they had now swallowed a few morsels of the sliced venison ham, +prepared with all the delicacy the nearly exhausted resources of the +vessel could supply, accompanied by a small portion of the cornbread of +the Canadian, Captain de Haldimar prevailed on them to swallow a few +drops of the spirit that still remained in the canteen given them by +Erskine on their departure from Detroit. The genial liquid sent a +kindling glow to their chilled hearts, and for a moment deadened the +pungency of their anguish; and then it was that Miss de Haldimar +entered briefly on the horrors she had witnessed, while Clara, with her +arm encircling her waist, fixed her dim and swollen eyes, from which a +tear ever and anon rolled heavily to her lap, on those of her beloved +cousin. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0302"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<P> +Without borrowing the affecting language of the unhappy girl—a +language rendered even more touching by the peculiar pathos of her +tones, and the searching agony of spirit that burst at intervals +through her narrative—we will merely present our readers with a brief +summary of what was gleaned from her melancholy disclosure. On bearing +her cousin to the bedroom, after the terrifying yell first heard from +without the fort, she had flown down the front stairs of the +blockhouse, in the hope of reaching the guardroom in time to acquaint +Captain Baynton with what she and Clara had witnessed from their +window. Scarcely, however, had she gained the exterior of the building, +when she saw that officer descending from a point of the rampart +immediately on her left, and almost in a line with the block-house. He +was running to overtake and return the ball of the Indian players, +which had, at that moment, fallen into the centre of the fort, and was +now rolling rapidly away from the spot on which Miss de Haldimar stood. +The course of the ball led the pursuing officer out of the reach of her +voice; and it was not until he had overtaken and thrown it again over +the rampart, she could succeed in claiming his attention. No sooner, +however, had he heard her hurried statement, than, without waiting to +take the orders of his commanding officer, he prepared to join his +guard, and give directions for the immediate closing of the gates. But +the opportunity was now lost. The delay occasioned by the chase and +recovery of the ball had given the Indians time to approach the gates +in a body, while the unsuspicious soldiery looked on without so much as +dreaming to prevent them; and Captain Baynton had scarcely moved +forward in execution of his purpose, when the yelling fiends were seen +already possessing themselves of the drawbridge, and exhibiting every +appearance of fierce hostility. Wild, maddened at the sight, the almost +frantic Madeline, alive only to her father's danger, rushed back +towards the council-room, whence the startling yell from without had +already been echoed, and where the tramp of feet, and the clashing of +weapons, were distinguishable. +</P> + +<P> +Cut off from his guard, by the rapid inundation of warriors, Captain +Baynton had at once seen the futility of all attempts to join the men, +and his first impression evidently had been to devote himself to the +preservation of the cousins. With this view he turned hastily to Miss +de Haldimar, and hurriedly naming the back staircase of the +block-house, urged her to direct her flight to that quarter. But the +excited girl had neither consideration nor fear for herself; she +thought only of her father: and, even while the fierceness of contest +was at its height within, she suddenly burst into the council-room. The +confusion and horror of the scene that met her eyes no language can +render: blood was flowing in every direction, and dying and dead +officers, already stripped of their scalps, were lying strewed about +the room. Still the survivors fought with all the obstinacy of despair, +and many of the Indians had shared the fate of their victims. Miss de +Haldimar attempted to reach her father, then vigorously combating with +one of the most desperate of the chiefs; but, before she could dart +through the intervening crowd, a savage seized her by the hair, and +brandished a tomahawk rapidly over her neck. At that moment Captain +Baynton sent his glittering blade deep into the heart of the Indian, +who, relinquishing his grasp, fell dead at the feet of his intended +victim. The devoted officer then threw his left arm round her waist, +and, parrying with his sword-arm the blows of those who sought to +intercept his flight, dragged his reluctant burden towards the door. +Hotly pressed by the remaining officers, nearly equal in number, the +Indians were now compelled to turn and defend themselves in front, when +Captain Baynton took that opportunity of getting once more into the +corridor, not, however, without having received a severe wound +immediately behind the right ear, and leaving a skirt and lappel of his +uniform in the hands of two savages who had successively essayed to +detain him. At that moment the band without had succeeded in forcing +open the door of the guard-room; and the officer saw, at a glance, +there was little time left for decision. In hurried and imploring +accents he besought Miss de Haldimar to forget every thing but her own +danger, and to summon resolution to tear herself from the scene: but +prayer and entreaty, and even force, were alike employed in vain. +Clinging firmly to the rude balustrades, she refused to be led up the +staircase, and wildly resisting all his efforts to detach her hands, +declared she would again return to the scene of death, in which her +beloved parent was so conspicuous an actor. While he was yet engaged in +this fruitless attempt to force her from the spot, the door of the +council-room was suddenly burst open, and a group of bleeding officers, +among whom was Major de Haldimar, followed by their yelling enemies, +rushed wildly into the passage, and, at the very foot of the stairs +where they yet stood, the combat was renewed. From that moment Miss de +Haldimar lost sight of her generous protector. Meanwhile the tumult of +execrations, and groans, and yells, was at its height; and one by one +she saw the unhappy officers sink beneath weapons yet reeking with the +blood of their comrades, until not more than three or four, including +her father and the commander of the schooner, were left. At length +Major de Haldimar, overcome by exertion, and faint from wounds, while +his wild eye darted despairingly on his daughter, had his sword-arm +desperately wounded, when the blade dropped to the earth, and a dozen +weapons glittered above his head. The wild shriek that had startled +Clara then burst from the agonised heart of her maddened cousin, and +she darted forward to cover her father's head with her arms. But her +senses failed her in the attempt; and the last thing she recollected +was falling over the weltering form of Middleton, who pressed her, as +she lay there, in the convulsive energy of death, to his almost +pulseless heart. +</P> + +<P> +A vague consciousness of being raised from the earth, and borne rapidly +through the air, came over her even in the midst of her insensibility, +but without any definite perception of the present, or recollection of +the past, until she suddenly, when about midway between the fort and +the point of wood that led to Chabouiga, opened her eyes, and found +herself in the firm grasp of an Indian, whose features, even in the +hasty and fearful glance she cast at the countenance, she fancied were +not unfamiliar to her. Not another human being was to be seen in the +clearing at that moment; for all the savages, including even the women +assembled outside, were now within the fort assisting in the complex +horrors of murder, fire, and spoliation. In the wild energy of +returning reason and despair, the wretched girl struggled violently to +free herself; and so far with success, that the Indian, whose strength +was evidently fast failing him, was compelled to quit his hold, and +suffer her to walk. No sooner did Miss de Haldimar feel her feet +touching the ground, when she again renewed her exertions to free +herself, and return to the fort; but the Indian held her firmly secured +by a leathern thong he now attached to her waist, and every attempt +proved abortive. He was evidently much disconcerted at her resistance; +and more than once she expected, and almost hoped, the tomahawk at his +side would be made to revenge him for the test to which his patience +was subjected; but Miss de Haldimar looked in vain for the expression +of ferocity and impatience that might have been expected from him at +such a moment. There was an air of mournfulness, and even kindness, +mingled with severity, on his smooth brow that harmonised ill with the +horrible atrocities in which he had, to all appearance, covered as he +was with blood, been so recent and prominent an actor. The Indian +remarked her surprise; and then looking hurriedly, yet keenly, around, +and finding no living being near them, suddenly tore the shirt from his +chest, and emphatically pronouncing the names "Oucanasta," "De +Haldimar," disclosed to the still struggling captive the bosom of a +woman. After which, pointing in the direction of the wood, and finally +towards Detroit, she gave Miss de Haldimar to understand that was the +course intended to be pursued. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment the resistance of the latter ceased. She at once recognised +the young Indian woman whom her cousin had rescued from death: and +aware, as she was, of the strong attachment that had subsequently bound +her to her preserver, she was at no loss to understand how she might +have been led to devote herself to the rescue of one whom, it was +probable, she knew to be his affianced wife. Once, indeed, a suspicion +of a different nature crossed her mind; for the thought occurred to her +she had only been saved from the general doom to be made the victim of +private revenge—that it was only to glut the jealous vengeance of the +woman at a more deliberative hour, she had been made a temporary +captive. The apprehension, however, was no sooner formed than +extinguished. Bitterly, deeply as she had reason to abhor the treachery +and cunning of the dark race to which her captor belonged, there was an +expression of openness and sincerity, and even imploringness, in the +countenance of Oucanasta, which, added to her former knowledge of the +woman, at once set this fear at rest, inducing her to look upon her +rather in the character of a disinterested saviour, than in that of a +cruel and vindictive enemy, goaded on to the indulgence of malignant +hate by a spirit of rivalry and revenge. Besides, even were her +cruellest fears to be realised, what could await her worse than the +past? If she could even succeed in getting away, it would only be to +return upon certain death; and death only could await her, however +refined the tortures accompanying its infliction, in the event of her +quietly following and yielding herself up to the guidance of one who +offered this slight consolation, at least, that she was of her own sex. +But Miss de Haldimar was willing to attribute more generous motives to +the Indian; and fortified in her first impression, she signified by +signs, that seemed to be perfectly intelligible to her companion, she +appreciated her friendly intentions, and confided wholly in her. +</P> + +<P> +No longer checked in her efforts, Oucanasta now directed her course +towards the wood, still holding the thong that remained attached to +Miss de Haldimar's waist, probably with a view to deceive any +individuals from the villages on whom they might chance to fall, into a +belief that the English girl was in reality her prisoner. No sooner, +however, had they entered the depths of the forest, when, instead of +following the path that led to Chabouiga, Oucanasta took a direction to +the left, and then moving nearly on a parallel line with the course of +the lake, continued her flight as rapidly as the rude nature of the +underwood, and the unpractised feet of her companion, would permit. +They had travelled in this manner for upwards of four hours, without +meeting a breathing thing, or even so much as exchanging a sound +between themselves, when, at length, the Indian stopped at the edge of +a deep cavern-like excavation in the earth, produced by the tearing up, +by the wild tempest, of an enormous pine. Into this she descended, and +presently reappeared with several blankets, and two light painted +paddles. Then unloosing the thong from the waist of the exhausted girl, +she proceeded to disguise her in one of the blankets in the manner +already shown, securing it over the head, throat, and shoulders with +the badge of captivity, now no longer necessary for her purpose. She +then struck off at right angles from the course they had previously +pursued; and in less than twenty minutes both stood on the lake shore, +apparently at a great distance from the point whence they had +originally set out. The Indian gazed for a moment anxiously before her; +and then, with an exclamation, evidently meant to convey a sense of +pleasure and satisfaction, pointed forward upon the lake. Miss de +Haldimar followed, with eager and aching eyes, the direction of her +finger, and beheld the well-known schooner evidently urging her flight +towards the entrance of the Sinclair. Oh, how her sick heart seemed +ready to burst at that moment! When she had last gazed upon it was from +the window of her favourite apartment; and even while she held her +beloved Clara clasped fondly in her almost maternal embrace, she had +dared to indulge the fairest images that ever sprung into being at the +creative call of woman's fancy. How bitter had been the reverse! and +what incidents to fill up the sad volume of the longest life of sorrow +and bereavement had not Heaven awarded her in lieu! In one short hour +the weight of a thousand worlds had fallen on and crushed her heart; +and when and how was the panacea to be obtained to restore one moment's +cessation from suffering to her agonised spirit? Alas! she felt at that +moment, that, although she should live a thousand years, the bitterness +and desolation of her grief must remain. From the vessel she turned her +eyes away upon the distant shore, which it was fast quitting, and +beheld a column of mingled flame and smoke towering far above the +horizon, and attesting the universal wreck of what had so long been +endeared to her as her home. And she had witnessed all this, and yet +had strength to survive it! +</P> + +<P> +The courage of the unhappy girl had hitherto been sustained by no +effort of volition of her own. From the moment when, discovering a +friend in Oucanasta, she had yielded herself unresistingly to the +guidance of that generous creature, her feelings had been characterised +by an obtuseness strongly in contrast with the high excitement that had +distinguished her previous manner. A dreamy recollection of some past +horror, it is true, pursued her during her rapid and speechless flight; +but any analysis of the causes conducing to that horror, her subjugated +faculties were unable to enter upon. Even as one who, under the +influence of incipient slumber, rejects the fantastic images that rise +successively and indistinctly to the slothful brain, until, at length, +they weaken, fade, and gradually die away, leaving nothing but a +formless and confused picture of the whole; so was it with Miss de +Haldimar. Had she been throughout alive to the keen recollections +associated with her flight, she could not have stirred a foot in +furtherance of her own safety, even if she would. The mere instinct of +self-preservation would never have won one so truly devoted to the +generous purpose of her deliverer, had not the temporary stupefaction +of her mind prevented all desire of opposition. It is true, in the +moment of her discovery of the sex of Oucanasta, she had been able to +exercise her reflecting powers; but they were only in connection with +the present, and wholly abstract and separate from the past. She had +followed her conductor almost without consciousness, and with such deep +absorption of spirit, that she neither once conjectured whither they +were going, nor what was to be the final issue of their flight. But +now, when she stood on the lake shore, suddenly awakened, as if by some +startling spell, to every harrowing recollection, and with her +attention assisted by objects long endeared, and rendered familiar to +her gaze—when she beheld the vessel that had last borne her across the +still bosom of the Huron, fleeing for ever from the fortress where her +arrival had been so joyously hailed—when she saw that fortress itself +presenting the hideous spectacle of a blackened mass of ruins fast +crumbling into nothingness—when, in short, she saw nothing but what +reminded her of the terrific past, the madness of reason returned, and +the desolation of her heart was complete. And then, again, when she +thought of her generous, her brave, her beloved, and too unfortunate +father, whom she had seen perish at her feet—when she thought of her +own gentle Clara, and the sufferings and brutalities to which, if she +yet lived, she must inevitably be exposed, and of the dreadful fate of +the garrison altogether, the most menial of whom was familiar to her +memory, brought up, as she had been, among them from her +childhood—when she dwelt on all these things, a faintness, as of +death, came over her, and she sank without life on the beach. Of what +passed afterwards she had no recollection. She neither knew how she had +got into the canoe, nor what means the Indian had taken to secure her +approach to the schooner. She had no consciousness of having been +removed to the bark of the Canadian, nor did she even remember having +risen and gazed through the foliage on the vessel at her side; but she +presumed, the chill air of morning having partially restored pulsation, +she had moved instinctively from her recumbent position to the spot in +which her spectre-like countenance had been perceived by Fuller. The +first moment of her returning reason was that when, standing on the +deck of the schooner, she found herself so unexpectedly clasped to the +heart of her lover. +</P> + +<P> +Twilight had entirely passed away when Miss de Haldimar completed her +sad narrative; and already the crew, roused to exertion by the swelling +breeze, were once more engaged in weighing the anchor, and setting and +trimming the sails of the schooner, which latter soon began to shoot +round the concealing headland into the opening of the Sinclair. A +deathlike silence prevailed throughout the decks of the little bark, as +her bows, dividing the waters of the basin that formed its source, +gradually immerged into the current of that deep but narrow river; so +narrow, indeed, that from its centre the least active of the mariners +might have leaped without difficulty to either shore. This was the most +critical part of the dangerous navigation. With a wide sea-board, and +full command of their helm, they had nothing to fear; but so limited +was the passage of this river, it was with difficulty the yards and +masts of the schooner could be kept disengaged from the projecting +boughs of the dense forest that lined the adjacent shores to their very +junction with the water. The darkness of the night, moreover, while it +promised to shield them from the observation of the savages, +contributed greatly to perplex their movements; for such was the +abruptness with which the river wound itself round in various +directions, that it required a man constantly on the alert at the bows +to apprise the helmsman of the course he should steer, to avoid +collision with the shores. Canopies of weaving branches met in various +directions far above their heads, and through these the schooner glided +with a silence that might have called up the idea of a Stygian freight. +Meanwhile, the men stood anxiously to their guns, concealing the +matches in their water-buckets as before; and, while they strained both +ear and eye through the surrounding; gloom to discover the slightest +evidence of danger, grasped the handles of their cutlasses with a firm +hand, ready to unsheathe them at the first intimation of alarm. +</P> + +<P> +At the suggestion of the boatswain, who hinted at the necessity of +having cleared decks, Captain de Haldimar had prevailed on his +unfortunate relatives to retire to the small cabin arranged for their +reception; and here they were attended by an aged female, who had long +followed the fortunes of the crew, and acted in the twofold character +of laundress and sempstress. He himself, with Sir Everard, continued on +deck watching the progress of the vessel with an anxiety that became +more intense at each succeeding hour. Hitherto their course had been +unimpeded, save by the obstacles already enumerated; and they had now, +at about an hour before dawn, gained a point that promised a speedy +termination to their dangers and perplexities. Before them lay a reach +in the river, enveloped in more than ordinary gloom, produced by the +continuous weaving of the tops of the overhanging trees; and in the +perspective, a gleam of relieving light, denoting the near vicinity of +the lake that lay at the opposite extremity of the Sinclair, whose name +it also bore. This was the narrowest part of the river; and so +approximate were its shores, that the vessel in her course could not +fail to come in contact both with the obtruding foliage of the forest +and the dense bullrushes skirting the edge of either bank. +</P> + +<P> +"If we get safe through this here place," said the boatswain, in a +rough whisper to his anxious and attentive auditors, "I think as how +I'll venture to answer for the craft. I can see daylight dancing upon +the lake already. Ten minutes more and she will be there." Then turning +to the man at the helm,—"Keep her in the centre of the stream, Jim. +Don't you see you're hugging the weather shore?" +</P> + +<P> +"It would take the devil himself to tell which is the centre," growled +the sailor, in the same suppressed tone. "One might steer with one's +eyes shut in such a queer place as this and never be no worser off than +with them open." +</P> + +<P> +"Steady her helm, steady," rejoined Mullins, "it's as dark as pitch, to +be sure, but the passage is straight as an arrow, and with a steady +helm you can't miss it. Make for the light ahead." +</P> + +<P> +"Abaft there!" hurriedly and loudly shouted the man on the look-out at +the bows, "there's a tree lying across the river, and we're just upon +it." +</P> + +<P> +While he yet spoke, and before the boatswain could give such +instructions as the emergency required, the vessel suddenly struck +against the obstacle in question; but the concussion was not of the +violent nature that might have been anticipated. The course of the +schooner, at no one period particularly rapid, had been considerably +checked since her entrance into the gloomy arch, in the centre of which +her present accident had occurred; so that it was without immediate +injury to her hull and spars she had been thus suddenly brought to. But +this was not the most alarming part of the affair. Captain de Haldimar +and Sir Everard both recollected, that, in making the same passage, not +forty-eight hours previously, they had encountered no obstacle of the +kind, and a misgiving of danger rose simultaneously to the hearts of +each. It was, however, a thing of too common occurrence in these +countries, where storm and tempest were so prevalent and partial, to +create more than a mere temporary alarm; for it was quite as probable +the barrier had been interposed by some fitful outburst of Nature, as +that it arose from design on the part of their enemies: and when the +vessel had continued stationary for some minutes, without the prepared +and expectant crew discovering the slightest indication of attack, the +former impression was preserved by the officers—at least avowedly to +those around. +</P> + +<P> +"Bear a hand, my lads, and cut away," at length ordered the boatswain, +in a low but clear tone; "half a dozen at each end of the stick, and we +shall soon clear a passage for the craft." +</P> + +<P> +A dozen sailors grasped their axes, and hastened forward to execute the +command. They sprang lightly from the entangled bows of the schooner, +and diverging in equal numbers moved to either extremity of the fallen +tree. +</P> + +<P> +"This is sailing through the heart of the American forest with a +vengeance," muttered Mullins, whose annoyance at their detention was +strongly manifested as he paced up and down the deck. "Shiver my +topsails, if it isn't bad enough to clear the Sinclair at any time, +much more so when one's running for one's life, and not a whisper's +length from one's enemies. Do you know, Captain," abruptly checking his +movement, and familiarly placing his hand on the shoulder of De +Haldimar, "the last time we sailed through this very reach I couldn't +help telling poor Captain Danvers, God rest his soul, what a nice spot +it was for an Ingian ambuscade, if they had only gumption enough to +think of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Hark!" said the officer, whose heart, eye, and ear were painfully on +the alert, "what rustling is that we hear overhead?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's Jack Fuller, no doubt, your honour; I sent him up to clear away +the branches from the main topmast rigging." Then raising his head, and +elevating his voice, "Hilloa! aloft there!" +</P> + +<P> +The only answer was a groan, followed by a deeper commotion among the +rustling foliage. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, what the devil's the matter with you now, Jack?" pursued the +boatswain, in a voice of angry vehemence. "Are ye scared at another +ghost, and be damned to you, that ye keep groaning there after that +fashion?" +</P> + +<P> +At that moment a heavy dull mass was heard tumbling through the upper +rigging of the schooner towards the deck, and presently a human form +fell at the very feet of the small group, composed of the two officers +and the individual who had last spoken. +</P> + +<P> +"A light, a light!" shouted the boatswain; "the foolish chap has lost +his hold through fear, and ten to one if he hasn't cracked his +skull-piece for his pains. Quick there with a light, and let's see what +we can do for him." +</P> + +<P> +The attention of all had been arrested by the sound of the falling +weight, and as one of the sailors now advanced, bearing a dark lantern +from below, the whole of the crew, with the exception of those employed +on the fallen tree, gathered themselves in a knot round the motionless +form of the prostrate man. But no sooner had their eyes encountered the +object of their interest, when each individual started suddenly and +involuntarily back, baring his cutlass, and drawing forth his pistol, +the whole presenting a group of countenances strongly marked by various +shades of consternation and alarm, even while their attitudes were +those of men prepared for some fierce and desperate danger. It was +indeed Fuller whom they had beheld, but not labouring, as the boatswain +had imagined, under the mere influence of superstitious fear. He was +dead, and the blood flowing from a deep wound, inflicted by a sharp +instrument in his chest, and the scalped head, too plainly told the +manner of his death, and the danger that awaited them all. +</P> + +<P> +A pause ensued, but it was short. Before any one could find words to +remark on the horrible circumstance, the appalling war-cry of the +savages burst loudly from every quarter upon the ears of the devoted +crew. In the desperation of the moment, several of the men clutched +their cutlasses between their teeth, and seizing the concealed matches, +rushed to their respective stations at the guns. It was in vain the +boatswain called out to them, in a voice of stern authority, to desist, +intimating that their only protection lay in the reservation of the +fire of their batteries. Goaded and excited, beyond the power of +resistance, to an impulse that set all subordination at defiance, they +applied the matches, and almost at the same instant the terrific +discharge of both broadsides took place, rocking the vessel to the +water's edge, and reverberating, throughout, the confined space in +which she lay, like the deadly explosion of some deeply excavated mine. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the guns been fired, when the seamen became sensible of +their imprudence. The echoes were yet struggling to force a passage +through the dense forest, when a second yell of the Indians announced +the fiercest joy and triumph, unmixed by disaster, at the result; and +then the quick leaping of many forms could be heard, as they divided +the crashing underwood, and rushed forward to close with their prey. It +was evident, from the difference of sound, their first cry had been +pealed forth while lying prostrate on the ground, and secure from the +bullets, whose harmless discharge that cry was intended to provoke; for +now the voices seemed to rise progressively from the earth, until they +reached the level of each individual height, and were already almost +hotly breathing in the ears of those they were destined to fill with +illimitable dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"Shiver my topsails, but this comes of disobeying orders," roared the +boatswain, in a voice of mingled anger and vexation. "The Ingians are +quite as cunning as ourselves, and arn't to be frighted that way. +Quick, every cutlass and pistol to his gangway, and let's do our best. +Pass the word forward for the axemen to return to quarters." +</P> + +<P> +Recovered from their first paroxysm of alarm, the men at length became +sensible of the presence of a directing power, which, humble as it was, +their long habits of discipline had taught them to respect, and, headed +on the one side by Captain de Haldimar, and on the other by Sir Everard +Valletort, neither of whom, however, entertained the most remote chance +of success, flew, as commanded, to their respective gangways. The yell +of the Indians had again ceased, and all was hushed into stillness; but +as the anxious and quicksighted officers gazed over the bulwarks, they +fancied they could perceive, even through the deep gloom that every +where prevailed, the forms of men,—resting in cautious and eager +attitudes, on the very verge of the banks, and at a distance of little +more than half pistol shot. Every heart beat with expectancy,—every +eye was riveted intently in front, to watch and meet the first +movements of their foes, but not a sound of approach was audible to the +equally attentive ear. In this state of aching suspense they might have +continued about five minutes, when suddenly their hearts were made to +quail by a third cry, that came, not as previously, from the banks of +the river, but from the very centre of their own decks, and from the +top-mast and riggings of the schooner. So sudden and unexpected too was +this fresh danger, that before the two parties had time to turn, and +assume a new posture of defence, several of them had already fallen +under the butchering blades of their enemies. Then commenced a +desperate but short conflict, mingled with yellings, that again were +answered from every point; and rapidly gliding down the pendant ropes, +were to be seen the active and dusky forms of men, swelling the number +of the assailants, who had gained the deck in the same noiseless +manner, until resistance became almost hopeless. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! I hear the footsteps of our lads at last," exclaimed Mullins +exultingly to his comrades, as he finished despatching a third savage +with his sturdy weapon. "Quick, men, quick, up with hatchet and +cutlass, and take them in the rear. If we are to die, let's die—" +game, he would perhaps have added, but death arrested the word upon his +lips; and his corpse rolled along the deck, until its further progress +was stopped by the stiffened body of the unhappy Fuller. +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding the fall of their brave leader, and the whoopings of +their enemies, the flagging spirits of the men were for a moment +excited by the announcement of the return even of the small force of +the axemen, and they defended themselves with a courage and +determination worthy of a better result; but when, by the lurid light +of the torches, now lying burning about the decks, they turned and +beheld not their companions, but a fresh band of Indians, at whose +pouch-belts dangled the reeking scalps of their murdered friends, they +at once relinquished the combat as hopeless, and gave themselves +unresistingly up to be bound by their captors. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the cousins experienced a renewal of all those horrors from +which their distracted minds had been temporarily relieved; and, +petrified with alarm, as they lay in the solitary berth that contained +them both, endured sufferings infinitely more terrible than death +itself. The early part of the tumult they had noticed almost without +comprehending its cause, and but for the terrific cry of the Indians +that had preceded them, would have mistaken the deafening broadsides +for the blowing up of the vessel, so tremendous and violent bad been +the concussion. Nay, there was a moment when Miss de Haldimar felt a +pang of deep disappointment and regret at the misconception; for, with +the fearful recollection of past events, so strongly impressed on her +bleeding heart, she could not but acknowledge, that to be engulfed in +one general and disastrous explosion, was mercy compared with the +alternative of falling into the hands of those to whom her loathing +spirit bad been too fatally taught to deny even the commonest +attributes of humanity. As for Clara, she had not the power to think, +or to form a conjecture on the subject:—she was merely sensible of a +repetition of the horrible scenes from which she had so recently been +snatched, and with a pale cheek, a fixed eye, and an almost pulseless +heart, lay without motion in the inner side of the berth. The piteous +spectacle of her cousin's alarm lent a forced activity to the despair +of Miss de Haldimar, in whom apprehension produced that strong energy +of excitement that sometimes gives to helplessness the character of +true courage. With the increasing clamour of appalling conflict on +deck, this excitement grew at every moment stronger, until it finally +became irrepressible, so that at length, when through the cabin windows +there suddenly streamed a flood of yellow light, extinguishing that of +the lamp that threw its flickering beams around the cabin, she flung +herself impetuously from the berth, and, despite of the aged and +trembling female who attempted to detain her, burst open the narrow +entrance to the cabin, and rushed up the steps communicating with the +deck. +</P> + +<P> +The picture that here met her eyes was at once graphic and fearful in +the extreme. On either side of the river lines of streaming torches +were waved by dusky warriors high above their heads, reflecting the +grim countenances, not only of those who bore them, but of dense groups +in their rear, whose numbers were alone concealed by the foliage of the +forest in which they stood. From the branches that wove themselves +across the centre of the river, and the topmast and rigging of the +vessel, the same strong yellow light, produced by the bark of the birch +tree steeped in gum, streamed down upon the decks below, rendering each +line and block of the schooner as distinctly visible as if it had been +noon on the sunniest of those far distant lakes. The deck itself was +covered with the bodies of slain men—sailors, and savages mixed +together; and amid these were to be seen fierce warriors, reclining +triumphantly and indolently on their rifles, while others were occupied +in securing the arms of their captives with leathern thongs behind +their backs. The silence that now prevailed was strongly in contrast +with, and even more fearful than, the horrid shouts by which it had +been preceded; and, but for the ghastly countenances of the captives, +and the quick rolling eyes of the savages, Miss de Haldimar might have +imagined herself the sport of some extraordinary and exciting illusion. +Her glance over these prominent features in the tragedy had been +cursory, yet accurate. It now rested on one that had more immediate and +terrifying interest for herself. At a few paces in front of the +companion ladder, and with their backs turned towards her, stood two +individuals, whose attitudes denoted the purpose of men resolved to +sell with their lives alone a passage to a tall fierce-looking savage, +whose countenance betrayed every mark of triumphant and deadly passion, +while he apparently hesitated whether his uplifted arm should stay the +weapon it wielded. These individuals were Captain de Haldimar and Sir +Everard Valletort; and to the former of these the attention of the +savage was more immediately and exultingly directed; so much so, +indeed, that Miss de Haldimar thought she could read in the ferocious +expression of his features the death-warrant of her cousin. In the wild +terror of the moment she gave a piercing scream that was answered by a +hundred yelling voices, and rushing between her lover and his enemy, +threw herself wildly and supplicatingly at the feet of the latter. +Uttering a savage laugh, the monster spurned her from him with his +foot, when, quick as thought, a pistol was discharged within a few +inches of his face; but with a rapidity equal to that of his assailant, +he bent aside his head, and the ball passed harmlessly on. The yell +that followed was terrific; and while it was yet swelling into fulness, +Captain de Haldimar felt an iron hand furiously grappling his throat, +and, ere the grasp was relinquished, he again stood the bound and +passive victim of the warrior of the Fleur de lis. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0303"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<P> +The interval that succeeded to the last council-scene of the Indians +was passed by the officers of Detroit in a state of inexpressible +anxiety and doubt. The fears entertained for the fate of their +companions, who had set out in the perilous and almost forlorn hope of +reaching Michilimackinac, in time to prevent the consummation of the +threatened treachery, had, in some degree, if not wholly, been allayed +by the story narrated by the Ottawa chief. It was evident, from his +statement, the party had again met, and been engaged in fearful +struggle with the gigantic warrior they had all so much reason to +recollect; and it was equally apparent, that in that struggle they had +been successful. But still, so many obstacles were likely to be opposed +to their navigation of the several lakes and rivers over which lay +their course, it was almost feared, even if they eventually escaped +unharmed themselves, they could not possibly reach the fort in time to +communicate the danger that awaited their friends. It is true, the time +gained by Governor de Haldimar on the first occasion had afforded a +considerable interval, of which advantage might be taken; but it was +also, on the other hand, uncertain whether Ponteac had commanded the +same delay in the council of the chiefs investing Michilimackinac, to +which he had himself assented. Three days were sufficient to enable an +Indian warrior to perform the journey by land; and it was chiefly on +this vague and uncertain ground they based whatever little of hope was +entertained on the subject. +</P> + +<P> +It had been settled at the departure of the adventurers, that the +instant they effected a communication with the schooner on Lake Huron, +Francois should be immediately sent back, with instructions so to +contrive the period of his return, that his canoe should make its +appearance soon after daybreak at the nearest extremity of Hog Island, +the position of which has been described in our introductory chapter. +From this point a certain signal, that could be easily distinguished +with the aid of a telescope, was to be made from the canoe, which, +without being of a nature to attract the attention of the savages, was +yet to be such as could not well be mistaken by the garrison. This was +a precaution adopted, not only with the view of giving the earliest +intimation of the result of the enterprise, but lest the Canadian +should be prevented, by any closer investment on the part of the +Indians, from communicating personally with the fort in the way he had +been accustomed. +</P> + +<P> +It will easily be comprehended therefore, that, as the period +approached when they might reasonably look for the return of Francois, +if he should return at all, the nervous anxiety of the officers became +more and more developed. Upwards of a week had elapsed since the +departure of their friends; and already, for the last day or two, their +impatience had led them, at early dawn, and with beating hearts, to +that quarter of the rampart which overlooked the eastern extremity of +Hog Island. Hitherto, however, their eager watching had been in vain. +As far as our recollection of the Canadian tradition of this story +serves us, it must have been on the fourth night after the final +discomfiture of the plans of Ponteac, and the tenth from the departure +of the adventurers, that the officers were assembled in the mess-room, +partaking of the scanty and frugal supper to which their long +confinement had reduced them. The subject of their conversation, as it +was ever of their thoughts, was the probable fate of their companions; +and many and various, although all equally melancholy, were the +conjectures offered as to the result. There was on the countenance of +each, that deep and fixed expression of gloom, which, if it did not +indicate any unmanliness of despair, told at least that hope was nearly +extinct: but more especially was this remarkable in the young but sadly +altered Charles de Haldimar, who, with a vacant eye and a pre-occupied +manner, seemed wholly abstracted from the scene before him. +</P> + +<P> +All was silence in the body of the fort. The men off duty had long +since retired to rest in their clothes, and only the "All's well!" of +the sentinels was heard at intervals of a quarter of an hour, as the +cry echoed from mouth to mouth in the line of circuit. Suddenly, +however, between two of those intervals, and during a pause in the +languid conversation of the officers, the sharp challenge of a sentinel +was heard, and then quick steps on the rampart, as of men hastening to +the point whence the challenge had been given. The officers, whom this +new excitement seemed to arouse into fresh activity, hurriedly quitted +the room; and, with as little noise as possible, gained the spot where +the voice had been heard. Several men were bending eagerly over the +rampart, and, with their muskets at the recover, riveting their gaze on +a dark and motionless object that lay on the verge of the ditch +immediately beneath them. +</P> + +<P> +"What have you here, Mitchell?" asked Captain Blessington, who was in +command of the guard, and who had recognised the gruff voice of the +veteran in the challenge just given. +</P> + +<P> +"An American burnt log, your honour," muttered the soldier, "if one was +to judge from its stillness; but if it is, it must have rolled there +within the last minute; for I'll take my affidavy it wasn't here when I +passed last in my beat." +</P> + +<P> +"An American burnt log, indeed! it's some damned rascal of a spy, +rather," remarked Captain Erskine. "Who knows but it may be our big +friend, come to pay us a visit again? And yet he is not half long +enough for him, either. Can't you try and tickle him with the bayonet, +any of you fellows, and see whether he is made of flesh and blood?" +</P> + +<P> +Although this observation was made almost without object, it being +totally impossible for any musket, even with the addition of its +bayonet, to reach more than half way across the ditch, the several +sentinels threw themselves on their chests, and, stretching over the +rampart as far as possible, made the attempt to reach the suspicious +looking object that lay beyond. No sooner, however, had their arms been +extended in such a manner as to be utterly powerless, when the dark +mass was seen to roll away in an opposite direction, and with such +rapidity that, before the men could regain their feet and level their +muskets, it had entirely disappeared from their view. +</P> + +<P> +"Cleverly managed, to give the red skin his due," half laughingly +observed Captain Erskine, while his brother officers continued to fix +their eyes in astonishment on the spot so recently occupied by the +strange object; "but what the devil could be his motive for lying there +so long? Not playing the eaves-dropper, surely; and yet, if he meant to +have picked off a sentinel, what was to have prevented him from doing +it sooner?" +</P> + +<P> +"He had evidently no arms," said Ensign Delme. +</P> + +<P> +"No, nor legs either, it would appear," resumed the literal Erskine. +"Curse me if I ever saw any thing in the shape of a human form bundled +together in that manner." +</P> + +<P> +"I mean he had no fire-arms—no rifle," pursued Delme. +</P> + +<P> +"And if he had, he certainly would have rifled one of us of a life," +continued the captain, laughing at his own conceit. "But come, the bird +is flown, and we have only to thank ourselves for having been so +egregiously duped. Had Valletort been here, he would have given a +different account of him." +</P> + +<P> +"Hist! listen!" exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone, calling the attention +of the party to a peculiar and low sound in the direction in which the +supposed Indian had departed. +</P> + +<P> +It was repeated, and in a plaintive tone, indicating a desire to +propitiate. Soon afterwards a human form was seen advancing slowly, but +without show either of concealment or hostility in its movements. It +finally remained stationary on the spot where the dark and shapeless +mass had been first perceived. +</P> + +<P> +"Another Oucanasta for De Haldimar, no doubt," observed Captain +Erskine, after a moment's pause. "These grenadiers carry every thing +before them as well in love as in war." +</P> + +<P> +The error of the good-natured officer was, however, obvious to all but +himself. The figure, which was now distinctly traced in outline for +that of a warrior, stood boldly and fearlessly on the brink of the +ditch, holding up its left arm, in the hand of which dangled something +that was visible in the starlight, and pointing energetically to this +pendant object with the other. +</P> + +<P> +A voice from one of the party now addressed the Indian in two several +dialects, but without eliciting a reply. He either understood not, or +would not answer the question proposed, but continued pointing +significantly to the indistinct object which he still held forth in an +elevated position. +</P> + +<P> +"The governor must be apprised of this," observed Captain Blessington +to De Haldimar, who was his subaltern of the guard. "Hasten, Charles, +to acquaint your father, and receive his orders." +</P> + +<P> +The young officer willingly obeyed the injunction of his superior. A +secret and indefinable hope rushed through his mind, that as the Indian +came not in hostility, he might be the bearer of some communication +from their friends; and he moved rapidly towards that part of the +building occupied by his father. +</P> + +<P> +The light of a lamp suspended over the piazza leading to the governor's +rooms reflecting strongly on his regimentals, he passed unchallenged by +the sentinels posted there, and uninterruptedly gained a door that +opened on a narrow passage, at the further extremity of which was the +sitting-room usually occupied by his parent. This again was entered +from the same passage by a second door, the upper part of which was of +common glass, enabling any one on the outside to trace with facility +every object within when the place was lighted up. +</P> + +<P> +A glance was sufficient to satisfy the youth his father was not in the +room; although there was strong evidence he had not retired for the +night. In the middle of the floor stood an oaken table, and on this lay +an open writing desk, with a candle on each side, the wicks of which +had burnt so long as to throw a partial gloom over the surrounding +wainscotting. Scattered about the table and desk were a number of +letters that had apparently been just looked at or read; and in the +midst of these an open case of red morocco, containing a miniature. The +appearance of these letters, thus left scattered about by one who was +scrupulously exact in the arrangement of his papers, added to the +circumstance of the neglected and burning candles, confirmed the young +officer in an impression that his father, overcome by fatigue, had +retired into his bed-room, and fallen unconsciously asleep. Imagining, +therefore, he could not, without difficulty, succeed in making himself +heard, and deeming the urgency of the case required it, he determined +to wave the usual ceremony of knocking, and penetrate to his father's +bedroom unannounced. The glass door being without fastening within, +easily yielded to his pressure of the latch; but as he passed by the +table, a strong and natural feeling of curiosity induced him to cast +his eye upon the miniature. To his infinite surprise, nay, almost +terror, he discovered it was that of his mother—the identical portrait +which his sister Clara had worn in her bosom from infancy, and which he +had seen clasped round her neck on the very deck of the schooner in +which she sailed for Michilimackinac. He felt there could be no +mistake, for only one miniature of the sort had ever been in possession +of the family, and that the one just accounted for. Almost stupified at +what he saw, and scarcely crediting the evidence of his senses, the +young officer glanced his eye hurriedly along one of the open letters +that lay around. It was in the well remembered hand-writing of his +mother, and commenced, "Dear, dearest Reginald." After this followed +expressions of endearment no woman might address except to an affianced +lover, or the husband of her choice; and his heart sickened while he +read. Scarcely, however, had he scanned half a dozen lines, when it +occurred to him he was violating some secret of his parents; and, +discontinuing the perusal with an effort, he prepared to acquit himself +of his mission. +</P> + +<P> +On raising his eyes from the paper he was startled by the appearance of +his father, who, with a stern brow and a quivering lip, stood a few +paces from the table, apparently too much overcome by his indignation +to be able to utter a sentence. +</P> + +<P> +Charles de Haldimar felt all the awkwardness of his position. Some +explanation of his conduct, however, was necessary; and he stammered +forth the fact of the portrait having riveted his attention, from its +striking resemblance to that in his sister's possession. +</P> + +<P> +"And to what do these letters bear resemblance?" demanded the governor, +in a voice that trembled in its attempt to be calm, while he fixed his +penetrating eye on that of his son. "THEY, it appears, were equally +objects of attraction with you." +</P> + +<P> +"The letters were in the hand-writing of my mother; and I was +irresistibly led to glance at one of them," replied the youth, with the +humility of conscious wrong. "The action was involuntary, and no sooner +committed than repented of. I am here, my father, on a mission of +importance, which must account for my presence." +</P> + +<P> +"A mission of importance!" repeated the governor, with more of sorrow +than of anger in the tone in which he now spoke. "On what mission are +you here, if it be not to intrude unwarrantably on a parent's privacy?" +</P> + +<P> +The young officer's cheek flushed high, as he proudly answered:—"I was +sent by Captain Blessington, sir, to take your orders in regard to an +Indian who is now without the fort under somewhat extraordinary +circumstances, yet evidently without intention of hostility. It is +supposed he bears some message from my brother." +</P> + +<P> +The tone of candour and offended pride in which this formal +announcement of duty was made seemed to banish all suspicion from the +mind of the governor; and he remarked, in a voice that had more of the +kindness that had latterly distinguished his address to his son, "Was +this, then, Charles, the only motive for your abrupt intrusion at this +hour? Are you sure no inducement of private curiosity was mixed up with +the discharge of your duty, that you entered thus unannounced? You must +admit, at least, I found you employed in a manner different from what +the urgency of your mission would seem to justify." +</P> + +<P> +There was lurking irony in this speech; yet the softened accents of his +father, in some measure, disarmed the youth of the bitterness he would +have flung into his observation,—"That no man on earth, his parent +excepted, should have dared to insinuate such a doubt with impunity." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment Colonel de Haldimar seemed to regard his son with a +surprised but satisfied air, as if he had not expected the +manifestation of so much spirit, in one whom he had been accustomed +greatly to undervalue. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you, Charles," he at length observed; "forgive the +justifiable doubt, and think no more of the subject. Yet, one word," as +the youth was preparing to depart; "you have read that letter" (and he +pointed to that which had principally arrested the attention of the +officer): "what impression has it given you of your mother? Answer me +sincerely. MY name," and his faint smile wore something of the +character of triumph, "is not REGINALD, you know." +</P> + +<P> +The pallid cheek of the young man flushed at this question. His own +undisguised impression was, that his mother had cherished a guilty love +for another than her husband. He felt the almost impiety of such a +belief, but he could not resist the conviction that forced itself on +his mind; the letter in her handwriting spoke for itself; and though +the idea was full of wretchedness, he was unable to conquer it. +Whatever his own inference might be, however, he could not endure the +thought of imparting it to his father; he, therefore, answered +evasively. +</P> + +<P> +"Doubtless my mother had some dear relative of the name, and to him was +this letter addressed; perhaps a brother, or an uncle. But I never +knew," he pursued, with a look of appeal to his father, "that a second +portrait of my mother existed. This is the very counterpart of Clara's." +</P> + +<P> +"It may be the same," remarked the governor, but in a tone of +indecision, that dented his faith in what he uttered. +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible, my father. I accompanied Clara, if you recollect, as far +as Lake Sinclair; and when I quitted the deck of the schooner to +return, I particularly remarked my sister wore her mother's portrait, +as usual, round her neck." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, no matter about the portrait," hurriedly rejoined the governor; +"yet, whatever your impression, Charles," and he spoke with a warmth +that was far from habitual to him, "dare not to sully the memory of +your mother by a doubt of her purity. An accident has given this letter +to your inspection, but breathe not its contents to a human creature; +above all, respect the being who gave you birth. Go, tell Captain +Blessington to detain the Indian; I will join you immediately." +</P> + +<P> +Strongly, yet confusedly, impressed with the singularity of the scene +altogether, and more particularly with his father's strange admonition, +the young officer quitted the room, and hastened to rejoin his +companions. On reaching the rampart he found that the Indian, during +his long absence, had departed; yet not without depositing, on the +outer edge of the ditch, the substance to which he had previously +directed their attention. At the moment of De Haldimar's approach, the +officers were bending over the rampart, and, with straining eyes, +endeavouring to make out what it was, but in vain; something was just +perceptible in the withered turf, but what that something was no one +could succeed in discovering. +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever this be, we must possess ourselves of it," said Captain +Blessington: "it is evident, from the energetic manner of him who left +it, it is of importance. I think I know who is the best swimmer and +climber of our party." +</P> + +<P> +Several voices unanimously pronounced the name of "Johnstone." +</P> + +<P> +"Any thing for a dash of enterprise," said that officer, whose slight +wound had been perfectly healed. "But what do you propose that the +swimmer and climber should do, Blessington?" +</P> + +<P> +"Secure yon parcel, without lowering the drawbridge." +</P> + +<P> +"What! and be scalped in the act? Who knows if it be not a trick after +all, and that the rascal who placed it there is not lying within a few +feet, ready to pounce upon me the instant I reach the bank." +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind," said Erskine, laughingly, "we will revenge your death, my +boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Besides, consider the nunquam non paratus, Johnstone," slily remarked +Lieutenant Leslie. +</P> + +<P> +"What, again, Leslie?" energetically responded the young Scotsman. "Yet +think not I hesitate, for I did but jest: make fast a rope round my +loins, and I think I will answer for the result." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar now made his appearance. Having heard a brief +statement of the facts, and approving of the suggestion of Captain +Blessington, a rope was procured, and made fast under the shoulders of +the young officer, who had previously stripped himself of his uniform +and shoes. He then suffered himself to drop gently over the edge of the +rampart, his companions gradually lowering the rope, until a deep and +gasping aspiration, such as is usually wrung from one coming suddenly +in contact with cold water, announced he had gained the surface of the +ditch. The rope was then slackened, to give him the unrestrained +command of his limbs; and in the next instant he was seen clambering up +the opposite elevation. +</P> + +<P> +Although the officers, indulging in a forced levity, in a great degree +meant to encourage their companion, had treated his enterprise with +indifference, they were far from being without serious anxiety for the +result. They had laughed at the idea, suggested by him, of being +scalped; whereas, in truth, they entertained the apprehension far more +powerfully than he did himself. The artifices resorted to by the +savages, to secure an isolated victim, were so many and so various, +that suspicion could not but attach to the mysterious occurrence they +had just witnessed. Willing even as they were to believe their present +visitor, whoever he was, came not in a spirit of enmity, they could not +altogether divest themselves of a fear that it was only a subtle +artifice to decoy one of them within the reach of their traitorous +weapons. They, therefore, watched the movements of their companion with +quickening pulses; and it was with a lively satisfaction they saw him, +at length, after a momentary search, descend once more into the ditch, +and, with a single powerful impulsion of his limbs, urge himself back +to the foot of the rampart. Neither feet nor hands were of much +service, in enabling him to scale the smooth and slanting logs that +composed the exterior surface of the works; but a slight jerk of the +well secured rope, serving as a signal to his friends, he was soon +dragged once more to the summit of the rampart, without other injury +than a couple of slight bruises. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what success?" eagerly asked Leslie and Captain Erskine in the +same breath, as the dripping Johnstone buried himself in the folds of a +capacious cloak procured during his absence. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall hear," was the reply; "but first, gentlemen, allow me, if +you please, to enjoy, with yourselves, the luxury of dry clothes. I +have no particular ambition to contract an American ague fit just now; +yet, unless you take pity on me, and reserve my examination for a +future moment, there is every probability I shall not have a tooth left +by to-morrow morning." +</P> + +<P> +No one could deny the justice of the remark, for the teeth of the young +man were chattering as he spoke. It was not, therefore, until after he +had changed his dress, and swallowed a couple of glasses of Captain +Erskine's never failing spirit, that they all repaired once more to the +mess-room, when Johnstone anticipated all questions, by the production +of the mysterious packet. +</P> + +<P> +After removing several wrappers of bark, each of which was secured by a +thong of deerskin, Colonel de Haldimar, to whom the successful officer +had handed his prize, at length came to a small oval case of red +morocco, precisely similar, in size and form, to that which had so +recently attracted the notice of his son. For a moment he hesitated, +and his cheek was observed to turn pale, and his hand to tremble; but +quickly subduing his indecision, he hurriedly unfastened the clasp, and +disclosed to the astonished view of the officers the portrait of a +young and lovely woman, habited in the Highland garb. +</P> + +<P> +Exclamations of various kinds burst from the lips of the group of +officers. Several knew it to be the portrait of Mrs. de Haldimar; +others recognised it from the striking likeness it bore to Clara and to +Charles; all knew it had never been absent from the possession of the +former since her mother's death; and feeling satisfied as they did that +its extraordinary appearance among them, at the present moment, was an +announcement of some dreadful disaster, their countenances wore an +impress of dismay little inferior to that of the wretched Charles, who, +agonized beyond all attempt at description, had thrown himself into a +seat in the rear of the group, and sat like one bewildered, with his +head buried in his hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen," at length observed Colonel de Haldimar, in a voice that +proved how vainly his natural emotion was sought to be subdued by his +pride, "this, I fear me, is an unwelcome token. It comes to announce to +a father the murder of his child; to us all, the destruction of our +last remaining friends and comrades." +</P> + +<P> +"God forbid!" solemnly aspirated Captain Blessington. After a pause of +a moment or two he pursued: "I know not why, sir; but my impression is, +the appearance of this portrait, which we all recognise for that worn +by Miss de Haldimar, bears another interpretation." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar shook his head.—"I have but too much reason to +believe," he observed, smiling in mournful bitterness, "it has been +conveyed to us not in mercy but in revenge." +</P> + +<P> +No one ventured to question why; for notwithstanding all were aware +that in the mysterious ravisher of the wife of Halloway Colonel de +Haldimar had a fierce and inexorable private enemy, no allusion had +ever been made by that officer himself to the subject. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you permit me to examine the portrait and envelopes, Colonel?" +resumed Captain Blessington: "I feel almost confident, although I +confess I have no other motive for it than what springs from a +recollection of the manner of the Indian, that the result will bear me +out in my belief the bearer came not in hostility but in friendship." +</P> + +<P> +"By my faith, I quite agree with Blessington," said Captain Erskine; +"for, in addition to the manner of the Indian, there is another +evidence in favour of his position. Was it merely intended in the light +in which you consider it, Colonel, the case or the miniature itself +might have been returned, but certainly not the metal in which it is +set. The savages are fully aware of the value of gold, and would not so +easily let it slip through their fingers." +</P> + +<P> +"And wherefore thus carefully wrapped up?" remarked Lieutenant +Johnstone, "unless it had been intended it should meet with no injury +on the way. I certainly think the portrait never would have been +conveyed, in its present perfect state, by an enemy." +</P> + +<P> +"The fellow seemed to feel, too, that he came in the character of one +whose intentions claimed all immunity from harm," remarked Captain +Wentworth. "He surely never would have stood so fearlessly on the brink +of the ditch, and within pistol shot, had he not been conscious of +rendering some service to those connected with us." +</P> + +<P> +To these several observations of his officers, Colonel de Haldimar +listened attentively; and although he made no reply, it was evident he +felt gratified at the eagerness with which each sought to remove the +horrible impression he had stated to have existed in his own mind. +Meanwhile, Captain Blessington had turned and examined the miniature in +fifty different ways, but without succeeding in discovering any thing +that could confirm him in his original impression. Vexed and +disappointed, he at length flung it from him on the table, and sinking +into a seat at the side of the unfortunate Charles, pressed the hand of +the youth in significant silence. +</P> + +<P> +Finding his worst fears now confirmed. Colonel de Haldimar, for the +first time, cast a glance towards his son, whose drooping head, and +sorrowing attitude, spoke volumes to his heart. For a moment his own +cheek blanched, and his eye was seen to glisten with the first tear +ever witnessed there by those around him. Subduing his emotion, +however, he drew up his person to its lordly height, as if that act +reminded him the commander was not to be lost in the father, and +quitting the room with a heavy brow and step, recommended to his +officers the repose of which they appeared to stand so much in need. +But not one was there who felt inclined to court the solitude of his +pillow. No sooner were the footsteps of the governor heard dying away +in the distance, when fresh lights were ordered, and several logs of +wood heaped on the slackening fire. Around this the officers now +grouped, and throwing themselves back in their chairs, assumed the +attitudes of men seeking to indulge rather in private reflection than +in personal converse. +</P> + +<P> +The grief of the wretched Charles de Haldimar, hitherto restrained by +the presence of his father, and encouraged by the touching evidences of +interest afforded him by the ever-considerate Blessington, now burst +forth audibly. No attempt was made by the latter officer to check the +emotion of his young friend. Knowing his passionate fondness for his +sister, he was not without fear that the sudden shock produced by the +appearance of her miniature might destroy his reason, even if it +affected not his life; and as the moment was now come when tears might +be shed without exciting invidious remark in the only individual who +was likely to make it, he sought to promote them as much as possible. +Too much occupied in their own mournful reflections to bestow more than +a passing notice on the weakness of their friend, the group round the +fireplace scarcely seemed to have regarded his emotion. +</P> + +<P> +This violent paroxysm past, De Haldimar breathed more freely; and, +after listening to several earnest observations of Captain Blessington, +who still held out the possibility of something favourable turning up, +on a re-examination of the portrait by daylight, he was so far composed +as to be able to attend to the summons of the sergeant of the guard, +who came to say the relief were ready, and waiting to be inspected +before they were finally marched off. Clasping the extended hand of his +captain between his own, with a pressure indicative of his deep +gratitude, De Haldimar now proceeded to the discharge of his duty; and +having caught up the portrait, which still lay on the table, and thrust +it into the breast of his uniform, he repaired hurriedly to rejoin his +guard, from which circumstances alone had induced his unusually long +absence. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0304"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<P> +The remainder of that night was passed by the unhappy De Haldimar in a +state of indescribable wretchedness. After inspecting the relief, he +had thrown himself on his rude guard-bed; and, drawing his cloak over +his eyes, given full rein to the wanderings of his excited imagination. +It was in vain the faithful old Morrison, who never suffered his master +to mount a guard without finding some one with whom to exchange his +tour of duty, when he happened not to be in orders himself, repeatedly +essayed, as he sat stirring the embers of the fire, to enter into +conversation with him. The soul of the young officer was sick, past the +endurance even of that kind voice; and, more than once, he impetuously +bade him be silent, if he wished to continue where he was; or, if not, +to join his comrades in the next guard-room. A sigh was the only +respectful but pained answer to these sharp remonstrances; and De +Haldimar, all absorbed even as he was in his own grief, felt it deeply; +for he knew the old man loved him, and he could not bear the idea of +appearing to repay with slight the well-intentioned efforts of one whom +he had always looked upon more as a dependant on his family than as the +mere rude soldier. Still he could not summon courage to disclose the +true nature of his grief, which the other merely ascribed to general +causes and vague apprehensions of a yet unaccomplished evil. Morrison +had ever loved his sister with an affection in no way inferior to that +which he bore towards himself. He had also nursed her in childhood; and +his memory was ever faithful to trace, as his tongue was to dwell on, +those gentle and amiable qualities, which, strongly marked at an +earlier period of her existence, had only undergone change, inasmuch as +they had become matured and more forcibly developed in womanhood. +Often, latterly, had the grey-haired veteran been in the habit of +alluding to her; for he saw the subject was one that imparted a +mournful satisfaction to the youth; and, with a tact that years, more +than deep reading of the human heart, had given him, he ever made a +point of adverting to their re-union as an event admitting not of doubt. +</P> + +<P> +Hitherto the affectionate De Haldimar had loved to listen to these +sounds of comfort; for, although they carried no conviction to his +mind, impressed as he was with the terrible curse of Ellen Halloway, +and the consequent belief that his family were devoted to some fearful +doom, still they came soothingly and unctuously to his sick soul; and, +all deceptive even as he felt them to be, he found they created a hope +which, while certain to be dispelled by calm after-reflection, carried +a momentary solace to his afflicted spirit. But, now that he had every +evidence his adored sister was no more, and that the illusion of hope +was past for ever, to have heard her name even mentioned by one who, +ignorant of the fearful truth the events of that night had elucidated, +was still ready to renew a strain every chord of which had lost its +power of harmony, was repugnant beyond bearing to his heart. At one +moment he resolved briefly to acquaint the old man with the dreadful +fact, but unwillingness to give pain prevented him; and, moreover, he +felt the grief the communication would draw from the faithful servitor +of his family must be of so unchecked a nature as to render his own +sufferings even more poignant than they were. Neither had he +(independently of all other considerations) resolution enough to forego +the existence of hope in another, even although it had passed entirely +away from himself. It was for these reasons he had so harshly and (for +him) unkindly checked, the attempt of the old man at a conversation +which he, at every moment, felt would be made to turn on the ill-fated +Clara. +</P> + +<P> +Miserable as he felt his position to be, it was not without +satisfaction he again heard the voice of his sergeant summoning him to +the inspection of another relief. This duty performed, and anxious to +avoid the paining presence of his servant, he determined, instead of +returning to his guard-room, to consume the hour that remained before +day in pacing the ramparts. Leaving word with his subordinate, that, in +the event of his being required, he might be found without difficulty, +he ascended to that quarter of the works where the Indian had been +first seen who had so mysteriously conveyed the sad token he still +retained in his breast. It was on the same side with that particular +point whence we have already stated a full view of the bridge with its +surrounding scenery, together with the waters of the Detroit, where +they were intersected by Hog Island, were distinctly commanded. At +either of those points was stationed a sentinel, whose duty it was to +extend his beat between the boxes used now rather as lines of +demarcation than as places of temporary shelter, until each gained that +of his next comrade, when they again returned to their own, crossing +each other about half way: a system of precaution pursued by the whole +of the sentinels in the circuit of the rampart. +</P> + +<P> +The ostensible motive of the officer in ascending the works, was to +visit his several posts; but no sooner had he found himself between the +points alluded to, which happened to be the first in his course, than +he seemed to be riveted there by a species of fascination. Not that +there was any external influence to produce this effect, for the utmost +stillness reigned both within and around the fort; and, but for the +howling of some Indian wolf-dog in the distance, or the low and +monotonous beat of their drums in the death-dance, there was nought +that gave evidence of the existence of the dreadful enemy by whom they +were beset. But the whole being of the acutely suffering De Haldimar +was absorbed in recollections connected with the spot on which he +stood. At one extremity was the point whence he had witnessed the +dreadful tragedy of Halloway's death; at the other, that on which had +been deposited the but too unerring record of the partial realisation +of the horrors threatened at the termination of that tragedy; and +whenever he attempted to pass each of these boundaries, he felt as if +his limbs repugned the effort. +</P> + +<P> +In the sentinels, his appearance among them excited but little +surprise; for it was no uncommon thing for the officers of the guard to +spend the greatest part of the night in visiting, in turn, the several +more exposed points of the ramparts; and that it was now confined to +one particular part, seemed not even to attract their notice. It was, +therefore, almost wholly unremarked by his men, that the heart-stricken +De Haldimar paced his quick and uncertain walk with an imagination +filled with the most fearful forebodings, and with a heart throbbing +with the most painful excitement. Hitherto, since the discovery of the +contents of the packet, his mind had been so exclusively absorbed in +stupifying grief for his sister, that his perception seemed utterly +incapable of outstepping the limited sphere drawn around it; but now, +other remembrances, connected with the localities, forced themselves +upon his attention; and although, in all these, there was nothing that +was not equally calculated to carry dismay and sorrow to his heart, +still, in dividing his thoughts with the one supreme agony that bowed +him down, they were rather welcomed than discarded. His mind was as a +wheel, embracing grief within grief, multiplied to infinitude; and the +wider and more diffusive the circle, the less powerful was the +concentration of sickening heart and brain on that which was the more +immediate axis of the whole. +</P> + +<P> +Reminded, for the first time, as he pursued his measured but aimless +walk, by the fatal portrait which he more than once pressed with +feverish energy to his lips, of the singular discovery he had made that +night in the apartments of his father, he was naturally led, by a chain +of consecutive thought, into a review of the whole of the extraordinary +scene. The fact of the existence of a second likeness of his mother was +one that did not now fail to reawaken all the unqualified surprise he +had experienced at the first discovery. So far from having ever heard +his father make the slightest allusion to this memorial of his departed +mother, he perfectly recollected his repeatedly recommending to Clara +the safe custody of a treasure, which, if lost, could never be +replaced. What could be the motive for this mystery?—and why had he +sought to impress him with the belief it was the identical portrait +worn by his sister which had so unintentionally been exposed to his +view? Why, too, had he evinced so much anxiety to remove from his mind +all unfavourable impressions in regard to his mother? Why have been so +energetic in his caution not to suffer a taint of impurity to attach to +her memory? Why should he have supposed the possibility of such +impression, unless there had been sufficient cause for it? In what, +moreover, originated his triumphant expression of feature, when, on +that occasion, he reminded him that HIS name was not Reginald? Who, +then, was this Reginald? Then came the recollection of what had been +repeated to him of the parting scene between Halloway and his wife. In +addressing her ill-fated husband, she had named him Reginald. Could it +be possible this was the same being alluded to by his father? But no; +his youth forbade the supposition, being but two years older than his +brother Frederick; yet might he not, in some way or other, be connected +with the Reginald of the letter? Why, too, had his father shown such +unrelenting severity in the case of this unfortunate victim?—a +severity which had induced more than one remark from his officers, that +it looked as if he entertained some personal feeling of enmity towards +a man who had done so much for his family, and stood so high in the +esteem of all who knew him. +</P> + +<P> +Then came another thought. At the moment of his execution, Halloway had +deposited a packet in the hands of Captain Blessington;—could these +letters—could that portrait be the same? Certain it was, by whatever +means obtained, his father could not have had them long in his +possession; for it was improbable letters of so old a date should have +occupied his attention NOW, when many years had rolled over the memory +of his mother. And then, again, what was the meaning of the language +used by the implacable enemy of his father, that uncouth and ferocious +warrior of the Fleur de lis, not only on the occasion of the execution +of Halloway, but afterwards to his brother, during his short captivity; +and, subsequently, when, disguised as a black, he penetrated, with the +band of Ponteac, into the fort, and aimed his murderous weapon at his +father's head. What had made him the enemy of his family? and where and +how had originated his father's connection with so extraordinary and so +savage a being? Could he, in any way, be implicated with his mother? +But no; there was something revolting, monstrous, in the thought: +besides, had not his father stood forward the champion of her +innocence?—had he not declared, with an energy carrying conviction +with every word, that she was untainted by guilt? And would he have +done this, had he had reason to believe in the existence of a criminal +love for him who evidently was his mortal foe? Impossible. +</P> + +<P> +Such were the questions and solutions that crowded on and distracted +the mind of the unhappy De Haldimar, who, after all, could arrive at no +satisfactory conclusion. It was evident there was a secret,—yet, +whatever its nature, it was one likely to go down with his father to +the grave; for, however humiliating the reflection to a haughty parent, +compelled to vindicate the honour of a mother to her son, and in direct +opposition to evidence that scarcely bore a shadow of +misinterpretation, it was clear he had motives for consigning the +circumstance to oblivion, which far outweighed any necessity he felt of +adducing other proofs of her innocence than those which rested on his +own simple yet impressive assertion. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of these bewildering doubts, De Haldimar heard some one +approaching in his rear, whose footsteps he distinguished from the +heavy pace of the sentinels. He turned, stopped, and was presently +joined by Captain Blessington. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, dearest Charles," almost querulously asked the kind officer, as +he passed his arm through that of his subaltern,—"why will you persist +in feeding this love of solitude? What possible result can it produce, +but an utter prostration of every moral and physical energy? Come, +come, summon a little fortitude; all may not yet be so hopeless as you +apprehend. For my own part, I feel convinced the day will dawn upon +some satisfactory solution of the mystery of that packet." +</P> + +<P> +"Blessington, my dear Blessington!"—and De Haldimar spoke with +mournful energy,—"you have known me from my boyhood, and, I believe, +have ever loved me; seek not, therefore, to draw me from the present +temper of my mind; deprive me not of an indulgence which, melancholy as +it is, now constitutes the sole satisfaction I take in existence." +</P> + +<P> +"By Heaven! Charles, I will not listen to such language. You absolutely +put my patience to the rack." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, then, I will urge no more," pursued the young officer. "To +revert, therefore, to a different subject. Answer me one question with +sincerity. What were the contents of the packet you received from poor +Halloway previous to his execution? and in whose possession are they +now?" +</P> + +<P> +Pleased to find the attention of his young friend diverted for the +moment from his sister, Captain Blessington quickly rejoiced, he +believed the packet contained letters which Halloway had stated to him +were of a nature to throw some light on his family connections. He had, +however, transferred it, with the seal unbroken, as desired by the +unhappy man, to Colonel de Haldimar. +</P> + +<P> +An exclamation of surprise burst involuntarily from the lips of the +youth. "Has my father ever made any allusion to that packet since?" he +asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Never," returned Captain Blessington; "and, I confess, his failing to +do so has often excited my astonishment. But why do you ask?" +</P> + +<P> +De Haldimar energetically pressed the arm of his captain, while a heavy +sigh burst from his oppressed heart "This very night, Blessington, on +entering my father's apartment to apprise him of what was going on +here, I saw,—I can scarcely tell you what, but certainly enough to +convince me, from what you have now stated, Halloway was, in some +degree or other, connected with our family. Tell me," he anxiously +pursued, "was there a portrait enclosed with the letters?" +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot state with confidence, Charles," replied his friend; "but if +I might judge from the peculiar form and weight of the packet, I should +be inclined to say not. Have you seen the letters, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have seen certain letters which, I have reason to believe, are the +same," returned De Haldimar. "They were addressed to 'Reginald;' and +Halloway, I think you have told me, was so called by his unhappy wife." +</P> + +<P> +"There can be little doubt they are the same," said Captain +Blessington; "but what were their contents, and by whom written, that +you deem they prove a connection between the unhappy soldier and your +family?" +</P> + +<P> +De Haldimar felt the blood rise into his cheek, at this natural but +unexpected demand. "I am sure, Blessington," he replied, after a pause, +"you will not think me capable of unworthy mystery towards yourself but +the contents of these letters are sacred, inasmuch as they relate only +to circumstances connected with my father's family." +</P> + +<P> +"This is singular indeed," exclaimed Captain Blessington, in a tone +that marked his utter and unqualified astonishment at what had now been +disclosed to him; "but surely, Charles," he pursued, "if the packet +handed me by Halloway were the same you allude to, he would have caused +the transfer to have been made before the period chosen by him for that +purpose." +</P> + +<P> +"But the name," pursued De Haldimar; "how are we to separate the +identity of the packets, when we recur to that name of 'Reginald?'" +</P> + +<P> +"True," rejoined the musing Blessington; "there is a mystery in this +that baffles all my powers of penetration. Were I in possession of the +contents of the letters, I might find some clue to solve the enigma: +but—" +</P> + +<P> +"You surely do not mean this as a reproach, Blessington?" fervently +interrupted the youth. "More I dare not, cannot say, for the secret is +not my own; and feelings, which it would be dishonour to outrage, alone +bind me to silence. What little I have revealed to you even now, has +been uttered in confidence. I hope you have so understood it." +</P> + +<P> +"Perfectly, Charles. What you have stated, goes no further; but we have +been too long absent from our guard, and I confess I have no particular +fancy for remaining in this chill night-air. Let us return." +</P> + +<P> +De Haldimar made no opposition, and they both prepared to quit the +rampart. As they passed the sentinel stationed at that point where the +Indian had been first seen, their attention was directed by him to a +fire that now suddenly rose, apparently at a great distance, and +rapidly increased in volume. The singularity of this occurrence riveted +the officers for a moment in silent observation; until Captain +Blessington at length ventured a remark, that, judging from the +direction, and the deceptive nature of the element at night, he should +incline to think it was the hut of the Canadian burning. +</P> + +<P> +"Which is another additional proof, were any such wanting, that every +thing is lost," mournfully urged the ever apprehensive De Haldimar. +"Francois has been detected in rendering aid to our friends; and the +Indians, in all probability, after having immolated their victim, are +sacrificing his property to their rage." +</P> + +<P> +During this exchange of opinions, the officers had again moved to the +opposite point of the limited walk of the younger. Scarcely had they +reached it, and before Captain Blessington could find time to reply to +the fears of his friend, when a loud and distant booming like that of a +cannon was heard in the direction of the fire. The alarm was given +hastily by the sentinels, and sounds of preparation and arming were +audible in the course of a minute or two every where throughout the +fort. Startled by the report, which they had half inclined to imagine +produced by the discharge of one of their own guns, the half slumbering +officers had quitted the chairs in which they had passed the night in +the mess-room, and were soon at the side of their more watchful +companions, then anxiously listening for a repetition of the sound. +</P> + +<P> +The day was just beginning to dawn, and as the atmosphere cleared +gradually away, it was perceived the fire rose not from the hut of the +Canadian, but at a point considerably beyond it. Unusual as it was to +see a large fire of this description, its appearance became an object +of minor consideration, since it might be attributed to some caprice or +desire on the part of the Indians to excite apprehension in their +enemies. But how was the report which had reached their ears to be +accounted for? It evidently could only have been produced by the +discharge of a cannon; and if so, where could the Indians have procured +it? No such arm had recently been in their possession; and if it were, +they were totally unacquainted with the manner of serving it. +</P> + +<P> +As the day became more developed, the mystery was resolved. Every +telescope in the fort had been called into requisition; and as they +were now levelled in the direction of the fire, sweeping the line of +horizon around, exclamations of surprise escaped the lips of several. +</P> + +<P> +"The fire is at the near extremity of the wood on Hog Island," +exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone. "I can distinctly see the forms of a +multitude of savages dancing round it with hideous gestures and +menacing attitudes." +</P> + +<P> +"They are dancing their infernal war dance," said Captain Wentworth. +"How I should like to be able to discharge a twenty-four pound battery, +loaded with grape, into the very heart of the devilish throng." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you see any prisoners?—Are any of our friends among them?" eagerly +and tremblingly enquired De Haldimar of the officer who had last spoken. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Wentworth made a sweep of his glass along the shores of the +island; but apparently without success. He announced that he could +discover nothing but a vast number of bark canoes lying dry and +upturned on the beach. +</P> + +<P> +"It is an unusual hour for their war dance," observed Captain +Blessington. "My experience furnishes me with no one instance in which +it has not been danced previous to their retiring to rest." +</P> + +<P> +"Unless," said Lieutenant Boyce, "they should have been thus engaged +all night; in which case the singularity may be explained." +</P> + +<P> +"Look, look," eagerly remarked Lieutenant Johnstone—"see how they are +flying to their canoes, bounding and leaping like so many devils broke +loose from their chains. The fire is nearly deserted already." +</P> + +<P> +"The schooner—the schooner!" shouted Captain Erskine. "By Heaven, our +own gallant schooner! see how beautifully she drives past the island. +It was her gun we heard, intended as a signal to prepare us for her +appearance." +</P> + +<P> +A thrill of wild and indescribable emotion passed through every heart. +Every eye was turned upon the point to which attention was now +directed. The graceful vessel, with every stitch of canvass set, was +shooting rapidly past the low bushes skirting the sands that still +concealed her hull; and in a moment or two she loomed largely and +proudly on the bosom of the Detroit, the surface of which was slightly +curled with a north-western breeze. +</P> + +<P> +"Safe, by Jupiter!" exclaimed the delighted Erskine, dropping the glass +upon the rampart, and rubbing his hands together with every +manifestation of joy. +</P> + +<P> +"The Indians are in chase," said Lieutenant Boyce; "upwards of fifty +canoes are following in the schooner's wake. But Danvers will soon give +us an account of their Lilliputian fleet." +</P> + +<P> +"Let the troops be held in readiness for a sortie, Mr. Lawson," said +the governor, who had joined his officers just as the schooner cleared +the island; "we must cover their landing, or, with this host of savages +in pursuit, they will never effect it alive." +</P> + +<P> +During the whole of this brief but exciting scene, the heart of Charles +de Haldimar beat audibly. A thousand hopes and fears rushed confusedly +on his mind, and he was as one bewildered by, and scarcely crediting +what he saw. Could Clara,—could his cousin—could his brother—could +his friend be on board? He scarcely dared to ask himself these +questions; still it was with a fluttering heart, in which hope, +however, predominated, that he hastened to execute an order of his +captain, that bore immediate reference to his duty as subaltern of the +guard. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0305"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<P> +Meanwhile the schooner dashed rapidly along, her hull occasionally hid +from the view of those assembled on the ramparts by some intervening +orchard or cluster of houses, but her tall spars glittering in their +covering of white canvass, and marking the direction of her course. At +length she came to a point in the river that offered no other +interruption to the eye than what arose from the presence of almost all +the inhabitants of the village, who, urged by curiosity and surprise, +were to be seen crowding the intervening bank. Here the schooner was +suddenly put about, and the English colours, hitherto concealed by the +folds of the canvass, were at length discovered proudly floating in the +breeze. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately over the gateway of the fort there was an elevated +platform, approached by the rampart, of which it formed a part, by some +half dozen rude steps on either side; and on this platform was placed a +long eighteen pounder, that commanded the whole extent of road leading +from the drawbridge to the river. Hither the officers had all repaired, +while the schooner was in the act of passing the town; and now that, +suddenly brought up in the wind's eye, she rode leisurely in the +offing, every movement on her decks was plainly discernible with the +telescope. +</P> + +<P> +"Where the devil can Danvers have hid all his crew?" first spoke +Captain Erskine; "I count but half a dozen hands altogether on deck, +and these are barely sufficient to work her." +</P> + +<P> +"Lying concealed, and ready, no doubt, to give the canoes a warm +reception," observed Lieutenant Johnstone; "but where can our friends +be? Surely, if there, they would show themselves to us." +</P> + +<P> +There was truth in this remark; and each felt discouraged and +disappointed that they did not appear. +</P> + +<P> +"There come the whooping hell fiends," said Major Blackwater. "By +Heaven! the very water is darkened with the shadows of their canoes." +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had he spoken, when the vessel was suddenly surrounded by a +multitude of savages, whose fierce shouts rent the air, while their +dripping paddles, gleaming like silver in the rays of the rising sun, +were alternately waved aloft in triumph, and then plunged into the +troubled element, which they spurned in fury from their blades. +</P> + +<P> +"What can Danvers be about? Why does he not either open his fire, or +crowd sail and away from them?" exclaimed several voices. +</P> + +<P> +"The detachment is in readiness, sir," said Mr. Lawson, ascending the +platform, and addressing Major Blackwater. +</P> + +<P> +"The deck, the deck!" shouted Erskine. +</P> + +<P> +Already the eyes of several were bent in the direction alluded to by +the last speaker, while those whose attention had been diverted by the +approaching canoes glanced rapidly to the same point. To the surprise +and consternation of all, the tall and well-remembered form of the +warrior of the Fleur de lis was seen towering far above the bulwarks of +the schooner; and with an expression in the attitude he had assumed, +which no one could mistake for other than that of triumphant defiance. +Presently he drew from the bosom of his hunting coat a dark parcel, and +springing into the rigging of the main-mast, ascended with incredible +activity to the point where the English ensign was faintly floating in +the breeze. This he tore furiously away, and rending it into many +pieces, cast the fragments into the silver element beneath him, on +whose bosom they were seen to float among the canoes of the savages, +many of whom possessed themselves, with eagerness, of the gaudy +coloured trophies. The dark parcel was now unfolded by the active +warrior, who, after having waved it several times round his head, +commenced attaching it to the lines whence the English ensign had so +recently been torn. It was a large black flag, the purport of which was +too readily comprehended by the excited officers. +</P> + +<P> +"D—n the ruffian! can we not manage to make that, flag serve as his +own winding sheet?" exclaimed Captain Erskine. "Come, Wentworth, give +us a second edition of the sortie firing; I know no man who understands +pointing a gun better than yourself, and this eighteen pounder might do +some mischief." +</P> + +<P> +The idea was instantly caught at by the officer of artillery, who read +his consent in the eye of Colonel de Haldimar. His companions made way +on either side; and several gunners, who were already at their +stations, having advanced to work the piece at the command of their +captain, it was speedily brought to bear upon the schooner. +</P> + +<P> +"This will do, I think," said Wentworth, as, glancing his experienced +eye carefully along the gun, he found it pointed immediately on the +gigantic frame of the warrior. "If this chain-shot miss him, it will be +through no fault of mine." +</P> + +<P> +Every eye was now riveted on the main-mast of the schooner, where the +warrior was still engaged in attaching the portentous flag. The gunner, +who held the match, obeyed the silent signal of his captain; and the +massive iron was heard rushing past the officers, bound on its +murderous mission. A moment or two of intense anxiety elapsed; and when +at length the rolling volumes of smoke gradually floated away, to the +dismay and disappointment of all, the fierce warrior was seen standing +apparently unharmed on the same spot in the rigging. The shot had, +however, been well aimed, for a large rent in the outstretched canvass, +close at his side, and about mid-height of his person, marked the +direction it had taken. Again he tore away, and triumphantly waved the +black flag around his head, while from his capacious lungs there burst +yells of defiance and scorn, that could be distinguished for his own +even at that distance. This done, he again secured the death symbol to +its place; and gliding to the deck by a single rope, appeared to give +orders to the few men of the crew who were to be seen; for every stitch +of canvass was again made to fill, and the vessel, bounding forward +before the breeze then blowing upon her quarter, shot rapidly behind +the town, and was finally seen to cast anchor in the navigable channel +that divides Hog Island from the shores of Canada. +</P> + +<P> +At the discharge of the eighteen pounder, the river had been suddenly +cleared, as if by magic, of every canoe; while, warned by the same +danger, the groups of inhabitants, assembled on the bank, had rushed +for shelter to their respective homes; so that, when the schooner +disappeared, not a vestige of human life was to be seen along that +vista so recently peopled with human forms. An order from Colonel de +Haldimar to the adjutant, countermanding the sortie, was the first +interruption to the silence that had continued to pervade the little +band of officers; and two or three of these having hastened to the +western front of the rampart, in order to obtain a more distinct view +of the movements of the schooner, their example was speedily followed +by the remainder, all of whom now quitted the platform, and repaired to +the same point. +</P> + +<P> +Here, with the aid of their telescopes, they again distinctly commanded +a view of the vessel, which lay motionless close under the sandy beach +of the island, and exhibiting all the technicalities of skill in the +disposition of sails and yards peculiar to the profession. In vain, +however, was every eye strained to discover, among the multitude of +savages that kept momentarily leaping to her deck, the forms of those +in whom they were most interested. A group of some half dozen men, +apparently common sailors, and those, in all probability, whose +services had been compelled in the working of the vessel, were the only +evidences that civilised man formed a portion of that grotesque +assemblage. These, with their arms evidently bound behind their backs, +and placed on one of the gangways, were only visible at intervals, as +the band of savages that surrounded them, brandishing their tomahawks +around their heads, occasionally left an opening in their circle. The +formidable warrior of the Fleur de lis was no longer to be seen, +although the flag which he had hoisted still fluttered in the breeze. +</P> + +<P> +"All is lost, then," ejaculated the governor, with a mournfulness of +voice and manner that caused many of his officers to turn and regard +him with surprise. "That black flag announces the triumph of my foe in +the too certain destruction of my children. Now, indeed," he concluded +in a lower tone, "for the first time, does the curse of Ellen Halloway +sit heavily on my soul." +</P> + +<P> +A deep sigh burst from one immediately behind him. The governor turned +suddenly round, and beheld his son. Never did human countenance wear a +character of more poignant misery than that of the unhappy Charles at +the moment. Attracted by the report of the cannon, he had flown to the +rampart to ascertain the cause, and had reached his companions only to +learn the strong hope so recently kindled in his breast was fled for +ever. His cheek, over which hung his neglected hair, was now pale as +marble, and his lips bloodless and parted; yet, notwithstanding this +intensity of personal sorrow, a tear had started to his eye, apparently +wrung from him by this unusual expression of dismay in his father. +</P> + +<P> +"Charles—my son—my only now remaining child," murmured the governor +with emotion, as he remarked, and started at the death-like image of +the youth; "look not thus, or you will utterly unman me." +</P> + +<P> +A sudden and involuntary impulse caused him to extend his arms. The +young officer sprang forward into the proffered embrace, and sank his +head upon the cheek of his father. It was the first time he had enjoyed +that privilege since his childhood; and even overwhelmed as he was by +his affliction, he felt it deeply. +</P> + +<P> +This short but touching scene was witnessed by their companions, +without levity in any, and with emotion by several. None felt more +gratified at this demonstration of parental affection for the sensitive +boy, than Blessington and Erskine. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot yet persuade myself," observed the former officer, as the +colonel again assumed that dignity of demeanour which had been +momentarily lost sight of in the ebullition of his feelings,—"I cannot +yet persuade myself things are altogether so bad as they appear. It is +true the schooner is in the possession of the enemy, but there is +nothing to prove our friends are on board." +</P> + +<P> +"If you had reason to know HIM into whose hands she has fallen, as I +do, you would think differently, Captain Blessington," returned the +governor. "That mysterious being," he pursued, after a short pause, +"would never have made this parade of his conquest, had it related +merely to a few lives, which to him are of utter insignificance. The +very substitution of yon black flag, in his insolent triumph, was the +pledge of redemption of a threat breathed in my ear within this very +fort: on what occasion I need not state, since the events connected +with that unhappy night are still fresh in the recollections of us all. +That he is my personal enemy, gentlemen, it would be vain to disguise +from you; although who he is, or of what nature his enmity, it imports +not now to enter upon Suffice it, I have little doubt my children are +in his power; but whether the black flag indicates they are no more, or +that the tragedy is only in preparation, I confess I am at a loss to +understand." +</P> + +<P> +Deeply affected by the evident despondency that had dictated these +unusual admissions on the part of their chief, the officers were +forward to combat the inferences he had drawn: several coinciding in +the opinion now expressed by Captain Wentworth, that the fact of the +schooner having fallen into the hands of the savages by no means +implied the capture of the fort whence she came; since it was not at +all unlikely she had been chased during a calm by the numerous canoes +into the Sinclair, where, owing to the extreme narrowness of the river, +she had fallen an easy prey. +</P> + +<P> +"Moreover," observed Captain Blessington, "it is highly improbable the +ferocious warrior could have succeeded in capturing any others than the +unfortunate crew of the schooner; for had this been the case, he would +not have lost the opportunity of crowning his triumph by exhibiting his +victims to our view in some conspicuous part of the vessel." +</P> + +<P> +"This, I grant you," rejoined the governor, "to be one solitary +circumstance in our favour; but may it not, after all, merely prove +that our worst apprehensions are already realised?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is not one, methinks, since vengeance seems his aim, to exercise it +in so summary, and therefore merciful, a manner. Depend upon it, +colonel, had any of those in whom we are more immediately interested, +fallen into his hands, he would not have failed to insult and agonize +us by an exhibition of his prisoners." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right, Blessington," exclaimed Charles de Haldimar, in a voice +that his choking feelings rendered almost sepulchral; "he is not one to +exercise his vengeance in a summary, and merciful manner. The deed is +yet unaccomplished, for even now the curse of Ellen Halloway rings +again in my ear, and tells me the atoning blood must be spilt on the +grave of her husband." +</P> + +<P> +The peculiar tone in which these words were uttered, caused every one +present to turn and regard the speaker, for they recalled the prophetic +language of the unhappy woman. There was now a wildness of expression +in his handsome features, marking the mind utterly dead to hope, yet +struggling to work itself up to passive endurance of the worst. Colonel +de Haldimar sighed painfully, as he bent his eye half reproachfully on +the dull and attenuated features of his son; and although he spoke not, +his look betrayed the anguish that allusion had called up to his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, my father," exclaimed the youth, grasping a hand that was +reluctantly extended. "I meant it not in unkindness; but indeed I have +ever had the conviction strongly impressed on my spirit. I know I +appear weak, childish, unsoldierlike; yet can it be wondered at, when I +have been so often latterly deceived by false hopes, that now my heart +has room for no other tenant than despair. I am very wretched," he +pursued, with affecting despondency; "in the presence of my companions +do I admit it, but they all know how I loved my sister. Can they then +feel surprise, that having lost not only her, but my brother and my +friend, I should be the miserable thing I am." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar turned away, much affected; and throwing his back +against the sentry box near him, passed his hand over his eyes, and +remained for a few moments motionless. +</P> + +<P> +"Charles, Charles, is this your promise to me?" whispered Captain +Blessington, as he approached and took the hand of his unhappy friend. +"Is this the self-command you pledged yourself to exercise? For +Heaven's sake, agitate not your father thus, by the indulgence of a +grief that can have no other tendency than to render him equally +wretched. Be advised by me, and quit the rampart. Return to your guard, +and endeavour to compose yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! what new movement is that on the part of the savages?" exclaimed +Captain Erskine, who had kept his glass to his eye mechanically, and +chiefly with a view of hiding the emotion produced in him by the almost +infantine despair of the younger De Haldimar: "surely it is—yet, no, +it cannot be—yes, see how they are dragging several prisoners from the +wood to the beach. I can distinctly see a man in a blanket coat, and +two others considerably taller, and apparently sailors. But look, +behind them are two females in European dress. Almighty Heaven! there +can be no doubt." +</P> + +<P> +A painful pause ensued. Every other glass and eye was levelled in the +same direction; and, even as Erskine had described it, a party of +Indians were seen, by those who had the telescopes, conducting five +prisoners towards a canoe that lay in the channel communicating from +the island with the main land on the Detroit shore. Into the bottom of +these they were presently huddled, so that only their heads and +shoulders were visible above the gunwale of the frail bark. Presently a +tall warrior was seen bounding from the wood towards the beach. The +crowd of gesticulating Indians made way, and the warrior was seen to +stoop and apply his shoulder to the canoe, one half of which was high +and dry upon the sands. The heavily laden vessel obeyed the impetus +with a rapidity that proved the muscular power of him who gave it. Like +some wild animal, instinct with life, it lashed the foaming waters from +its bows, and left a deep and gurgling furrow where it passed. As it +quitted the shore, the warrior sprang lightly in, taking his station at +the stern; and while his tall and remarkable figure bent nimbly to the +movement, he dashed his paddle from right to left alternately in the +stream, with a quickness that rendered it almost invisible to the eye. +Presently the canoe disappeared round an intervening headland, and the +officers lost sight of it altogether. +</P> + +<P> +"The portrait, Charles; what have you done with the portrait?" +exclaimed Captain Blessington, actuated by a sudden recollection, and +with a trepidation in his voice and manner that spoke volumes of +despair to the younger De Haldimar. "This is our only hope of solving +the mystery. Quick, give me the portrait, if you have it." +</P> + +<P> +The young officer hurriedly tore the miniature from the breast of his +uniform, and pitched it through the interval that separated him from +his captain, who stood a few feet off; but with so uncertain and +trembling an aim, it missed the hand extended to secure it, and fell +upon the very stone the youth had formerly pointed out to Blessington, +as marking the particular spot on which he stood during the execution +of Halloway. The violence of the fall separated the back of the frame +from the picture itself, when suddenly a piece of white and crumpled +paper, apparently part of the back of a letter, yet cut to the size and +shape of the miniature, was exhibited to the view of all. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" resumed the gratified Blessington, as he stooped to possess +himself of the prize; "I knew the miniature would be found to contain +some intelligence from our friends. It is only this moment it occurred +to me to take it to pieces, but accident has anticipated my purpose. +May the omen prove a good one! But what have we here?" +</P> + +<P> +With some difficulty, the anxious officer now succeeded in making out +the characters, which, in default of pen or pencil, had been formed by +the pricking of a fine pin on the paper. The broken sentences, on which +the whole of the group now hung with greedy ear, ran nearly as +follows:—"All is lost. Michilimackinac is taken. We are prisoners, and +doomed to die within eight and forty hours. Alas! Clara and Madeline +are of our number. Still there is a hope, if my father deem it prudent +to incur the risk. A surprise, well managed, may do much; but it must +be tomorrow night; forty-eight hours more, and it will be of no avail. +He who will deliver this is our friend, and the enemy of my father's +enemy. He will be in the same spot at the same hour to-morrow night, +and will conduct the detachment to wherever we may chance to be. If you +fail in your enterprise, receive our last prayers for a less disastrous +fate. God bless you all!" +</P> + +<P> +The blood ran coldly through every vein during the perusal of these +important sentences, but not one word of comment was offered by an +individual of the group. No explanation was necessary. The captives in +the canoe, the tall warrior in its stern, all sufficiently betrayed the +horrible truth. +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar at length turned an enquiring look at his two +captains, and then addressing the adjutant, asked— +</P> + +<P> +"What companies are off duty to-day, Mr. Lawson?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mine," said Blessington, with an energy that denoted how deeply +rejoiced he felt at the fact, and without giving the adjutant time to +reply. +</P> + +<P> +"And mine," impetuously added Captain Erskine; "and, by G—! I will +answer for them; they never embarked on a duty of the sort with greater +zeal than they will on this occasion." +</P> + +<P> +"Gentlemen, I thank you," said Colonel de Haldimar, with deep emotion, +as he stepped forward and grasped in turn the hands of the +generous-hearted officers. "To Heaven, and to your exertions, do I +commit my children." +</P> + +<P> +"Any artillery, colonel?" enquired the officer of that corps. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Wentworth, no artillery. Whatever remains to be done, must be +achieved by the bayonet alone, and under favour of the darkness. +Gentlemen, again I thank you for this generous interest in my +children—this forwardness in an enterprise on which depend the lives +of so many dear friends. I am not one given to express warm emotion, +but I do, indeed, appreciate this conduct deeply." He then moved away, +desiring Mr. Lawson, as he quitted the rampart, to cause the men for +this service to be got in instant readiness. +</P> + +<P> +Following the example of their colonel, Captains Blessington and +Erskine quitted the rampart also, hastening to satisfy themselves by +personal inspection of the efficiency in all respects of their several +companies; and in a few minutes, the only individual to be seen in that +quarter of the works was the sentinel, who had been a silent and pained +witness of all that had passed among his officers. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0306"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<P> +Doubtless, many of our readers are prepared to expect that the doom of +the unfortunate Frank Halloway was, as an officer of his regiment had +already hinted, the fruit of some personal pique and concealed motive +of vengeance; and that the denouement of our melancholy story will +afford evidence of the governor's knowledge of the true character of +him, who, under an assumed name, excited such general interest at his +trial and death, not only among his military superiors, but those with +whom his adverse destiny had more immediately associated him. It has +already been urged to us, by one or two of our critical friends to whom +we have submitted what has been thus far written in our tale, that, to +explain satisfactorily and consistently the extreme severity of the +governor, some secret and personally influencing motive must be +assigned; but to these we have intimated, what we now repeat,—namely, +that we hope to bear out our story, by natural explanation and simple +deduction. Who Frank Halloway really was, or what the connection +existing between him and the mysterious enemy of the family of De +Haldimar, the sequel of our narrative will show; but whatever its +nature, and however well founded the apprehension of the governor of +the formidable being hitherto known as the warrior of the Fleur de lis, +and however strong his conviction that the devoted Halloway and his +enemy were in secret correspondence, certain it is, that, to the very +hour of the death of the former, he knew him as no other than the +simple private soldier. +</P> + +<P> +To have ascribed to Colonel de Haldimar motives that would have induced +his eagerly seeking the condemnation of an innocent man, either to +gratify a thirst of vengeance, or to secure immunity against personal +danger, would have been to have painted him, not only as a villain, but +a coward. Colonel de Haldimar was neither; but, on the contrary, what +is understood in worldly parlance and the generally received +acceptation of the terms, a man of strict integrity and honour, as well +as of the most undisputed courage. Still, he was a severe and a haughty +man,—one whose military education had been based on the principles of +the old school—and to whom the command of a regiment afforded a field +for the exercise of an orthodox despotism, that could not be passed +over without the immolation of many a victim on its rugged surface. +Without ever having possessed any thing like acute feeling, his heart, +as nature had formed it, was moulded to receive the ordinary +impressions of humanity; and had he been doomed to move in the sphere +of private life, if he had not been distinguished by any remarkable +sensibilities, he would not, in all probability, have been conspicuous +for any extraordinary cruelties. Sent into the army, however, at an +early age, and with a blood not remarkable for its mercurial aptitudes, +he had calmly and deliberately imbibed all the starched theories and +standard prejudices which a mind by no means naturally gifted was but +too well predisposed to receive; and he was among the number of those +(many of whom are indigenous to our soil even at the present day) who +look down from a rank obtained, upon that which has been just quitted, +with a contempt, and coldness, and consciousness of elevation, +commensurate only with the respect paid to those still above them, and +which it belongs only to the little-minded to indulge in. +</P> + +<P> +As a subaltern, M. de Haldimar had ever been considered a pattern of +rigid propriety and decorum of conduct. Not the shadow of military +crime had ever been laid to his charge. He was punctual at all parades +and drills; kept the company to which he was attached in a perfect hot +water of discipline; never missed his distance in marching past, or +failed in a military manoeuvre; paid his mess-bill regularly to the +hour, nay, minute, of the settling day; and was never, on any one +occasion, known to enter the paymaster's office, except on the +well-remembered 24th of each month; and, to crown all, he had never +asked, consequently never obtained, a day's leave from his regiment, +although he had served in it so long, that there was now but one man +living who had entered it with him. With all these qualities, Ensign de +Haldimar promised to make an excellent soldier; and, as such, was +encouraged by the field-officers of the corps, who unhesitatingly +pronounced him a lad of discernment and talent, who would one day rival +them in all the glorious privileges of martinetism. It was even +remarked, as an evidence of his worth, that, when promoted to a +lieutenancy, he looked down upon the ensigns with that becoming +condescension which befitted his new rank; and up to the captains with +the deferential respect he felt to be due to that third step in the +five-barred gate of regimental promotion, on which his aspiring but +chained foot had not yet succeeded in reposing. What, therefore, he +became when he had succeeded in clambering to the top, and looked down +from the lordly height he had after many years of plodding service +obtained, we must leave it to the imaginations of our readers to +determine. We reserve it to a future page, to relate more interesting +particulars. +</P> + +<P> +Sufficient has been shown, however, from this outline of his character, +as well as from the conversations among his officers, elsewhere +transcribed, to account for the governor's conduct in the case of +Halloway. That the recommendation of his son, Captain de Haldimar, had +not been attended to, arose not from any particular ill-will towards +the unhappy man, but simply because he had always been in the habit of +making his own selections from the ranks, and that the present +recommendation had been warmly urged by one who he fancied pretended to +a discrimination superior to his own, in pointing out merits that had +escaped his observation. It might be, too, that there was a latent +pride about the manner of Halloway that displeased and dissatisfied one +who looked upon his subordinates as things that were amenable to the +haughtiness of his glance,—not enough of deference in his demeanour, +or of supplicating obsequiousness in his speech, to entitle him to the +promotion prayed for. Whatever the motive, there was nothing of +personality to influence him in the rejection of the appeal made in +favour of one who had never injured him; but who, on the contrary, as +the whole of the regiment could attest, had saved the life of his son. +</P> + +<P> +Rigid disciplinarian as he was, and holding himself responsible for the +safety of the garrison it was but natural, when the discovery had been +made of the unaccountable unfastening of the gate of the fort, +suspicion of no ordinary kind should attach to the sentinel posted +there; and that he should steadily refuse all credence to a story +wearing so much appearance of improbability. Proud, and inflexible, and +bigoted to first impressions, his mind was closed against those +palliating circumstances, which, adduced by Halloway in his defence, +had so mainly contributed to stamp the conviction of his moral +innocence on the minds of his judges and the attentive auditory; and +could he even have conquered his pride so far as to have admitted the +belief of that innocence, still the military crime of which he had been +guilty, in infringing a positive order of the garrison, was in itself +sufficient to call forth all the unrelenting severity of his nature. +Throughout the whole of the proceedings subsequently instituted, he had +acted and spoken from a perfect conviction of the treason of the +unfortunate soldier, and with the fullest impression of the falsehood +of all that had been offered in his defence. The considerations that +influenced the minds of his officers, found no entrance into his proud +breast, which was closed against every thing but his own dignified +sense of superior judgment. Could he, like them, have given credence to +the tale of Halloway, or really have believed that Captain de Haldimar, +educated under his own military eye, could have been so wanting in +subordination, as not merely to have infringed a positive order of the +garrison, but to have made a private soldier of that garrison accessary +to his delinquency, it is more than probable his stern habits of +military discipline would have caused him to overlook the offence of +the soldier, in deeper indignation at the conduct of the infinitely +more culpable officer; but not one word did he credit of a statement, +which he assumed to have been got up by the prisoner with the mere view +of shielding himself from punishment: and when to these suspicions of +his fidelity was attached the fact of the introduction of his alarming +visitor, it must be confessed his motives for indulging in this belief +were not without foundation. +</P> + +<P> +The impatience manifested during the trial of Halloway was not a result +of any desire of systematic persecution, but of a sense of wounded +dignity. It was a thing unheard of, and unpardonable in his eyes, for a +private soldier to assert, in his presence, his honour and his +respectability in extenuation, even while admitting the justice of a +specific charge; and when he remarked the Court listening with that +profound attention, which the peculiar history of the prisoner had +excited, he could not repress the manifestation of his anger. In +justice to him, however, it must be acknowledged that, in causing the +charge, to which the unfortunate man pleaded guilty, to be framed, he +had only acted from the conviction that, on the two first, there was +not sufficient evidence to condemn one whose crime was as clearly +established, to his judgment, as if he had been an eye-witness of the +treason. It is true, he availed himself of Halloway's voluntary +confession, to effect his condemnation; but estimating him as a +traitor, he felt little delicacy was necessary to be observed on that +score. +</P> + +<P> +Much of the despotic military character of Colonel de Haldimar had been +communicated to his private life; so much, indeed, that his sons,—both +of whom, it has been seen, were of natures that belied their origin +from so stern a stock,—were kept at nearly as great a distance from +him as any other subordinates of his regiment. But although he seldom +indulged in manifestations of parental regard towards those whom he +looked upon rather as inferiors in military rank, than as beings +connected with him by the ties of blood, Colonel de Haldimar was not +without that instinctive love for his children, which every animal in +the creation feels for its offspring. He, also, valued and took a pride +in, because they reflected a certain degree of lustre upon himself, the +talents and accomplishments of his eldest son, who, moreover, was a +brave, enterprising officer, and, only wanted, in his father's +estimation, that severity of carriage and hauteur of deportment, +befitting HIS son, to render him perfect. As for Charles,—the gentle, +bland, winning, universally conciliating Charles,—he looked upon him +as a mere weak boy, who could never hope to arrive at any post of +distinction, if only by reason of the extreme delicacy of his physical +organisation; and to have shown any thing like respect for his +character, or indulged in any expression of tenderness for one so far +below his estimate of what a soldier, a child of his, ought to be, +would have been a concession of which his proud nature was incapable. +In his daughter Clara, however, the gentleness of sex claimed that +warmer affection which was denied to him, who resembled her in almost +every attribute of mind and person. Colonel de Haldimar doated on his +daughter with a tenderness, for which few, who were familiar with his +harsh and unbending nature, ever gave him credit. She was the image of +one on whom all of love that he had ever known had been centered; and +he had continued in Clara an affection, that seemed in itself to form a +portion, distinct and apart, of his existence. +</P> + +<P> +We have already seen, as stated by Charles de Haldimar to the +unfortunate wife of Halloway, with what little success he had pleaded +in the interview he had requested of his father, for the preserver of +his gallant brother's life; and we have also seen how equally +inefficient was the lowly and supplicating anguish of that wretched +being, when, on quitting the apartment of his son, Colonel de Haldimar +had so unexpectedly found himself clasped in her despairing embrace. +There was little to be expected from an intercession on the part of one +claiming so little ascendancy over his father's heart, as the +universally esteemed young officer; still less from one who, in her +shriek of agony, had exposed the haughty chief to the observation both +of men and officers, and under circumstances that caused his position +to border on the ludicrous. But however these considerations might have +failed in effect, there was another which, as a soldier, he could not +wholly overlook. Although he had offered no comment on the +extraordinary recommendation to mercy annexed to the sentence of the +prisoner, it had had a certain weight with him; and he felt, all +absolute even as he was, he could not, without exciting strong +dissatisfaction among his troops, refuse attention to a document so +powerfully worded, and bearing the signature and approval of so old and +valued an officer as Captain Blessington. His determination, therefore, +had been formed, even before his visit to his son, to act as +circumstances might require; and, in the mean while, he commanded every +preparation for the execution to be made. +</P> + +<P> +In causing a strong detachment to be marched to the conspicuous point +chosen for his purpose, he had acted from a conviction of the necessity +of showing the enemy the treason of the soldier had been detected; +reserving to himself the determination of carrying the sentence into +full effect, or pardoning the condemned, as the event might warrant. +Not one moment, meanwhile, did he doubt the guilt of Halloway, whose +description of the person of his enemy was, in itself, to him, +confirmatory evidence of his treason. It is doubtful whether he would, +in any way, have been influenced by the recommendation of the Court, +had the first charges been substantiated; but as there was nothing but +conjecture to bear out these, and as the prisoner had been convicted +only on the ground of suffering Captain de Haldimar to quit the fort +contrary to orders, he felt he might possibly go too far in carrying +the capital punishment into effect, in decided opposition to the +general feeling of the garrison,—both of officers and men. +</P> + +<P> +When the shot was subsequently fired from the hut of the Canadian, and +the daring rifleman recognised as the same fearful individual who had +gained access to his apartment the preceding night, conviction of the +guilt of Halloway came even deeper home to the mind of the governor. It +was through Francois alone that a communication was kept up secretly +between the garrison and several of the Canadians without the fort; and +the very fact of the mysterious warrior having been there so recently +after his daring enterprise, bore evidence that whatever treason was in +operation, had been carried on through the instrumentality of mine host +of the Fleur de lis. In proof, moreover, there was the hat of Donellan, +and the very rope Halloway had stated to be that by which the +unfortunate officer had effected his exit. Colonel de Haldimar was not +one given to indulge in the mysterious or to believe in the romantic. +Every thing was plain matter of fact, as it now appeared before him; +and he thought it evident, as though it had been written in words of +fire, that if his son and his unfortunate servant had quitted the fort +in the manner represented, it was no less certain they had been forced +off by a party, at the head of whom was his vindictive enemy, and with +the connivance of Halloway. We have seen, that after the discovery of +the sex of the supposed drummer-boy when the prisoners were confronted +together, Colonel de Haldimar had closely watched the expression of +their countenances, but failed in discovering any thing that could be +traced into evidence of a guilty recognition. Still he conceived his +original impression to have been too forcibly borne out, even by the +events of the last half hour, to allow this to have much weight with +him; and his determination to carry the thing through all its fearful +preliminary stages became more and more confirmed. +</P> + +<P> +In adopting this resolution in the first instance, he was not without a +hope that Halloway, standing, as he must feel himself to be, on the +verge of the grave, might be induced to make confession of his guilt, +and communicate whatever particulars might prove essential not only to +the safety of the garrison generally, but to himself individually, as +far as his personal enemy was concerned. With this view, he had charged +Captain Blessington, in the course of their march from the hut to the +fatal bridge, to promise a full pardon, provided he should make such +confession of his crime as would lead to a just appreciation of the +evils likely to result from the treason that had in part been +accomplished. Even in making this provision, however, which was met by +the prisoner with solemn yet dignified reiteration of his innocence, +Colonel de Haldimar had not made the refusal of pardon altogether +conclusive in his own mind: still, in adopting this plan, there was a +chance of obtaining a confession; and not until there was no longer a +prospect of the unhappy man being led into that confession, did he feel +it imperative on him to stay the progress of the tragedy. +</P> + +<P> +What the result would have been, had not Halloway, in the strong +excitement of his feelings, sprung to his feet upon the coffin, +uttering the exclamation of triumph recorded in the last pages of our +first volume, is scarcely doubtful. However much the governor might +have contemned and slighted a credulity in which he in no way +participated himself, he had too much discrimination not to perceive, +that to have persevered in the capital punishment would have been to +have rendered himself personally obnoxious to the comrades of the +condemned, whose dispirited air and sullen mien, he clearly saw, +denounced the punishment as one of unnecessary rigour. The haughty +commander was not one to be intimidated by manifestations of +discontent; neither was he one to brook a spirit of insubordination, +however forcibly supported; but he had too much experience and military +judgment, not to determine that this was riot a moment, by foregoing an +act of compulsory clemency, to instil divisions in the garrison, when +the safety of all so much depended on the cheerfulness and unanimity +with which they lent themselves to the arduous duties of defence. +</P> + +<P> +However originating in policy, the lenity he might have been induced to +have shown, all idea of the kind was chased from his mind by the +unfortunate action of the prisoner. At the moment when the distant +heights resounded with the fierce yells of the savages, and leaping +forms came bounding down the slope, the remarkable warrior of the Fleur +de lis—the fearful enemy who had whispered the most demoniac vengeance +in his ears the preceding night—was the only one that met and riveted +the gaze of the governor. He paused not to observe or to think who the +flying man could be of whom the mysterious warrior was in +pursuit,—neither did it, indeed, occur to him that it was a pursuit at +all. But one idea suggested itself to his mind, and that was an attempt +at rescue of the condemned on the part of his accomplice; and when at +length Halloway, who had at once, as if by instinct, recognised his +captain in the fugitive, shouted forth his gratitude to Heaven that "he +at length approached who alone had the power to save him," every shadow +of mercy was banished from the mind of the governor, who, labouring +under a natural misconception of the causes of his exulting shout, felt +that justice imperatively demanded her victim, and no longer hesitated +in awarding the doom that became the supposed traitor. It was under +this impression that he sternly gave and repeated the fatal order to +fire; and by this misjudged and severe, although not absolutely cruel +act, not only destroyed one of the noblest beings that ever wore a +soldier's uniform, but entailed upon himself and family that terrific +curse of his maniac wife, which rang like a prophetic warning in the +ears of all, and was often heard in the fitful starlings of his own +ever-after troubled slumbers. +</P> + +<P> +What his feelings were, when subsequently he discovered, in the +wretched fugitive, the son whom he already believed to have been +numbered with the dead, and heard from his lips a confirmation of all +that had been advanced by the unhappy Halloway, we shall leave it to +our readers to imagine. Still, even amid his first regret, the rigid +disciplinarian was strong within him; and no sooner had the detachment +regained the fort, after performing the last offices of interment over +their ill-fated comrade, than Captain de Haldimar received an +intimation, through the adjutant, to consider himself under close +arrest for disobedience of orders. Finally, however, he succeeded in +procuring an interview with his father; in the course of which, +disclosing the plot of the Indians, and the short period allotted for +its being carried into execution, he painted in the most gloomy colours +the alarming, dangers which threatened them all, and finished by +urgently imploring his father to suffer him to make the attempt to +reach their unsuspecting friends at Michilimackinac. Fully impressed +with the difficulties attendant on a scheme that offered so few +feasible chances of success, Colonel de Haldimar for a period denied +his concurrence; but when at length the excited young man dwelt on the +horrors that would inevitably await his sister and betrothed cousin, +were they to fall into the hands of the savages, these considerations +were found to be effective. An after-arrangement included Sir Everard +Valletort, who had expressed a strong desire to share his danger in the +enterprise; and the services of the Canadian, who had been brought back +a prisoner to the fort, and on whom promises and threats were bestowed +in an equally lavish manner, were rendered available. In fact, without +the assistance of Francois, there was little chance of their effecting +in safety the navigation of the waters through which they were to pass +to arrive at the fort. He it was, who, when summoned to attend a +conference among the officers, bearing on the means to be adopted, +suggested the propriety of their disguising themselves as Canadian duck +hunters; in which character they might expect to pass unmolested, even +if encountered by any outlying parties of the savages. With the doubts +that had previously been entertained of the fidelity of Francois, there +was an air of forlorn hope given to the enterprise; still, as the man +expressed sincere earnestness of desire to repay the clemency accorded +him, by a faithful exercise of his services, and as the object sought +was one that justified the risk, there was, notwithstanding, a latent +hope cherished by all parties, that the event would prove successful. +We have already seen to what extent their anticipations were realised. +</P> + +<P> +Whether it was that he secretly acknowledged the too excessive +sternness of his justice in regard to Halloway (who still, in the true +acceptation of facts, had been guilty of a crime that entailed the +penalty he had paid), or that the apprehensions that arose to his heart +in regard to her on whom he yearned with all a father's fondness +governed his conduct, certain it is, that, from the hour of the +disclosure made by his son, Colonel de Haldimar became an altered man. +Without losing any thing of that dignity of manner, which had hitherto +been confounded with the most repellent haughtiness of bearing, his +demeanour towards his officers became more courteous; and although, as +heretofore, he kept himself entirely aloof, except when occasions of +duty brought them together, still, when they did meet, there was more +of conciliation in his manner, and less of austerity in his speech. +There was, moreover, a dejection in his eye, strongly in contrast with +his former imperious glance; and more than one officer remarked, that, +if his days were devoted to the customary practical arrangements for +defence, his pallid countenance betokened that his nights were nights +rather of vigil than of repose. +</P> + +<P> +However natural and deep the alarm entertained for the fate of the +sister fort, there could be no apprehension on the mind of Colonel de +Haldimar in regard to his own; since, furnished with the means of +foiling his enemies with their own weapons of cunning and deceit, a few +extraordinary precautions alone were necessary to secure all immunity +from danger. Whatever might be the stern peculiarities of his +character,—and these had originated chiefly in an education purely +military,—Colonel de Haldimar was an officer well calculated to the +important trust reposed in him; for, combining experience with judgment +in all matters relating to the diplomacy of war, and being fully +conversant with the character and habits of the enemy opposed to him, +he possessed singular aptitude to seize whatever advantages might +present themselves. +</P> + +<P> +The prudence and caution of his policy have already been made manifest +in the two several council scenes with the chiefs recorded in our +second volume. It may appear singular, that, with the opportunity thus +afforded him of retaining the formidable Ponteac,—the strength and +sinew of that long protracted and ferocious war,—in his power, he +should have waved his advantage; but here Colonel de Haldimar gave +evidence of the tact which so eminently distinguished his public +conduct throughout. He well knew the noble, fearless character of the +chief; and felt, if any hold was to be secured over him, it was by +grappling with his generosity, and not by the exercise of intimidation. +Even admitting that Ponteac continued his prisoner, and that the +troops, pouring their destructive fire upon the mass of enemies so +suddenly arrested on the drawbridge, had swept away the whole, still +they were but as a mite among the numerous nations that were leagued +against the English; and to these nations, it was evident, they must, +sooner or later, succumb. +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar knew enough of the proud but generous nature of the +Ottawa, to deem that the policy he proposed to pursue in the last +council scene would not prove altogether without effect on that +warrior. It was well known to him, that much pains had been taken to +instil into the minds of the Indians the belief that the English were +resolved on their final extirpation; and as certain slights, offered to +them at various periods, had given a colouring of truth to this +assertion, the formidable league which had already accomplished the +downfall of so many of the forts had been the consequence of these +artful representations. Although well aware that the French had +numerous emissaries distributed among the fierce tribes, it was not +until after the disclosure made by the haughty Ponteac, at the close of +the first council scene, that he became apprised of the alarming +influence exercised over the mind of that warrior himself by his own +terrible and vindictive enemy. The necessity of counteracting that +influence was obvious; and he felt this was only to be done (if at all) +by some marked and extraordinary evidence of the peaceful disposition +of the English. Hence his determination to suffer the faithless chiefs +and their followers to depart unharmed from the fort, even at the +moment when the attitude assumed by the prepared garrison fully proved +to the assailants their designs had been penetrated and their schemes +rendered abortive. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0307"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<P> +With the general position of the encampment of the investing Indians, +the reader has been made acquainted through the narrative of Captain de +Haldimar. It was, as has been shown, situate in a sort of oasis close +within the verge of the forest, and (girt by an intervening underwood +which Nature, in her caprice, had fashioned after the manner of a +defensive barrier) embraced a space sufficient to contain the tents of +the fighting men, together with their women and children. This, +however, included only the warriors and inferior chiefs. The tents of +the leaders were without the belt of underwood, and principally +distributed at long intervals on that side of the forest which skirted +the open country towards the river; forming, as it were, a chain of +external defences, and sweeping in a semicircular direction round the +more dense encampment of their followers. At its highest elevation the +forest shot out suddenly into a point, naturally enough rendered an +object of attraction from whatever part it was commanded. +</P> + +<P> +Darkness was already beginning to spread her mantle over the +intervening space, and the night fires of the Indians were kindling +into brightness, glimmering occasionally through the wood with that +pale and lambent light peculiar to the fire-fly, of which they offered +a not inapt representation, when suddenly a lofty tent, the brilliant +whiteness of which was thrown into strong relief by the dark field on +which it reposed, was seen to rise at a few paces from the abrupt point +in the forest just described, and on the extreme summit of a ridge, +beyond which lay only the western horizon in golden perspective. +</P> + +<P> +The opening of this tent looked eastward and towards the fort; and on +its extreme summit floated a dark flag, which at intervals spread +itself before the slight evening breeze, but oftener hung drooping and +heavily over the glittering canvass. One solitary pine, whose trunk +exceeded not the ordinary thickness of a man's waist, and standing out +as a landmark on the ridge, rose at the distance of a few feet from the +spot on which the tent had been erected; and to this was bound the tall +and elegant figure of one dressed in the coarse garb of a sailor. The +arms and legs of this individual were perfectly free; but a strong +rope, rendered doubly secure after the manner of what is termed +"whipping" among seamen, after having been tightly drawn several times +around his waist, and then firmly knotted behind, was again passed +round the tree, to which the back of the prisoner was closely lashed; +thus enabling, or rather compelling, him to be a spectator of every +object within the tent. +</P> + +<P> +Layers of bark, over which were spread the dressed skins of the bear +and the buffalo, formed the floor and carpet of the latter; and on +these, in various parts, and in characteristic attitudes, reposed the +forms of three human beings;—one, the formidable warrior of the Fleur +de lis. Attired in the garb in which we first introduced him to our +readers, and with the same weapons reposing at his side, the haughty +savage lay at his lazy length; his feet reaching beyond the opening of +the tent, and his head reposing on a rude pillow formed of a closely +compressed pack of skins of wild animals, over which was spread a sort +of mantle or blanket. One hand was introduced between the pillow and +his head, the other grasped the pipe tomahawk he was smoking; and while +the mechanical play of his right foot indicated pre-occupation of +thought, his quick and meaning eye glanced frequently and alternately +upon the furthest of his companions, the prisoner without, and the +distant fort. +</P> + +<P> +Within a few feet of the warrior lay, extended on a buffalo skin, the +delicate figure of a female, whose hair, complexion, and hands, denoted +her European extraction. Her dress was entirely Indian, however; +consisting of a machecoti with leggings, mocassins, and shirt of +printed cotton studded with silver brooches,—all of which were of a +quality and texture to mark the wearer as the wife of a chief; and her +fair hair, done up in a club behind, reposed on a neck of dazzling +whiteness. Her eyes were large, blue, but wild and unmeaning; her +countenance vacant; and her movements altogether mechanical. A wooden +bowl filled with hominy,—a preparation of Indian corn,—was at her +side; and from this she was now in the act of feeding herself with a +spoon of the same material, but with a negligence and slovenliness that +betrayed her almost utter unconsciousness of the action. +</P> + +<P> +At the further side of the tent there was another woman, even more +delicate in appearance than the one last mentioned. She, too, was +blue-eyed, and of surpassing fairness of skin. Her attitude denoted a +mind too powerfully absorbed in grief to be heedful of appearances; for +she sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, and rocking her body to +and fro with an undulating motion that seemed to have its origin in no +effort of volition of her own. Her long fair hair hung negligently over +her shoulders; and a blanket drawn over the top of her head like a +veil, and extending partly over the person, disclosed here and there +portions of an apparel which was strictly European, although rent, and +exhibiting in various places stains of blood. A bowl similar to that of +her companion, and filled with the same food, was at her side; but this +was untasted. +</P> + +<P> +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" asked the warrior of her next him, +as he fiercely rolled a volume of smoke from his lips. "Make her eat, +for I would speak to her afterwards." +</P> + +<P> +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" responded the woman in the same +tone, dropping her spoon as she spoke, and turning to the object of +remark with a vacant look. "It is good," she pursued, as she rudely +shook the arm of the heedless sufferer. "Come, girl, eat." +</P> + +<P> +A shriek burst from the lips of the unhappy girl, as, apparently roused +from her abstraction, she suffered the blanket to fall from her head, +and staring wildly at her questioner, faintly demanded,— +</P> + +<P> +"Who, in the name of mercy, are you, who address me in this horrid +place in my own tongue? Speak; who are you? Surely I should know that +voice for that of Ellen, the wife of Frank Halloway!" +</P> + +<P> +A maniac laugh was uttered by the wretched woman. This continued +offensively for a moment; and she observed, in an infuriated tone and +with a searching eye,—"No, I am not the wife of Halloway. It is false. +I am the wife of Wacousta. This is my husband!" and as she spoke she +sprang nimbly to her feet, and was in the next instant lying prostrate +on the form of the warrior; her arms thrown wildly around him, and her +lips imprinting kisses on his cheek. +</P> + +<P> +But Wacousta was in no mood to suffer her endearments. He for the first +time seemed alive to the presence of her who lay beyond, and, to whose +whole appearance a character of animation had been imparted by the +temporary excitement of her feelings. He gazed at her a moment, with +the air of one endeavouring to recall the memory of days long gone by; +and as he continued to do so, his eye dilated, his chest heaved, and +his countenance alternately flushed and paled. At length he threw the +form that reposed upon his own, violently, and even savagely, from him; +sprang eagerly to his feet; and clearing the space that divided him +from the object of his attention at a single step, bore her from the +earth in his arms with as much ease as if she had been an infant, and +then returning to his own rude couch, placed his horror-stricken victim +at his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, nay," he urged sarcastically, as she vainly struggled to free +herself; "let the De Haldimar portion of your blood rise up in anger if +it will; but that of Clara Beverley, at least—." +</P> + +<P> +"Gracious Providence! where am I, that I hear the name of my sainted +mother thus familiarly pronounced?" interrupted the startled girl; "and +who are you,"—turning her eyes wildly on the swarthy countenance of +the warrior,—"who are you, I ask, who, with the mien and in the garb +of a savage of these forests, appear thus acquainted with her name?" +</P> + +<P> +The warrior passed his hand across his brow for a moment, as if some +painful and intolerable reflection had been called up by the question; +but he speedily recovered his self-possession, and, with an expression +of feature that almost petrified his auditor, vehemently observed,— +</P> + +<P> +"You ask who I am! One who knew your mother long before the accursed +name of De Haldimar had even been whispered in her ear; and whom love +for the one and hatred for the other has rendered the savage you now +behold! But," he continued, while a fierce and hideous smile lighted up +every feature, "I overlook my past sufferings in my present happiness. +The image of Clara Beverley, even such as my soul loved her in its +youth, is once more before me in her child; THAT child shall be my +wife!" +</P> + +<P> +"Your wife! monster;—never!" shrieked the unhappy girl, again vainly +attempting to disengage herself from the encircling arm of the savage. +"But," she pursued, in a tone of supplication, while the tears coursed +each other down her cheek, "if you ever loved my mother as you say you +have, restore her children to their home; and, if saints may be +permitted to look down from heaven in approval of the acts of men, she +whom you have loved will bless you for the deed." +</P> + +<P> +A deep groan burst from the vast chest of Wacousta; but, for a moment, +he answered not. At length he observed, pointing at the same time with +his finger towards the cloudless vault above their heads,—"Do you +behold yon blue sky, Clara de Haldimar?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do;—what mean you?" demanded the trembling girl, in whom a +momentary hope had been excited by the subdued manner of the savage. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," he coolly rejoined; "only that were your mother to appear +there at this moment, clad in all the attributes ascribed to angels, +her prayer would not alter the destiny that awaits you. Nay, nay; look +not thus sorrowfully," he pursued, as, in despite of her efforts to +prevent him, he imprinted a burning kiss upon her lips. "Even thus was +I once wont to linger on the lips of your mother; but hers ever pouted +to be pressed by mine; and not with tears, but with sunniest smiles, +did she court them." He paused; bent his head over the face of the +shuddering girl; and gazing fixedly for a few minutes on her +countenance, while he pressed her struggling form more closely to his +own, exultingly pursued, as if to himself,—"Even as her mother was, so +is she. Ye powers of hell! who would have ever thought a time would +come when both my vengeance and my love would be gratified to the +utmost? How strange it never should have occurred to me he had a +daughter!" +</P> + +<P> +"What mean you, fierce, unpitying man?" exclaimed the terrified Clara, +to whom a full sense of the horror of her position had lent unusual +energy of character. "Surely you will not detain a poor defenceless +woman in your hands,—the child of her you say you have loved. But it +is false!—you never knew her, or you would not now reject my prayer." +</P> + +<P> +"Never knew her!" fiercely repeated Wacousta. Again he paused. "Would I +had never known her! and I should not now be the outcast wretch I am," +he added, slowly and impressively. Then once more elevating his +voice,—"Clara de Haldimar, I have loved your mother as man never loved +woman; and I have hated your father" (grinding his teeth with fury as +he spoke) "as man never hated man. That love, that hatred are +unquenched—unquenchable. Before me I see at once the image of her who, +even in death, has lived enshrined in my heart, and the child of him +who is my bitterest foe. Clara de Haldimar, do you understand me now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty Providence! is there no one to save me?—can nothing touch +your stubborn heart?" exclaimed the affrighted girl; and she turned her +swimming eyes on those of the warrior, in appeal; but his glance caused +her own to sink in confusion. "Ellen Halloway," she pursued, after a +moment's pause, and in the wild accents of despair, "if you are indeed +the wife of this man, as you say you are, oh! plead for me with him; +and in the name of that kindness, which I once extended to yourself, +prevail on him to restore me to my father!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ellen Halloway!—who calls Ellen Halloway?" said the wretched woman, +who had again resumed her slovenly meal on the rude couch, apparently +without consciousness of the scene enacting at her side. "I am not +Ellen Halloway: they said so; but it is not true. My husband was +Reginald Morton: but he went for a soldier, and was killed; and I never +saw him more." +</P> + +<P> +"Reginald Morton! What mean you, woman?—What know you of Reginald +Morton?" demanded Wacousta, with frightful energy, as, leaning over the +shrinking form of Clara, he violently grasped and shook the shoulder of +the unhappy maniac. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop; do not hurt me, and I will tell you all, sir," she almost +screamed. "Oh, sir, Reginald Morton was my husband once; but he was +kinder than you are. He did not look so fiercely at me; nor did he +pinch me so." +</P> + +<P> +"What of him?—who was he?" furiously repeated Wacousta, as he again +impatiently shook the arm of the wretched Ellen. "Where did you know +him?—Whence came he?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, you must not be jealous of poor Reginald:" and, as she uttered +these words in a softening and conciliating tone, her eye was turned +upon those of the warrior with a mingled expression of fear and +cunning. "But he was very good and very handsome, and generous; and we +lived near each other, and we loved each other at first sight. But his +family were very proud, and they quarrelled with him because he married +me; and then we became very poor, and Reginald went for a soldier, +and—; but I forget the rest, it is so long ago." She pressed her hand +to her brow, and sank her head upon her chest. +</P> + +<P> +"Ellen, woman, again I ask you where he came from? this Reginald Morton +that you have named. To what county did he belong?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we were both Cornish," she answered, with a vivacity singularly in +contrast with her recent low and monotonous tone; "but, as I said +before, he was of a great family, and I only a poor clergyman's +daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"Cornish!—Cornish, did you say?" fiercely repeated the dark Wacousta, +while an expression of loathing and disgust seemed for a moment to +convulse his features; "then is it as I had feared. One word more. Was +the family seat called Morton Castle?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was," unhesitatingly returned the poor woman, yet with the air of +one wondering to hear a name repeated, long forgotten even by herself. +"It was a beautiful castle too, on a lovely ridge of hills; and it +commanded such a nice view of the sea, close to the little port of +——; and the parsonage stood in such a sweet valley, close under the +castle; and we were all so happy." She paused, again put her hand to +her brow, and pressed it with force, as if endeavouring to pursue the +chain of connection in her memory, but evidently without success. +</P> + +<P> +"And your father's name was Clayton?" said the warrior, enquiringly; +"Henry Clayton, if I recollect aright?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! who names my father?" shrieked the wretched woman. "Yes, sir, it +was Clayton—Henry Clayton—the kindest, the noblest of human beings. +But the affliction of his child, and the persecutions of the Morton +family, broke his heart. He is dead, sir, and Reginald is dead too; and +I am a poor lone widow in the world, and have no one to love me." Here +the tears coursed each other rapidly down her faded cheek, although her +eyes were staring and motionless. +</P> + +<P> +"It is false!" vociferated the warrior, who, now he had gained all that +was essential to the elucidation of his doubts, quitted the shoulder he +had continued to press with violence in his nervous hand, and once more +extended himself at his length; "in me you behold the uncle of your +husband. Yes, Ellen Clayton, you have been the wife of two Reginald +Mortons. Both," he pursued with unutterable bitterness, while he again +started up and shook his tomahawk menacingly in the direction of the +fort,—"both have been the victims of yon cold-blooded governor; but +the hour of our reckoning is at hand. Ellen," he fiercely added, "do +you recollect the curse you pronounced on the family of that haughty +man, when he slaughtered your Reginald. By Heaven! it shall be +fulfilled; but first shall the love I have so long borne the mother be +transferred to the child." +</P> + +<P> +Again he sought to encircle the waist of her whom, in the strong +excitement of his rage, he had momentarily quitted; but the unutterable +disgust and horror produced in the mind of the unhappy Clara lent an +almost supernatural activity to her despair. She dexterously eluded his +grasp, gained her feet, and with tottering steps and outstretched arms +darted through the opening of the tent, and piteously exclaiming, "Save +me! oh, for God's sake, save me!" sank exhausted, and apparently +lifeless, on the chest of the prisoner without. +</P> + +<P> +To such of our readers as, deceived by the romantic nature of the +attachment stated to have been originally entertained by Sir Everard +Valletort for the unseen sister of his friend, have been led to expect +a tale abounding in manifestations of its progress when the parties had +actually met, we at once announce disappointment. Neither the lover of +amorous adventure, nor the admirer of witty dialogue, should dive into +these pages. Room for the exercise of the invention might, it is true, +be found; but ours is a tale of sad reality, and our heroes and +heroines figure under circumstances that would render wit a satire upon +the understanding, and love a reflection upon the heart. Within the +bounds of probability have we, therefore, confined ourselves. +</P> + +<P> +What the feelings of the young Baronet must have been, from the first +moment when he received from the hands of the unfortunate Captain +Baynton (who, although an officer of his own corps, was personally a +stranger to him,) that cherished sister of his friend, on whose ideal +form his excited imagination had so often latterly loved to linger, up +to the present hour, we should vainly attempt to paint. There are +emotions of the heart, it would be mockery in the pen to trace. From +the instant of his first contributing to preserve her life, on that +dreadful day of blood, to that when the schooner fell into the hands of +the savages, few words had passed between them, and these had reference +merely to the position in which they found themselves, and whenever Sir +Everard felt he could, without indelicacy or intrusion, render himself +in the slightest way serviceable to her. The very circumstances under +which they had met, conduced to the suppression, if not utter +extinction, of all of passion attached to the sentiment with which he +had been inspired. A new feeling had quickened in his breast; and it +was with emotions more assimilated to friendship than to love that he +now regarded the beautiful but sorrow-stricken sister of his bosom +friend. Still there was a softness, a purity, a delicacy and tenderness +in this new feeling, in which the influence of sex secretly though +unacknowledgedly predominated; and even while sensible it would have +been a profanation of every thing most sacred and delicate in nature to +have admitted a thought of love within his breast at such a moment, he +also felt he could have entertained a voluptuous joy in making any +sacrifice, even to the surrender of life itself, provided the +tranquillity of that gentle and suffering being could be by it ensured. +</P> + +<P> +Clara, in her turn, had been in no condition to admit so exclusive a +power as that of love within her soul. She had, it is true, even amid +the desolation of her shattered spirit, recognised in the young officer +the original of a portrait so frequently drawn by her brother, and +dwelt on by herself. She acknowledged, moreover, the fidelity of the +painting: but however she might have felt and acted under different +circumstances, absorbed as was her heart, and paralysed her +imagination, by the harrowing scenes she had gone through, she, too, +had room but for one sentiment in her fainting soul, and that was +friendship for the friend of her brother; on whom, moreover, she +bestowed that woman's gratitude, which could not fail to be awakened by +a recollection of the risks he had encountered, conjointly with +Frederick, to save her from destruction. During their passage across +lake Huron, Sir Everard had usually taken his seat on the deck, at that +respectful distance which he conceived the delicacy of the position of +the unfortunate cousins demanded; but in such a manner that, while he +seemed wholly abstracted from them, his eye had more than once been +detected by Clara fixed on hers, with an affectionateness of interest +she could not avoid repaying with a glance of recognition and approval. +These, however, were the only indications of regard that had passed +between them. +</P> + +<P> +If, however, a momentary and irrepressible flashing of that sentiment, +which had, at an earlier period, formed a portion of their imaginings, +did occasionally steal over their hearts while there was a prospect of +reaching their friends in safety, all manifestation of its power was +again finally suppressed when the schooner fell into the hands of the +savages. Become the immediate prisoners of Wacousta, they had been +surrendered to that ferocious chief to be dealt with as he might think +proper; and, on disembarking from the canoe in which their transit to +the main land had been descried that morning from the fort, had been +separated from their equally unfortunate and suffering companions. +Captain de Haldimar, Madeline, and the Canadian, were delivered over to +the custody of several choice warriors of the tribe in which Wacousta +was adopted; and, bound hand and foot, were, at that moment, in the war +tent of the fierce savage, which, as Ponteac had once boasted to the +governor, was every where hung around with human scalps, both of men, +of women, and of children. The object of this mysterious man, in +removing Clara to the spot we have described, was one well worthy of +his ferocious nature. His vengeance had already devoted her to +destruction; and it was within view of the fort, which contained the +father whom he loathed, he had resolved his purpose should be +accomplished. A refinement of cruelty, such as could scarcely have been +supposed to enter the breast even of such a remorseless savage as +himself, had caused him to convey to the same spot, him whom he rather +suspected than knew to be the lover of the young girl. It was with the +view of harrowing up the soul of one whom he had recognised as the +officer who had disabled him on the night of the rencontre on the +bridge, that he had bound Sir Everard to the tree, whence, as we have +already stated, he was a compelled spectator of every thing that passed +within the tent; and yet with that free action of limb which only +tended to tantalize him the more amid his unavailable efforts to rid +himself of his bonds,—a fact that proved not only the dire extent to +which the revenge of Wacousta could be carried, but the actual and +gratuitous cruelty of his nature. +</P> + +<P> +One must have been similarly circumstanced, to understand all the agony +of the young man during this odious scene, and particularly at the +fierce and repeated declaration of the savage that Clara should be his +bride. More than once had he essayed to remove the ligatures which +confined his waist; but his unsuccessful attempts only drew an +occasional smile of derision from his enemy, as he glanced his eye +rapidly towards him. Conscious at length of the inutility of efforts, +which, without benefiting her for whom they were principally prompted, +rendered him in some degree ridiculous even in his own eyes, the +wretched Valletort desisted altogether, and with his head sunk upon his +chest, and his eyes closed, sought at least to shut out a scene which +blasted his sight, and harrowed up his very soul. +</P> + +<P> +But when Clara, uttering her wild cry for protection, and rushing forth +from the tent, sank almost unconsciously in his embrace, a thrill of +inexplicable joy ran through each awakened fibre of his frame. Bending +eagerly forward, he had extended his arms to receive her; and when he +felt her light and graceful form pressing upon his own as its last +refuge—when he felt her heart beating against his—when he saw her +head drooping on his shoulder, in the wild recklessness of +despair,—even amid that scene of desolation and grief he could not +help enfolding her in tumultuous ecstasy to his breast. Every horrible +danger was for an instant forgotten in the soothing consciousness that +he at length encircled the form of her, whom in many an hour of +solitude he had thus pictured, although under far different +circumstances, reposing confidingly on him. There was delight mingled +with agony in his sensation of the wild throb of her bosom against his +own; and even while his soul fainted within him, as he reflected on the +fate that awaited her, he felt as if he could himself now die more +happily. +</P> + +<P> +Momentary, however, was the duration of this scene. Furious with anger +at the evident disgust of his victim, Wacousta no sooner saw her sink +into the arms of her lover, than with that agility for which he was +remarkable he was again on his feet, and stood in the next instant at +her side. Uniting to the generous strength of his manhood all that was +wrung from his mingled love and despair, the officer clasped his hands +round the waist of the drooping Clara; and with clenched teeth, and +feet firmly set, seemed resolved to defy every effort of the warrior to +remove her. Not a word was uttered on either side; but in the fierce +smile that curled the lip of the savage, there spoke a language even +more terrible than the words that smile implied. Sir Everard could not +suppress an involuntary shudder; and when at length Wacousta, after a +short but violent struggle, succeeded in again securing and bearing off +his prize, the wretchedness of soul of the former was indescribable. +</P> + +<P> +"You see 'tis vain to struggle against your destiny, Clara de +Haldimar," sneered the warrior. "Ours is but a rude nuptial couch, it +is true; but the wife of an Indian chief must not expect the luxuries +of Europe in the heart of an American wilderness." +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty Heaven! where am I?" exclaimed the wretched girl, again +unclosing her eyes to all the horror of her position; for again she lay +at the side, and within the encircling arm, of her enemy. "Oh, Sir +Everard Valletort, I thought I was with you, and that you had saved me +from this monster. Where is my brother?—Where are Frederick and +Madeline?—Why have they deserted me?—Ah! my heart will break. I +cannot endure this longer, and live." +</P> + +<P> +"Clara, Miss de Haldimar," groaned Sir Everard, in a voice of searching +agony; "could I lay down my life for you, I would; but you see these +bonds. Oh God! oh God! have pity on the innocent; and for once incline +the heart of yon fierce monster to the whisperings of mercy." As he +uttered the last sentence, he attempted to sink on his knees in +supplication to Him he addressed, but the tension of the cord prevented +him; yet were his hands clasped, and his eyes upraised to heaven, while +his countenance beamed with an expression of fervent enthusiasm. +</P> + +<P> +"Peace, babbler! or, by Heaven! that prayer shall be your last," +vociferated Wacousta. "But no," he pursued to himself, dropping at the +same time the point of his upraised tomahawk; "these are but the +natural writhings of the crushed worm; and the longer protracted they +are, the more complete will be my vengeance." Then turning to the +terrified girl,—"You ask, Clara de Haldimar, where you are? In the +tent of your mother's lover, I reply,—at the side of him who once +pressed her to his heart, even as I now press you, and with a fondness +that was only equalled by her own. Come, dear Clara," and his voice +assumed a tone of tenderness that was even more revolting than his +natural ferocity, "let me woo you to the affection she once possessed. +It was a heart of fire in which her image stood enshrined,—it is a +heart of fire still, and well worthy of her child." +</P> + +<P> +"Never, never!" shrieked the agonised girl. "Kill me, murder me, if you +will; but oh! if you have pity, pollute not my ear with the avowal of +your detested love. But again I repeat, it is false that my mother ever +knew you. She never could have loved so fierce, so vindictive a being +as yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! do you doubt me still?" sternly demanded the savage. Then drawing +the shuddering girl still closer to his vast chest,—"Come hither, +Clara, while to convince you I unfold the sad history of my life, and +tell you more of your parents than you have ever known. When," he +pursued solemnly, "you have learnt the extent of my love for the one, +and of my hatred for the other, and the wrongs I have endured from +both, you will no longer wonder at the spirit of mingled love and +vengeance that dictates my conduct towards yourself. Listen, girl," he +continued fiercely, "and judge whether mine are injuries to be tamely +pardoned, when a whole life has been devoted to the pursuit of the +means of avenging them." +</P> + +<P> +Irresistibly led by a desire to know what possible connection could +have existed between her parents and this singular and ferocious man, +the wretched girl gave her passive assent. She even hoped that, in the +course of his narrative, some softening recollections would pass over +his mind, the effect of which might be to predispose him to mercy. +Wacousta buried his face for a few moments in his large hand, as if +endeavouring to collect and concentrate the remembrances of past years. +His countenance, meanwhile, had undergone a change; for there was now a +shade of melancholy mixed with the fierceness of expression usually +observable there. This, however, was dispelled in the course of his +narrative, and as various opposite passions were in turn powerfully and +severally developed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0308"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<P> +"It is now four and twenty years," commenced Wacousta, "since your +father and myself first met as subalterns in the regiment he now +commands, when, unnatural to say, an intimacy suddenly sprang up +between us which, as it was then to our brother officers, has since +been a source of utter astonishment to myself. Unnatural, I repeat, for +fire and ice are not more opposite than were the elements of which our +natures were composed. He, all coldness, prudence, obsequiousness, and +forethought. I, all enthusiasm, carelessness, impetuosity, and +independence. Whether this incongruous friendship—friendship! no, I +will not so far sully the sacred name as thus to term the unnatural +union that subsisted between us;—whether this intimacy, then, sprang +from the adventitious circumstance of our being more frequently thrown +together as officers of the same company,—for we were both attached to +the grenadiers,—or that my wild spirit was soothed by the bland +amenity of his manners, I know not. The latter, however, is not +improbable; for proud, and haughty, and dignified, as the colonel NOW +is, such was not THEN the character of the ensign; who seemed thrown +out of one of Nature's supplest moulds, to fawn, and cringe, and worm +his way to favour by the wily speciousness of his manners. Oh God!" +pursued Wacousta, after a momentary pause, and striking his palm +against his forehead, "that I ever should have been the dupe of such a +cold-blooded hypocrite! +</P> + +<P> +"I have said our intimacy excited surprise among our brother officers. +It did; for all understood and read the character of your father, who +was as much disliked and distrusted for the speciousness of his false +nature, as I was generally esteemed for the frankness and warmth of +mine. No one openly censured the evident preference I gave him in my +friendship; but we were often sarcastically termed the Pylades and +Orestes of the regiment, until my heart was ready to leap into my +throat with impatience at the bitterness in which the taunt was +conceived; and frequently in my presence was allusion made to the blind +folly of him, who should take a cold and slimy serpent to his bosom +only to feel its fangs darted into it at the moment when most fostered +by its genial heat. All, however, was in vain. On a nature like mine, +innuendo was likely to produce an effect directly opposite to that +intended; and the more I found them inclined to be severe on him I +called my friend, the more marked became my preference. I even fancied +that because I was rich, generous, and heir to a title, their +observations were prompted by jealousy of the influence he possessed +over me, and a desire to supplant him only for their interests' sake. +Bitterly have I been punished for the illiberality of such an opinion. +Those to whom I principally allude were the subalterns of the regiment, +most of whom were nearly of our own age. One or two of the junior +captains were also of this number; but, by the elders (as we termed the +seniors of that rank) and field officers, Ensign de Haldimar was always +regarded as a most prudent and promising young officer. +</P> + +<P> +"What conduced, in a great degree, to the establishment of our intimacy +was the assistance I always received from my brother subaltern in +whatever related to my military duties. As the lieutenant of the +company, the more immediate responsibility attached to myself; but +being naturally of a careless habit, or perhaps considering all duty +irksome to my impatient nature that was not duty in the field, I was +but too often guilty of neglecting it. On these occasions my absence +was ever carefully supplied by your father, who, in all the minutiae of +regimental economy, was surpassed by no other officer in the corps; so +that credit was given to me, when, at the ordinary inspections, the +grenadiers were acknowledged to be the company the most perfect in +equipment and skilful in manoeuvre. Deeply, deeply," again mused +Wacousta, "have these services been repaid. +</P> + +<P> +"As you have just learnt, Cornwall is the country of my birth. I was +the eldest of the only two surviving children of a large family; and, +as heir to the baronetcy of the proud Mortons, was looked up to by lord +and vassal as the future perpetuator of the family name. My brother had +been designed for the army; but as this was a profession to which I had +attached my inclinations, the point was waved in my favour, and at the +age of eighteen I first joined the —— regiment, then quartered in the +Highlands of Scotland. During my boyhood I had ever accustomed myself +to athletic exercises, and loved to excite myself by encountering +danger in its most terrific forms. Often had I passed whole days in +climbing the steep and precipitous crags which overhang the sea in the +neighbourhood of Morton Castle, ostensibly in the pursuit of the heron +or the seagull, but self-acknowledgedly for the mere pleasure of +grappling with the difficulties they opposed to me. Often, too, in the +most terrific tempests, when sea and sky have met in one black and +threatening mass, and when the startled fishermen have in vain +attempted to dissuade me from my purpose, have I ventured, in sheer +bravado, out of sight of land, and unaccompanied by a human soul. Then, +when wind and tide have been against me on my return, have I, with my +simple sculls alone, caused my faithful bark to leap through the +foaming brine as though a press of canvass had impelled her on. Oh, +that this spirit of adventure had never grown with my growth and +strengthened with my strength!" sorrowfully added the warrior, again +apostrophising himself: "then had I never been the wretch I am. +</P> + +<P> +"The wild daring by which my boyhood had been marked was again +powerfully awakened by the bold and romantic scenery of the Scottish +Highlands; and as the regiment was at that time quartered in a part of +these mountainous districts, where, from the disturbed nature of the +times, society was difficult of attainment, many of the officers were +driven from necessity, as I was from choice, to indulge in the sports +of the chase. On one occasion a party of four of us set out early in +the morning in pursuit of deer, numbers of which we knew were to be met +with in the mountainous tracts of Bute and Argyleshire. The course we +happened to take lay through a succession of dark deep glens, and over +frowning rocks; the difficulties of access to which only stirred up my +dormant spirit of enterprise the more. We had continued in this course +for many hours, overcoming one difficulty only to be encountered by +another, and yet without meeting a single deer; when, at length, the +faint blast of a horn was heard far above our heads in the distance, +and presently a noble stag was seen to ascend a ledge of rocks +immediately in front of us. To raise my gun to my shoulder and fire was +the work of a moment, after which we all followed in pursuit. On +reaching the spot where the deer had first been seen, we observed +traces of blood, satisfying us he had been wounded; but the course +taken in his flight was one that seemed to defy every human effort to +follow in. It was a narrow pointed ledge, ascending boldly towards a +huge cliff that projected frowningly from the extreme summit, and on +either side lay a dark, deep, and apparently fathomless ravine; to look +even on which was sufficient to appal the stoutest heart, and unnerve +the steadiest brain. For me, however, long accustomed to dangers of the +sort, it had no terror. This was a position in which I had often wished +once more to find myself placed, and I felt buoyant and free as the +deer itself I intended to pursue. In vain did my companions (and your +father was one) implore me to abandon a project so wild and hazardous. +I bounded forward, and they turned shuddering away, that their eyes +might not witness the destruction that awaited me. Meanwhile, balancing +my long gun in my upraised hands, I trod the dangerous path with a +buoyancy and elasticity of limb, a lightness of heart, and a +fearlessness of consequences, that surprised even myself. Perhaps it +was to the latter circumstance I owed my safety, for a single doubt of +my security might have impelled a movement that would not have failed +to have precipitated me into the yawning gulf below. I had proceeded in +this manner about five hundred yards, when I came to the termination of +the ledge, from the equally narrow transverse extremity of which +branched out three others; the whole contributing to form a figure +resembling that of a trident. Pausing here for a moment, I applied the +hunting horn, with which I was provided, to my lips. This signal, +announcing my safety, was speedily returned by my friends below in a +cheering and lively strain, that seemed to express at once surprise and +satisfaction; and inspirited by the sound, I prepared to follow up my +perilous chase. Along the ledge I had quitted I had remarked occasional +traces where the stricken deer had passed; and the same blood-spots now +directed me at a point where, but for these, I must have been utterly +at fault. The centre of these new ridges, and the narrowest, was that +taken by the animal, and on that I once more renewed my pursuit. As I +continued to advance I found the ascent became more precipitous, and +the difficulties opposed to my progress momentarily more multiplied. +Still, nothing daunted, I continued my course towards the main body of +rock that now rose within a hundred yards. How this was to be gained I +knew not; for it shelved out abruptly from the extreme summit, +overhanging the abyss, and presenting an appearance which I cannot more +properly render than by comparing it to the sounding-boards placed over +the pulpits of our English churches. Still I was resolved to persevere +to the close, and I but too unhappily succeeded." Again Wacousta +paused. A tear started to his eye, but this he impatiently brushed away +with his swarthy hand. +</P> + +<P> +"It was evident to me," he again resumed, "that there must be some +opening through which the deer had effected his escape to the +precipitous height above; and I felt a wild and fearful triumph in +following him to his cover, over passes which it was my pleasure to +think none of the hardy mountaineers themselves would have dared to +venture upon with impunity. I paused not to consider of the difficulty +of bearing away my prize, even if I succeeded in overtaking it. At +every step my excitement and determination became stronger, and I felt +every fibre of my frame to dilate, as when, in my more boyish days, I +used to brave, in my gallant skiff, the mingled fury of the warring +elements of sea and storm. Suddenly, while my mind was intent only on +the dangers I used then to hold in such light estimation, I found my +further progress intercepted by a fissure in the crag. It was not the +width of this opening that disconcerted me, for it exceeded not ten +feet; but I came upon it so unadvisedly, that, in attempting to check +my forward motion, I had nearly lost my equipoise, and fallen into the +abyss that now yawned before and on either side of me. To pause upon +the danger, would, I felt, be to ensure it. Summoning all my dexterity +into a single bound, I cleared the chasm; and with one buskined foot +(for my hunting costume was strictly Highland) clung firmly to the +ledge, while I secured my balance with the other. At this point the +rock became gradually broader, so that I now trod the remainder of the +rude path in perfect security, until I at length found myself close to +the vast mass of which these ledges were merely ramifications or veins: +but still I could discover no outlet by which the wounded deer could +have escaped. While I lingered, thoughtfully, for a moment, half in +disappointment, half in anger, and with my back leaning against the +rock, I fancied I heard a rustling, as of the leaves and branches of +underwood, on that part which projected like a canopy, far above the +abyss. I bent my eye eagerly and fixedly on the spot whence the sound +proceeded, and presently could distinguish the blue sky appearing +through an aperture, to which was, the instant afterwards, applied what +I conceived to be a human face. No sooner, however, was it seen than +withdrawn; and then the rustling of leaves was heard again, and all was +still as before. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did my evil genius so will it," resumed Wacousta, after another +pause, during which he manifested deep emotion, "that I should have +heard those sounds and seen that face? But for these I should have +returned to my companions, and my life might have been the life—the +plodding life—of the multitude; things that are born merely to crawl +through existence and die, knowing not at the moment of death why or +how they have lived at all. But who may resist the destiny that +presides over him from the cradle to the grave? for, although the mass +may be, and are, unworthy of the influencing agency of that Unseen +Power, who will presume to deny there are those on whom it stamps its +iron seal, even from the moment of their birth to that which sees all +that is mortal of them consigned to the tomb? What was it but destiny +that whispered to me what I had seen was the face of a woman? I had not +traced a feature, nor could I distinctly state that it was a human +countenance I had beheld; but mine was ever an imagination into which +the wildest improbability was scarce admitted that it did not grow into +conviction in the instant. +</P> + +<P> +"A new direction was now given to my feelings. I felt a presentiment +that my adventure, if prosecuted, would terminate in some extraordinary +and characteristic manner; and obeying, as I ever did, the first +impulse of my heart, I prepared to grapple once more with the +difficulties that yet remained to be surmounted. In order to do this, +it was necessary that my feet and hands should be utterly without +incumbrance; for it was only by dint of climbing that I could expect to +reach that part of the projecting rock to which my attention had been +directed. Securing my gun between some twisted roots that grew out of +and adhered to the main body of the rock, I commenced the difficult +ascent; and, after considerable effort, found myself at length +immediately under the aperture. My progress along the lower superficies +of this projection was like that of a crawling reptile. My back hung +suspended over the chasm, into which one false movement of hand or +foot, one yielding of the roots entwined in the rock, must inevitably +have precipitated me; and, while my toes wormed themselves into the +tortuous fibres of the latter, I passed hand over hand beyond my head, +until I had arrived within a foot or two of the point I desired to +reach. Here, however, a new difficulty occurred. A slight projection of +the rock, close to the aperture, impeded my further progress in the +manner hitherto pursued; and, to pass this, I was compelled to drop my +whole weight, suspended by one vigorous arm, while, with the other, I +separated the bushes that concealed the opening. A violent exertion of +every muscle now impelled me upward, until at length I had so far +succeeded as to introduce my head and shoulders through the aperture; +after which my final success was no longer doubtful. If I have been +thus minute in the detail of the dangerous nature of this passage," +continued Wacousta, gloomily, "it is not without reason. I would have +you to impress the whole of the localities upon your imagination, that +you may the better comprehend, from a knowledge of the risks I +incurred, how little I have merited the injuries under which I have +writhed for years." +</P> + +<P> +Again one of those painful pauses with which his narrative was so often +broken, occurred; and, with an energy that terrified her whom he +addressed, Wacousta pursued—"Clara de Haldimar, it was here—in this +garden—this paradise—this oasis of the rocks in which I now found +myself, that I first saw and loved your mother. Ha! you start: you +believe me now.—Loved her!" he continued, after another short +pause—"oh, what a feeble word is love to express the concentration of +mighty feelings that flowed like burning lava through my veins! Who +shall pretend to give a name to the emotion that ran thrillingly—madly +through my excited frame, when first I gazed on her, who, in every +attribute of womanly beauty, realised all my fondest fancy ever +painted?—Listen to me, Clara," he pursued, in a fiercer tone, and with +a convulsive pressure of the form he still encircled:—"If, in my +younger days, my mind was alive to enterprise, and loved to contemplate +danger in its most appalling forms, this was far from being the master +passion of my soul; nay, it was the strong necessity I felt of pouring +into some devoted bosom the overflowing fulness of my heart, that made +me court in solitude those positions of danger with which the image of +woman was ever associated. How often, while tossed by the raging +elements, now into the blue vault of heaven, now into the lowest gulfs +of the sea, have I madly wished to press to my bounding bosom the being +of my fancy's creation, who, all enamoured and given to her love, +should, even amid the danger that environed her, be alive but to one +consciousness,—that of being with him on whom her life's hope alone +reposed! How often, too, while bending over some dark and threatening +precipice, or standing on the utmost verge of some tall projecting +cliff, my aching head (aching with the intenseness of its own +conceptions) bared to the angry storm, and my eye fixed unshrinkingly +on the boiling ocean far beneath my feet, has my whole soul—my every +faculty, been bent on that ideal beauty which controlled every sense! +Oh, imagination, how tyrannical is thy sway—how exclusive thy +power—how insatiable thy thirst! Surrounded by living beauty, I was +insensible to its influence; for, with all the perfection that reality +can attain on earth, there was ever to be found some deficiency, either +physical or moral, that defaced the symmetry and destroyed the +loveliness of the whole; but, no sooner didst thou, with magic wand, +conjure up one of thy embodiments, than my heart became a sea of flame, +and was consumed in the vastness of its own fires. +</P> + +<P> +"It was in vain that my family sought to awaken me to a sense of the +acknowledged loveliness of the daughters of more than one ancient house +in the county, with one of whom an alliance was, in many respects, +considered desirable. Their beauty, or rather their whole, was +insufficient to stir up into madness the dormant passions of my nature; +and although my breast was like a glowing furnace, in which fancy cast +all the more exciting images of her coinage to secure the last impress +of the heart's approval, my outward deportment to some of the fairest +and loveliest of earth's realities was that of one on whom the +influence of woman's beauty could have no power. From my earliest +boyhood I had loved to give the rein to these feelings, until they at +length rendered me their slave. Woman was the idol that lay enshrined +within my inmost heart; but it was woman such as I had not yet met +with, yet felt must somewhere exist in the creation. For her I could +have resigned title, fortune, family, every thing that is dear to man, +save the life, through which alone the reward of such sacrifice could +have been tasted, and to this phantom I had already yielded up all the +manlier energies of my nature; but, deeply as I felt the necessity of +loving something less unreal, up to the moment of my joining the +regiment, my heart had never once throbbed for created woman. +</P> + +<P> +"I have already said that, on gaining the summit of the rock, I found +myself in a sort of oasis of the mountains. It was so. Belted on every +hand by bold and precipitous crags, that seemed to defy the approach +even of the wildest animals, and putting utterly at fault the +penetration and curiosity of man, was spread a carpet of verdure, a +luxuriance of vegetation, that might have put to shame the fertility of +the soft breeze-nourished valleys of Italy and Southern France. Time, +however, is not given me to dwell on the mingled beauty and wildness of +a scene, so consonant with my ideas of the romantic and the +picturesque. Let me rather recur to her (although my heart be lacerated +once more in the recollection) who was the presiding deity of the +whole,—the being after whom, had I had the fabled power of Prometheus, +I should have formed and animated the sharer of that sweet wild +solitude, nor once felt that fancy, to whom I was so largely a debtor, +had in aught been cheated of what she had, for a series of years, so +rigidly claimed. +</P> + +<P> +"At about twenty yards from the aperture, and on a bank, formed of +turf, covered with moss, and interspersed with roses and honeysuckles, +sat this divinity of the oasis. She, too, was clad in the Highland +dress, which gave an air of wildness and elegance to her figure that +was in classic harmony with the surrounding scenery. At the moment of +my appearance she was in the act of dressing the wounded shoulder of a +stag, that had recently been shot; and from the broad tartan riband I +perceived attached to its neck, added to the fact of the tameness of +the animal, I presumed that this stag, evidently a favourite of its +mistress, was the same I had fired at and wounded. The rustling I made +among the bushes had attracted her attention; she raised her eyes from +the deer, and, beholding me, started to her feet, uttering a cry of +terror and surprise. Fearing to speak, as if the sound of my own voice +were sufficient to dispel the illusion that fascinated both eye and +heart into delicious tension on her form, yet with my soul kindled into +all that wild uncontrollable love which had been the accumulation of +years of passionate imagining, I stood for some moments as motionless +as the rock out of which I appeared to grow. It seemed as though I had +not the power to think or act, so fully was every faculty of my being +filled with the consciousness that I at length gazed upon her I was +destined to love for ever. +</P> + +<P> +"It was this utter immobility on my own part, that ensured me a +continuance of the exquisite happiness I then enjoyed. The first +movement of the startled girl had been to fly towards her dwelling, +which stood at a short distance, half imbedded in the same clustering +roses and honey-suckles that adorned her bank of moss; but when she +remarked my utter stillness, and apparent absence of purpose, she +checked the impulse that would have directed her departure, and +stopped, half in curiosity, half in fear, to examine me once more. At +that moment all my energies appeared to be restored; I threw myself +into an attitude expressive of deep contrition for the intrusion of +which I had been unconsciously guilty, and dropping on one knee, and +raising my clasped hands, inclined them towards her in token of mingled +deprecation of her anger, and respectful homage to herself. At first +she hesitated,—then gradually and timidly retrod her way to the seat +she had so abruptly quitted in her alarm. Emboldened by this movement, +I made a step or two in advance, but no sooner had I done so than she +again took to flight. Once more, however, she turned to behold me, and +again I had dropped on my knee, and was conjuring her, with the same +signs, to remain and bless me with her presence. Again she returned to +her seat, and again I advanced. Scarcely less timid, however, than the +deer, which followed her every movement, she fled a third time,—a +third time looked back, and was again induced, by my supplicating +manner, to return. Frequently was this repeated, before I finally found +myself at the feet, and pressing the hand—(oh God! what torture in the +recollection!)—yes, pressing the hand of her for whose smile I would, +even at that moment, have sacrificed my soul; and every time she fled, +the classic disposition of her graceful limbs, and her whole natural +attitude of alarm, could only be compared with those of one of the +huntresses of Diana, intruded on in her woodland privacy by the +unhallowed presence of some daring mortal. Such was your mother, Clara +de Haldimar; yes, even such as I have described her was Clara Beverley." +</P> + +<P> +Again Wacousta paused, and his pause was longer than usual, as, with +his large hand again covering his face, he seemed endeavouring to +master the feelings which these recollections had called up. Clara +scarcely breathed. Unmindful of her own desolate position, her soul was +intent only on a history that related so immediately to her beloved +mother, of whom all that she had hitherto known was, that she was a +native of Scotland, and that her father had married her while quartered +in that country. The deep emotion of the terrible being before her, so +often manifested in the course of what he had already given of his +recital, added to her knowledge of the facts just named, scarcely left +a doubt of the truth of his statement on her mind. Her ear was now bent +achingly towards him, in expectation of a continuance of his history, +but he still remained in the same attitude of absorption. An +irresistible impulse caused her to extend her hand, and remove his own +from his eyes: they were filled with tears; and even while her mind +rapidly embraced the hope that this manifestation of tenderness was but +the dawning of mercy towards the children of her he had once loved, her +kind nature could not avoid sympathizing with him, whose uncouthness of +appearance and savageness of nature was, in some measure, lost sight of +in the fact of the powerful love he yet apparently acknowledged. +</P> + +<P> +But no sooner did Wacousta feel the soft pressure of her hand, and meet +her eyes turned on his with an expression of interest, than the most +rapid transition was effected in his feelings. He drew the form of the +weakly resisting girl closer to his heart; again imprinted a kiss upon +her lips; and then, while every muscle in his iron frame seemed +quivering with emotion, exclaimed,—"By Heaven! that touch, that +glance, were Clara Beverley's all over! Oh, let me linger on the +recollection, even such as they were, when her arms first opened to +receive me in that sweet oasis of the Highlands. Yes, Clara," he +proceeded more deliberately, as he scanned her form with an eye that +made her shudder, "such as your mother was, so are you; the same +delicacy of proportion; the same graceful curvature of limb, only less +rounded, less womanly. But you must be younger by about two years than +she then was. Your age cannot exceed seventeen; and time will supply +what your mere girlhood renders you deficient in." +</P> + +<P> +There was a cool licence of speech—a startling freedom of manner—in +the latter part of this address, that disappointed not less than it +pained and offended the unhappy Clara. It seemed to her as if the +illusion she had just created, were already dispelled by his language, +even as her own momentary interest in the fierce man had also been +destroyed from the same cause. She shuddered; and sighing bitterly, +suffered her tears to force themselves through her closed lids upon her +pallid cheek. This change in her appearance seemed to act as a check on +the temporary excitement of Wacousta. Again obeying one of these rapid +transitions of feeling, for which he was remarkable, he once more +assumed an expression of seriousness, and thus continued his narrative. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0309"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<P> +"It boots not now, Clara, to enter upon all that succeeded to my first +introduction to your mother. It would take long to relate, not the +gradations of our passion, for that was like the whirlwind of the +desert, sudden and devastating from the first; but the burning vow, the +plighted faith, the reposing confidence, the unchecked abandonment that +flew from the lips, and filled the heart of each, sealed, as they were, +with kisses, long, deep, enervating, even such as I had ever pictured +that divine pledge of human affection should be. Yes, Clara de +Haldimar, your mother was the child of nature THEN. Unspoiled by the +forms, unvitiated by the sophistries of a world with which she had +never mixed, her intelligent innocence made the most artless avowals to +my enraptured ear,—avowals that the more profligate minded woman of +society would have blushed to whisper even to herself. And for these I +loved her to my own undoing. +</P> + +<P> +"Blind vanity, inconceivable folly!" continued Wacousta, again pressing +his forehead with force; "how could I be so infatuated as not to +perceive, that although her heart was filled with a new and delicious +passion, it was less the individual than the man she loved. And how +could it be otherwise, since I was the first, beside her father, she +had ever seen or recollected to have seen? Still, Clara de Haldimar," +he pursued, with haughty energy, "I was not always the rugged being I +now appear. Of surpassing strength I had ever been, and fleet of foot, +but not then had I attained to my present gigantic stature; neither was +my form endowed with the same Herculean rudeness; nor did my complexion +wear the swarthy hue of the savage; nor had my features been rendered +repulsive, from the perpetual action of those fierce passions which +have since assailed my soul. My physical faculties had not yet been +developed to their present grossness of maturity, neither had my moral +energies acquired that tone of ferocity which often renders me hideous, +even in my own eyes. In a word, the milk of my nature (for, with all my +impetuosity of character, I was generous-hearted and kind) had not yet +been turned to gall by villainy and deceit. My form had then all that +might attract—my manners all that might win—my enthusiasm of speech +all that might persuade—and my heart all that might interest a girl +fashioned after nature's manner, and tutored in nature's school. In the +regiment, I was called the handsome grenadier; but there was another +handsomer than I,—a sly, insidious, wheedling, false, remorseless +villain. That villain, Clara de Haldimar, was your father. +</P> + +<P> +"But wherefore," continued Wacousta, chafing with the recollection, +"wherefore do I, like a vain and puling schoolboy, enter into this +abasing contrast of personal advantages? The proud eagle soars not more +above the craven kite, than did my soul, in all that was manly and +generous, above that of yon false governor; and who should have prized +those qualities, if it were not the woman who, bred in solitude, and +taught by fancy to love all that was generous and noble in the heart of +man, should have considered mere beauty of feature as dust in the +scale, when opposed to sentiments which can invest even deformity with +loveliness? In all this I may appear vain; I am only just. +</P> + +<P> +"I have said that your mother had been brought up in solitude, and +without having seen the face of another man than her father. Such was +the case;—Colonel Beverley, of English name, but Scottish connections, +was an old gentleman of considerable eccentricity of character. He had +taken a part in the rebellion of 1715; but sick and disgusted with an +issue by which his fortunes had been affected, and heart-broken by the +loss of a beloved wife, whose death had been accelerated by +circumstances connected with the disturbed nature of the times, he had +resolved to bury himself and child in some wild, where the face of man, +whom he loathed, might no more offend his sight. This oasis of the +mountains was the spot selected for his purpose; for he had discovered +it some years previously, on an occasion, when, closely pursued by some +of the English troops, and separated from his followers, he had only +effected his escape by venturing on the ledges of rock I have already +described. After minute subsequent search, at the opposite extremity of +the oblong belt of rocks that shut it in on every hand, he had +discovered an opening, through which the transport of such necessaries +as were essential to his object might be effected; and, causing one of +his dwelling houses to be pulled down, he had the materials carried +across the rocks on the shoulders of the men employed to re-erect them +in his chosen solitude. A few months served to complete these +arrangements, which included a garden abounding in every fruit and +flower that could possibly live in so elevated a region; and; this, in +time, under his own culture, and that of his daughter, became the Eden +it first appeared to me. +</P> + +<P> +"Previous to their entering on this employment, the workmen had been +severally sworn to secrecy; and when all was declared ready for his +reception, the colonel summoned them a second time to his presence; +when, after making a handsome present to each, in addition to his hire, +he found no difficulty in prevailing on them to renew their oath that +they would preserve the most scrupulous silence in regard to the place +of his retreat. He then took advantage of a dark and tempestuous night +to execute his project; and, attended only by an old woman and her +daughter, faithful dependants of the family, set out in quest of his +new abode, leaving all his neighbours to discuss and marvel at the +singularity of his disappearance. True to his text, however, not even a +boy was admitted into his household: and here they had continued to +live, unseeing and unseen by man, except when a solitary and distant +mountaineer occasionally flitted among the rocks below in pursuit of +his game. Fruits and vegetables composed their principal diet; but once +a fortnight the old woman was dispatched through the opening already +mentioned, which was at other times so secured by her master, that no +hand but his own could remove the intricate fastenings. This expedition +had for its object the purchase of bread and animal food at the nearest +market; and every time she sallied forth an oath was administered to +the crone, the purport of which was, not only that she would return, +unless prevented by violence or death, but that she would not answer +any questions put to her, as to who she was, whence she came, or for +whom the fruits of her marketing were intended. +</P> + +<P> +"Meanwhile, wrapped up in his books, which were chiefly classic +authors, or writers on abstruse sciences, the misanthropical colonel +paid little or no attention to the cultivation of the intellect of his +daughter, whom he had merely instructed in the elementary branches of +education; in all which, however, she evinced an aptitude and +perfectability that indicated quickness of genius and a capability of +far higher attainments. Books he principally withheld from her, because +they brought the image of man, whom he hated, and wished she should +also hate, too often in flattering colours before her; and had any work +treating of love been found to have crept accidentally into his own +collection, it would instantly and indignantly have been committed to +the flames. +</P> + +<P> +"Thus left to the action of her own heart—the guidance of her own +feelings—it was but natural your mother should have suffered her +imagination to repose on an ideal happiness, which, although in some +degree destitute of shape and character, was still powerfully felt. +Nature is too imperious a law-giver to be thwarted in her dictates; and +however we may seek to stifle it, her inextinguishable voice will make +itself heard, whether it be in the lonely desert or in the crowded +capital. Possessed of a glowing heart and warm sensibilities, Clara +Beverley felt the energies of her being had not been given to her to be +wasted on herself. In her dreams by night, and her thoughts by day, she +had pictured a being endowed with those attributes which were the fruit +of her own fertility of conception. If she plucked a flower, (and all +this she admitted at our first interview," groaned Wacousta,) "she was +sensible of the absence of one to whom that flower might be given. If +she gazed at the star-studded canopy of heaven, or bent her head over +the frowning precipices by which she was every where surrounded, she +felt the absence of him with whom she could share the enthusiasm +excited by the contemplation of the one, and to whom she could impart +the mingled terror and admiration produced by the dizzying depths of +the other. What dear acknowledgments (alas! too deceitful,) flowed from +her guileless lips, even during that first interview. With a candour +and unreservedness that spring alone from unsophisticated manners and +an untainted heart, she admitted, that the instant she beheld me, she +felt she had found the being her fancy had been so long tutored to +linger on, and her heart to love. She was sure I was come to be her +husband (for she had understood from her aged attendant that a man who +loved a woman wished to be her husband); and she was glad her pet stag +had been wounded, since it had been the means of procuring her such +happiness. She was not cruel enough to take pleasure in the sufferings +of the poor animal; for she would nurse it, and it would soon be well +again; but she could not help rejoicing in its disaster, since that +circumstance had been the cause of my finding her out, and loving her +even as she loved me. And all this was said with her head reclining on +my chest, and her beautiful countenance irradiated with a glow that had +something divine in the simplicity of purpose it expressed. +</P> + +<P> +"On my demanding to know whether it was not her face I had seen at the +opening in the cliff, she replied that it was. Her stag often played +the truant, and passed whole hours away from her, rambling beyond the +precincts of the solitude that contained its mistress; but no sooner +was the small silver bugle, which she wore across her shoulder, applied +to her lips, than 'Fidelity' (thus she had named him) was certain to +obey the call, and to come bounding up the line of cliff to the main +rock, into which it effected its entrance at a point that had escaped +my notice. It was her bugle I had heard in the course of my pursuit of +the animal; and, from the aperture through which I had effected my +entrance, she had looked out to see who was the audacious hunter she +had previously observed threading a passage, along which her stag +itself never appeared without exciting terror in her bosom. The first +glimpse she had caught of my form was at the moment when, after having +sounded my own bugle, I cleared the chasm; and this was a leap she had +so often trembled to see taken by 'Fidelity,' that she turned away and +shuddered when she saw it fearlessly adventured on by a human being. A +feeling of curiosity had afterwards induced her to return and see if +the bold hunter had cleared the gulf, or perished in his mad attempt; +but when she looked outward from the highest pinnacle of her rocky +prison, she could discover no traces of him whatever. It then occurred +to her, that, if successful in his leap, his progress must have been +finally arrested by the impassable rock that terminated the ridge; in +which case she might perchance obtain a nearer sight of his person. +With this view she had removed the bushes enshrouding the aperture; +and, bending low to the earth, thrust her head partially through it. +Scarcely had she done so, however, when she beheld me immediately, +though far beneath her, with my back reposing against the rock, and my +eyes apparently fixed on hers. +</P> + +<P> +"Filled with a variety of opposite sentiments, among which unfeigned +alarm was predominant, she had instantaneously removed her head; and, +closing the aperture as noiselessly as possible, returned to the +moss-covered seat on which I had first surprised her; where, while she +applied dressings of herbs to the wound of her favourite, she suffered +her mind to ruminate on the singularity of the appearance of a man so +immediately in the vicinity of their retreat. The supposed +impracticability of the ascent I had accomplished, satisfied, even +while (as she admitted) it disappointed her. I must of necessity +retrace my way over the dangerous ridge. Great, therefore, was her +surprise, when, after having been attracted by the rustling noise of +the bushes over the aperture, she presently saw the figure of the same +hunter emerge from the abyss it overhung. Terror had winged her flight; +but it was terror mingled with a delicious emotion entirely new to her. +It was that emotion, momentarily increasing in power, that induced her +to pause, look back, hesitate in her course, and finally be won, by my +supplicating manner, to return and bless me with her presence. +</P> + +<P> +"Two long and delicious hours," pursued Wacousta, after another painful +pause of some moments, "did we pass in this manner; exchanging thought, +and speech, and heart, as if the term of our acquaintance had been +coeval with the first dawn of our intellectual life; when suddenly a +small silver toned bell was heard from the direction of the house, hid +from the spot—on which we sat by the luxuriant foliage of an +intervening laburnum. This sound seemed to dissipate the dreamy calm +that had wrapped the soul of your mother into forgetfulness. She +started suddenly up, and bade me, if I loved her, begone; as that bell +announced her required attendance on her father, who, now awakened from +the mid-day slumber in which he ever indulged, was about to take his +accustomed walk around the grounds; which was little else, in fact, +than a close inspection of the walls of his natural castle. I rose to +obey her; our eyes met, and she threw herself into my extended arms. We +whispered anew our vows of eternal love. She called me her husband, and +I pronounced the endearing name of wife. A burning kiss sealed the +compact; and, on her archly observing that the sleep of her father +continued about two hours at noon, and that the old woman and her +daughter were always occupied within doors, I promised to repeat my +visit every second day until she finally quitted her retreat to be my +own for life. Again the bell was rung; and this time with a violence +that indicated impatience of delay. I tore myself from her arms, darted +to the aperture, and kissing my hand in reply to the graceful waving of +her scarf as she half turned in her own flight, sunk finally from her +view; and at length, after making the same efforts, and mastering the +same obstacles that had marked and opposed my advance, once more found +myself at the point whence I had set out in pursuit of the wounded deer. +</P> + +<P> +"Many were the congratulations I received from my companions, whom I +found waiting my return. They had endured the three hours of my absence +with intolerable anxiety and alarm; until, almost despairing of +beholding me again, they had resolved on going back without me. They +said they had repeatedly sounded their horns; but meeting with no +answer from mine, had been compelled to infer either that I had strayed +to a point whence return to them was impracticable, or that I must have +perished in the abyss. I readily gave in to the former idea; stating I +had been led by the traces of the wounded deer to a considerable +distance, and over passes which it had proved a work of time and +difficulty to surmount, yet without securing my spoil. All this time +there was a glow of animation on my cheek, and a buoyancy of spirit in +my speech, that accorded ill, the first, with the fatigue one might +have been supposed to experience in so perilous a chase; the second, +with the disappointment attending its result. Your father, ever cool +and quick of penetration, was the first to observe this; and when he +significantly remarked, that, to judge from my satisfied countenance, +my time had been devoted to the pursuit of more interesting game, I +felt for a moment as if he was actually master of my secret, and was +sensible my features underwent a change. I, however, parried the +attack, by replying indifferently, that if he should have the hardihood +to encounter the same dangers, he would, if successful, require no +other prompter than the joy of self-preservation to lend the same glow +of satisfaction to his own features. Nothing further was said on the +subject; but conversing on indifferent topics, we again threaded the +mazes of rock and underwood we had passed at an early hour, and finally +gained the town in which we were quartered. +</P> + +<P> +"During dinner, as on our way home, although my voice occasionally +mixed with the voices of my companions, my heart was far away, and full +of the wild but innocent happiness in which it had luxuriated. At +length, the more freely to indulge in the recollection, I stole at an +early hour from the mess-room, and repaired to my own apartments. In +the course of the morning, I had hastily sketched an outline of your +mother's features in pencil, with a view to assist me in the design of +a miniature I purposed painting from memory. This was an amusement of +which I was extremely and in which I had attained considerable +excellence; being enabled, from memory alone, to give a most correct +representation of any object that particularly fixed my attention. She +had declared utter ignorance of the art herself, her father having +studiously avoided instructing her in it from some unexplained motive; +yet as she expressed the most unbounded admiration of those who +possessed it, it was my intention to surprise her with a highly +finished likeness of herself at my next visit. With this view I now set +to work; and made such progress, that before I retired to rest I had +completed all but the finishing touches, to which I purposed devoting a +leisure hour or two by daylight on the morrow. +</P> + +<P> +"While occupied the second day in its completion, it occurred to me I +was in orders for duty on the following, which was that of my promised +visit to the oasis; and I despatched my servant with my compliments to +your father, and a request that he would be so obliging as to take my +guard for me on the morrow, and I would perform his duty when next his +name appeared on the roster. Some time afterwards I heard the door of +the room in which I sat open, and some one enter. Presuming it to be my +servant, returned from the execution of the message with which he had +just been charged, I paid no attention to the circumstance; but +finding, presently, he did not speak, I turned round with a view of +demanding what answer he had brought. To my surprise, however, I beheld +not my servant, but your father. He was standing looking over my +shoulder at the work on which I was engaged; and notwithstanding in the +instant he resumed the cold, quiet, smirking look that usually +distinguished him, I thought I could trace the evidence of some deep +emotion which my action had suddenly dispelled. He apologised for his +intrusion, although we were on those terms that rendered apology +unnecessary, but said he had just received my message, and preferred +coming in person to assure me how happy he should feel to take my duty, +or to render me any other service in his power. I thought he laid +unusual emphasis on the last sentence; yet I thanked him warmly, +stating that the only service I should now exact of him would be to +take my guard, as I was compelled to be absent nearly the whole of the +following morning. He observed, with a smile, he hoped I was not going +to venture my neck on those dangerous precipices a second time, after +the narrow escape I had had on the preceding day. As he spoke, I +thought his eye met mine with a sly yet scrutinizing glance; and, not +wishing to reply immediately to his question, I asked him what he +thought of the work with which I was endeavouring to beguile an idle +hour. He took it up, and I watched the expression of his handsome +countenance with the anxiety of a lover who wishes that all should +think his mistress beautiful as he does himself. It betrayed a very +indefinite sort of admiration; and yet it struck me there was an +eagerness in his dilating eye that contrasted strongly with the calm +and unconcern of his other features. At length I asked him, laughingly, +what he thought of my Cornish cousin. He replied, cautiously enough, +that since it was the likeness of a cousin, and he dwelt emphatically +on the word, he could not fail to admire it. Candour, however, +compelled him to admit, that had I not declared the original to be one +so closely connected with me, he should have said the talent of so +perfect an artist might have been better employed. Whatever, however, +his opinion of the lady might be, there could be no question that the +painting was exquisite; yet, he confessed, he could not but be struck +with the singularity of the fact of a Cornish girl appearing in the +full costume of a female Highlander. This, I replied, was mere matter +of fancy and association, arising from my having been so much latterly +in the habit of seeing that dress principally worn. He smiled one of +his then damnable soft smiles of assent, and here the conversation +terminated, and he left me. +</P> + +<P> +"The next day saw me again at the side of your mother, who received me +with the same artless demonstrations of affection. There was a mellowed +softness in her countenance, and a tender languor in her eye, I had not +remarked the preceding day. Then there was more of the vivacity and +playfulness of the young girl; now, more of the deep fervour and the +composed serenity of the thoughtful woman. This change was too +consonant to my taste—too flattering to my self-love—not to be +rejoiced in; and as I pressed her yielding form in silent rapture to my +own, I more than ever felt she was indeed the being for whom my glowing +heart had so long yearned. After the first full and unreserved +interchange of our souls' best feelings, our conversation turned upon +lighter topics; and I took an opportunity to produce the fruit of my +application since we had parted. Never shall I forget the surprise and +delight that animated her beautiful countenance when first she gazed +upon the miniature. The likeness was perfect, even to the minutest +shading of her costume; and so forcibly and even childishly did this +strike her, that it was with difficulty I could persuade her she was +not gazing on some peculiar description of mirror that reflected back +her living image. She expressed a strong desire to retain it; and to +this I readily assented: stipulating only to retain it until my next +visit, in order that I might take an exact copy for myself. With a look +of the fondest love, accompanied by a pressure on mine of lips that +distilled dewy fragrance where they rested, she thanked me for a gift +which she said would remind her, in absence, of the fidelity with which +her features had been engraven on my heart. She admitted, moreover, +with a sweet blush, that she herself had not been idle. Although her +pencil could not call up my image in the same manner, her pen had +better repaid her exertions; and, in return for the portrait, she would +give me a letter she had written to beguile her loneliness on the +preceding day. As she spoke she drew a sealed packet from the bosom of +her dress, and placing it in my hand, desired me not to read it until I +had returned to my home. But there was an expression of sweet confusion +in her lovely countenance, and a trepidation in her manner, that, half +disclosing the truth, rendered me utterly impatient of the delay +imposed; and eagerly breaking the seal, I devoured rather than read its +contents. +</P> + +<P> +"Accursed madness of recollection!" pursued Wacousta, again striking +his brow violently with his hand,—"why is it that I ever feel thus +unmanned while recurring to those letters? Oh! Clara de Haldimar, never +did woman pen to man such declarations of tenderness and attachment as +that too dear but faithless letter of your mother contained. Words of +fire, emanating from the guilelessness of innocence, glowed in every +line; and yet every sentence breathed an utter unconsciousness of the +effect those words were likely to produce. Mad, wild, intoxicated, I +read the letter but half through; and, as it fell from my trembling +hand, my eye turned, beaming with the fires of a thousand emotions, +upon that of the worshipped writer. That glance was more than her own +could meet. A new consciousness seemed to be stirred up in her soul. +Her eye dropped beneath its long and silken fringe—her cheek became +crimson—her bosom heaved—and, all confidingness, she sank her head +upon my chest, which heaved scarcely less wildly than her own. +</P> + +<P> +"Had I been a cold-blooded villain—a selfish and remorseless seducer," +continued Wacousta with vehemence—"what was to have prevented my +triumph at that moment? But I came not to blight the flower that had +long been nurtured, though unseen, with the life-blood of my own being. +Whatever I may be NOW, I was THEN the soul of disinterestedness and +honour; and had she reposed on the bosom of her own father, that +devoted and unresisting girl could not have been pressed there with +holier tenderness. But even to this there was too soon a term. The hour +of parting at length arrived, announced, as before, by the small bell +of her father, and I again tore myself from her arms; not, however, +without first securing the treasured letter, and obtaining a promise +from your mother that I should receive another at each succeeding +visit." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0310"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<P> +"Nearly a month passed away in this manner; and at each interview our +affection seemed to increase. The days of our meeting were ever days of +pure and unalloyed happiness; while the alternate ones of absence were, +on my part, occupied chiefly with reading the glowing letters given me +at each parting by your mother. Of all these, however, there was not +one so impassioned, so natural, so every way devoted, as the first. Not +that she who wrote them felt less, but that the emotion excited in her +bosom by the manifestation of mine on that occasion, had imparted a +diffidence to her style of expression, plainly indicating the source +whence it sprung. +</P> + +<P> +"One day, while preparing to set out on my customary excursion, a +report suddenly reached me that the route had arrived for the regiment, +who were to march from —— within three days. This intelligence I +received with inconceivable delight; for it had been settled between +your mother and myself, that this should be the moment chosen for her +departure. It was not to be supposed (and I should have been both +pained and disappointed had it been otherwise,) that she would consent +to abandon her parent without some degree of regret; but, having +foreseen this objection from the first, I had gradually prepared her +for the sacrifice. This was the less difficult, as he appeared never to +have treated her with affection,—seldom with the marked favour that +might have been presumed to distinguish the manner of a father towards +a lovely and only daughter. Living for himself and the indulgence of +his misanthropy alone, he cared little for the immolation of his +child's happiness on its unhallowed shrine; and this was an act of +injustice I had particularly dwelt upon; upheld in truth, as it was, by +the knowledge she herself possessed, that no consideration could induce +him to bestow her hand on any one individual of a race he so cordially +detested; and this was not without considerable weight in her decision. +</P> + +<P> +"With a glowing cheek, and a countenance radiant with happiness, did +your mother receive my proposal to prepare for her departure on the +following day. She was sufficiently aware, even through what I had +stated myself, that there were certain ceremonies of the Church to be +performed, in order to give sanctity to our union, and ensure her own +personal respectability in the world; and these, I told her, would be +solemnised by the chaplain of the regiment. She implicitly confided in +me; and she was right; for I loved her too well to make her my +mistress, while no barrier existed to her claim to a dearer title. And +had she been the daughter of a peasant, instead of a high-born +gentleman, finding her as I had found her, and loving her as I did love +her, I should have acted precisely in the same way. +</P> + +<P> +"The only difficulty that now occurred was the manner of her flight. +The opening before alluded to as being the point whence the old woman +made her weekly sally to the market town, was of so intricate and +labyrinthian a character that none but the colonel understood the +secret of its fastenings; and the bare thought of my venturing with her +on the route by which I had hitherto made my entry into the oasis, was +one that curdled my blood with fear. I could absolutely feel my flesh +to contract whenever I painted the terrible risk that would be incurred +in adopting a plan I had once conceived,—namely, that of lashing your +mother to my back, while I again effected my descent to the ledge +beneath, in the manner I had hitherto done. I felt that, once on the +ridge, I might, without much effort, attain the passage of the fissure +already described; for the habit of accomplishing this leap had +rendered it so perfectly familiar to me, that I now performed it with +the utmost security and ease; but to imagine our united weight +suspended over the abyss, as it necessarily must be in the first stage +of our flight, when even the dislodgment of a single root or fragment +of the rock was sufficient to ensure the horrible destruction of her +whom I loved better than my own life, had something too appalling in it +to suffer me to dwell on the idea for more than a moment. I had +proposed, as the most feasible and rational plan, that the colonel +should be compelled to give us egress through the secret passage, when +we might command the services of the old woman to guide us through the +passes that led to the town; but to this your mother most urgently +objected, declaring that she would rather encounter any personal peril +that might attend her escape, in a different manner, than appear to be +a participator in an act of violence against her parent whose obstinacy +of character she moreover knew too well to leave a hope of his being +intimidated into the accomplishment of our object, even by a threat of +death itself. This plan I was therefore compelled to abandon; and as +neither of us were able to discover the passage by which the deer +always effected its entrance, I was obliged to fix upon one, which it +was agreed should be put in practice on the following day. +</P> + +<P> +"On my return, I occupied myself with preparations for the reception of +her who was so speedily to become my wife. Unwilling that she should be +seen by any of my companions, until the ceremony was finally performed, +I engaged apartments in a small retired cottage, distant about half a +mile from the furthest extremity of the town, where I purposed she +should remain until the regiment finally quitted the station. This +point secured, I hastened to the quarters of the chaplain, to engage +his services for the following evening; but he was from home at the +time, and I repaired to my own rooms, to prepare the means of escape +for your mother. These occupied me until a very late hour; and when at +length I retired to rest, it was only to indulge in the fondest +imaginings that ever filled the heart of a devoted lover. Alas! (and +the dark warrior again sighed heavily) the day-dream of my happiness +was already fast drawing to a close. +</P> + +<P> +"At half an hour before noon, I was again in the oasis; your mother was +at the wonted spot; and although she received me with her sunniest +smiles, there were traces of tears upon her cheek. I kissed them +eagerly away, and sought to dissipate the partial gloom that was again +clouding her brow. She observed it pained me to see her thus, and she +made a greater effort to rally. She implored me to forgive her +weakness; but it was the first time she was to be separated from her +parent; and conscious as she was that it was to be for ever, she could +not repress the feeling that rose, despite of herself, to her heart. +She had, however, prepared a letter, at my suggestion, to be left on +her favourite moss seat, where it was likely she would first be sought +by her father, to assure him of her safety, and of her prospects of +future happiness; and the consciousness that he would labour under no +harrowing uncertainty in regard to her fate, seemed, at length, to +soothe and satisfy her heart. +</P> + +<P> +"I now led her to the aperture, where I had left the apparatus provided +for my purpose: this consisted of a close netting, about four feet in +depth, with a board for a footstool at the bottom, and furnished at +intervals with hoops, so as to keep it full and open. The top of this +netting was provided with two handles, to which were attached the ends +of a cord many fathoms in length; the whole of such durability, as to +have borne weights equal to those of three ordinary sized men, with +which I had proved it prior to my setting out. My first care was to +bandage the eyes of your mother, (who willingly and fearlessly +submitted to all I proposed,) that she might not see, and become faint +with seeing, the terrible chasm over which she was about to be +suspended. I then placed her within the netting, which, fitting closely +to her person, and reaching under her arms, completely secured her; and +my next urgent request was, that she would not, on any account, remove +the bandage, or make the slightest movement, when she found herself +stationary below, until I had joined her. I then dropped her gently +through the aperture, lowering fathom after fathom of the rope, the +ends of which I had firmly secured round the trunk of a tree, as an +additional safeguard, until she finally came on a level with that part +of the cliff on which I had reposed when first she beheld me. As she +still hung immediately over the abyss, it was necessary to give a +gradual impetus to her weight, to enable her to gain the landing-place. +I now, therefore, commenced swinging her to and fro, until she at +length came so near the point desired, that I clearly saw the principal +difficulty was surmounted. The necessary motion having been given to +the balance, with one vigorous and final impulsion I dexterously +contrived to deposit her several feet from the edge of the lower rock, +when, slackening the rope on the instant, I had the inexpressible +satisfaction to see that she remained firm and stationary. The waving +of her scarf immediately afterwards (a signal previously agreed upon), +announced she had sustained no injury in this rather rude collision +with the rock, and I in turn commenced my descent. +</P> + +<P> +"Fearing to cast away the ends of the rope, lest their weight should by +any chance effect the balance of the footing your mother had obtained, +I now secured them around my loins, and accomplishing my descent in the +customary manner, speedily found myself once more at the side of my +heart's dearest treasure. Here the transport of my joy was too great to +be controlled; I felt that NOW my prize was indeed secured to me for +ever; and I burst forth into the most passionate exclamations of +tenderness, and falling on my knees, raised my hands to Heaven in +fervent gratitude for the success with which my enterprise had been +crowned. Another would have been discouraged at the difficulties still +remaining; but with these I was become too familiar, not to feel the +utmost confidence in encountering them, even with the treasure that was +equally perilled with myself. For a moment I removed the bandage from +the eyes of your mother, that she might behold not only the far distant +point whence she had descended, but the frowning precipice I had daily +been in the habit of climbing to be blest with her presence. She did +so,—and her cheek paled, for the first time, with a sense of the +danger I had incurred; then turning her soft and beautiful eyes on +mine, she smiled a smile that seemed to express how much her love would +repay me. Again our lips met, and we were happy even in that lonely +spot, beyond all language to describe. Once more, at length, I prepared +to execute the remainder of my task; and I again applied the bandage to +her eyes, saying that, although the principal danger was over, still +there was another I could not bear she should look upon. Again she +smiled, and with a touching sweetness of expression that fired my +blood, observing at the same time she feared no danger while she was +with me, but that if my object was to prevent her from looking at me, +the most efficient way certainly was to apply a bandage to her eyes. +Oh! woman, woman!" groaned Wacousta, in fierce anguish of spirit, "who +shall expound the complex riddle of thy versatile nature? +</P> + +<P> +"Disengaging the rope from the handles of the netting, I now applied to +these a broad leathern belt taken from the pouches of two of my men, +and stooping with my back to the cherished burden with which I was +about to charge myself, passed the centre of the belt across my chest, +much in the manner in which, as you are aware, Indian women carry their +infant children. As an additional precaution, I had secured the netting +round my waist by a strong lacing of cord, and then raising myself to +my full height, and satisfying myself of the perfect freedom of action +of my limbs, seized a long balancing pole I had left suspended against +the rock at my last visit, and commenced my descent of the sloping +ridge. On approaching the horrible chasm, a feeling of faintness came +over me, despite of the confidence with which I had previously armed +myself. This, however, was but momentary. Sensible that every thing +depended on rapidity of movement, I paused not in my course; but, +quickening my pace as I gradually drew nearer, gave the necessary +impetus to my motion, and cleared the gap with a facility far exceeding +what had distinguished my first passage, and which was the fruit of +constant practice alone. Here my balance was sustained by the pole; and +at length I had the inexpressible satisfaction to find myself at the +very extremity of the ridge, and immediately at the point where I had +left my companions in my first memorable pursuit. Alas!" continued the +warrior, again interrupting himself with one of those fierce +exclamations of impatient anguish that so frequently occurred in his +narrative, "what subject for rejoicing was there in this? Better far we +had been dashed to pieces in the abyss, than I should have lived to +curse the hour when first my spirit of adventure led me to traverse +it." Again he resumed:— +</P> + +<P> +"In the deep transport of my joy, I once more threw myself on my knees +in speechless thanksgiving to Providence for the complete success of my +undertaking. Your mother, whom I had previously released from her +confinement, did the same; and at that moment the union of our hearts +seemed to be cemented by a divine influence, manifested in the fulness +of the gratitude of each. I then raised her from the earth, imprinting +a kiss upon her fair brow, that was hallowed by the purity of the +feeling I had so recently indulged in; and throwing over her shoulders +the mantle of a youth, which I had secreted near the spot, enjoined her +to follow me closely in the path I was about to pursue. As she had +hitherto encountered no fatigue, and was, moreover, well provided with +strong buskins I had brought for the purpose, I thought it advisable to +discontinue the use of the netting, which must attract notice, and +cause us, perhaps, to be followed, in the event of our being met by any +of the hunters that usually traversed these parts. To carry her in my +arms, as I should have preferred, might have excited the same +curiosity, and I was therefore compelled to decide upon her walking; +reserving to myself, however, the sweet task of bearing her in my +embrace over the more difficult parts of our course. +</P> + +<P> +"I have not hitherto found it necessary to state," continued Wacousta, +his brow lowering with fierce and gloomy thought, "that more than once, +latterly, on my return from the oasis, which was usually at a stated +hour, I had observed a hunter hovering near the end of the ledge, yet +quickly retreating as I advanced. There was something in the figure of +this man that recalled to my recollection the form of your father; but +ever, on my return to quarters, I found him in uniform, and exhibiting +any thing but the appearance of one who had recently been threading his +weary way among rocks and fastnesses. Besides, the improbability of +this fact was so great, that it occupied not my attention beyond the +passing moment. On the present occasion, however, I saw the same +hunter, and was more forcibly than ever struck by the resemblance to my +friend. Prior to my quitting the point where I had liberated your +mother from the netting, I had, in addition to the disguise of the +cloak, found it necessary to make some alteration in the arrangement of +her hair; the redundancy of which, as it floated gracefully over her +polished neck, was in itself sufficient to betray her sex. With this +view I had removed her plumed bonnet. It was the first time I had seen +her without it; and so deeply impressed was I by the angel-like +character of the extreme feminine beauty she, more than ever, then +exhibited, that I knelt in silent adoration for some moments at her +feet, my eyes and countenance alone expressing the fervent and almost +holy emotion of my enraptured soul. Had she been a divinity, I could +not have worshipped her with a purer feeling. While I yet knelt, I +fancied I heard a sound behind me; and, turning quickly, beheld the +head of a man peering above a point of rock at some little distance. He +immediately, on witnessing my action, sank again beneath it, but not in +sufficient time to prevent my almost assuring myself that it was the +face of your father I had beheld. My first impulse was to bound +forward, and satisfy myself who it really was who seemed thus ever on +the watch to intercept my movements; but a second rapid reflection +convinced me, that, having been discovered, it was most likely the +intruder had already effected his retreat, and that any attempt at +pursuit might not only alarm your mother, but compromise her safety. I +determined, however, to tax your father with the fact on my return to +quarters; and, from the manner in which he met the charge, to form my +own conclusion. +</P> + +<P> +"Meanwhile we pursued our course; and after an hour's rather laborious +exertion, at length emerged from the succession of glens and rocks that +lay in our way; when, skirting the valley in which the town was +situated, we finally reached the cottage where I had secured my +lodging. Previous to entering it, I had told your mother, that for the +few hours that would intervene before the marriage ceremony could be +performed, I should, by way of lulling the curiosity of her hostess, +introduce her as a near relative of my own. This I did accordingly; +and, having seen that every thing was comfortably arranged for her +convenience, and recommending her strongly to the care of the old +woman, I set off once more in search of the chaplain of the regiment +Before I could reach his residence, however, I was met by a sergeant of +my company, who came running towards me, evidently with some +intelligence of moment. He stated, that my presence was required +without delay. The grenadiers, with the senior subaltern, were in +orders for detachment for an important service; and considerable +displeasure had been manifested by the colonel at my absence, +especially as of late I had greatly neglected my military duties. He +had been looking for me every where, he said, but without success, when +Ensign de Haldimar had pointed out to him in what direction it was +likely I might be found. +</P> + +<P> +"At a calmer moment, I should have been startled at the last +observation; but my mind was too much engrossed with the principal +subject of my regret, to pay any attention to the circumstance. It was +said the detachment would be occupied in this duty a week or ten days, +at least; and how was I to absent myself from her whom I so fondly +loved for this period, without even being permitted first to see and +account to her for my absence? There was torture in the very thought; +and in the height of my impatience, I told the sergeant he might give +my compliments to the colonel, and say I would see the service d—d +rather than inconvenience myself by going out on this duty at so short +a notice; that I had private business of the highest importance to +myself to transact, and could not absent myself. As the man, however, +prepared coolly to depart, it suddenly occurred to me, that I might +prevail on your father to take my duty now, as on former occasions he +had willingly done, and I countermanded my message to the colonel; +desiring him, however, to find out Ensign de Haldimar, and say that I +requested to see him immediately at my quarters, whither I was now +proceeding to change my dress. +</P> + +<P> +"With a beating heart did I assume an uniform that appeared, at that +moment, hideous in my eyes; yet I was not without a hope I might yet +get off this ill-timed duty. Before I had completed my equipment, your +father entered; and when I first glanced my eye full upon his, I +thought his countenance exhibited evidences of confusion. This +immediately reminded me of the unknown hunter, and I asked him if he +was not the person I described. His answer was not a positive denial, +but a mixture of raillery and surprise that lulled my doubts, enfeebled +as they were by the restored calm of his features. I then told him that +I had a particular favour to ask of him, which, in consideration of our +friendship, I trusted he would not refuse; and that was, to take my +duty in the expedition about to set forth. His manner implied concern; +and he asked, with a look that had much deliberate expression in it, +'if I was aware that it was a duty in which blood was expected to be +shed? He could not suppose that any consideration would induce me to +resign my duty to another officer, when apprised of this fact.' All +this was said with the air of one really interested in my honour; but +in my increasing impatience, I told him I wanted none of his cant; I +simply asked him a favour, which he would grant or decline as he +thought proper. This was a harshness of language I had never indulged +in; but my mind was sore under the existing causes of my annoyance, and +I could not bear to have my motives reflected on at a moment when my +heart was torn with all the agonies attendant on the position in which +I found myself placed. His cheek paled and flushed more than once, +before he replied, 'that in spite of my unkindness his friendship might +induce him to do much for me, even as he had hitherto done, but that on +the present occasion it rested not with him. In order to justify +himself he would no longer disguise the fact from me, that the colonel +had declared, in the presence of the whole regiment, I should take my +duty regularly in future, and not be suffered to make a convenience of +the service any longer. If, however, he could do any thing for me +during my absence, I had but to command him. +</P> + +<P> +"While I was yet giving vent, in no very measured terms, to the +indignation I felt at being made the subject of public censure by the +colonel, the same sergeant came into the room, announcing that the +company were only waiting for me to march, and that the colonel desired +my instant presence. In the agitation of my feelings, I scarcely knew +what I did, putting several portions of my regimental equipment on so +completely awry, that your father noticed and rectified the errors I +had committed; while again, in the presence of the sergeant, I +expressed the deepest regret he could not relieve me from a duty that +was hateful to the last degree. +</P> + +<P> +"Torn with agony at the thought of the uncertainty in which I was +compelled to leave her, whom I so fondly adored, I had now no other +alternative than to make a partial confidant of your father. I told him +that in the cottage which I pointed out he would find the original of +the portrait he had seen me painting on a former occasion,—the Cornish +cousin, whose beauty he professed to hold so cheaply. More he should +know of her on my return; but at present I confided her to his honour, +and begged he would prove his friendship for me by rendering her +whatever attention she might require in her humble abode. With these +hurried injunctions he promised to comply; and it has often occurred to +me since, although I did not remark it at the time, that while his +voice and manner were calm, there was a burning glow upon his handsome +cheek, and a suppressed exultation in his eye, that I had never +observed on either before. I then quitted the room; and hastening to my +company with a gloom on—my brow that indicated the wretchedness of my +inward spirit, was soon afterwards on the march from ——." +</P> + +<P> +Again the warrior seemed agitated with the most violent emotion; he +buried his face in his hands; and the silence that ensued was longer +than any he had previously indulged in. At length he made an effort to +arouse himself; and again exhibiting his swarthy features, disclosed a +brow, not clouded, as before, by grief, but animated with the fiercest +and most appalling passions, while he thus impetuously resumed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0311"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<P> +"If, hitherto, Clara de Haldimar, I have been minute in the detail of +all that attended my connection with your mother, it has been with a +view to prove to you how deeply I have been injured; but I have now +arrived at a part of my history, when to linger on the past would goad +me into madness, and render me unfit for the purpose to which I have +devoted myself. Brief must be the probing of wounds, that nearly five +lustres have been insufficient to heal; brief the tale that reveals the +infamy of those who have given you birth, and the utter blighting of +the fairest hopes of one whose only fault was that of loving, "not too +wisely, but too well." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you credit the monstrous truth," he added, in a fierce but +composed whisper, while he bent eagerly over the form of the trembling +yet attentive girl, "when I tell you that, on my return from that fatal +expedition, during my continuance on which her image had never once +been absent from my mind, I found Clara Beverley the wife of De +Haldimar? Yes," continued Wacousta, his wounded feeling and mortified +pride chafing, by the bitter recollection, into increasing fury, while +his countenance paled in its swarthiness, "the wife, the wedded wife of +yon false and traitorous governor! Well may you look surprised, Clara +de Haldimar: such damnable treachery as this may startle his own blood +in the veins of another, nor find its justification even in the +devotedness of woman's filial piety. To what satanic arts so +calculating a villain could have had recourse to effect his object I +know not; but it is not the less true, that she, from whom my previous +history must have taught you to expect the purity of intention and +conduct of an angel, became his wife,—and I a being accursed among +men. Even as our common mother is said to have fallen in the garden of +Eden, tempted by the wily beauty of the devil, so did your mother fall, +seduced by that of the cold, false, traitorous De Haldimar." Here the +agitation of Wacousta became terrific. The labouring of his chest was +like that of one convulsed with some racking agony and the swollen +veins and arteries of his head seemed to threaten the extinction of +life in some fearful paroxysm. At length he burst into a violent fit of +tears, more appalling, in one of his iron nature, than the fury which +had preceded it,—and it was many minutes before he could so far +compose himself as to resume. +</P> + +<P> +"Think not, Clara de Haldimar, I speak without the proof. Her own words +confessed, her own lips avowed it, and yet I neither slew her, nor her +paramour, nor myself. On my return to the regiment I had flown to the +cottage, on the wings of the most impatient and tender love that ever +filled the bosom of man for woman. To my enquiries the landlady +replied, that my cousin had been married two days previously, by the +military chaplain, to a handsome young officer, who had visited her +soon after my departure, and was constantly with her from that moment; +and that immediately after the ceremony they had left, but she knew not +whither. Wild, desperate, almost bereft of reason, and with a heart +bounding against my bosom, as if each agonising throb were to be its +last, I ran like a maniac back into the town, nor paused till I found +myself in the presence of your father. My mind was a volcano, but still +I attempted to be calm, even while I charged him, in the most +outrageous terms, with his villainy. Deny it he could not; but, far +from excusing it, he boldly avowed and justified the step he had taken, +intimating, with a smile full of meaning, there was nothing in a +connection with the family of De Haldimar to reflect disgrace on the +cousin of Sir Reginald Morton; and that; the highest compliment he +could pay his friend was to attach himself to one whom that friend had +declared to be so near a relative of his own. There was a coldness of +taunt in these remarks, that implied his sense of the deception I had +practised on him, in regard to the true nature of the relationship; and +for a moment, while my hand firmly grasped the hilt of my sword, I +hesitated whether I should not cut him down at my feet: I had +self-command, however, to abstain from the outrage, and I have often +since regretted I had. My own blood could have been but spilt in +atonement for my just revenge; and as for the obloquy attached to the +memory of the assassin, it could not have been more bitter than that +which has followed me through life. But what do I say?" fiercely +continued the warrior, an exulting ferocity sparkling in his eye, and +animating his countenance; "had he fallen, then my vengeance were but +half complete. No; it is now he shall feel the deadly venom in his +heart, that has so long banqueted on mine. +</P> + +<P> +"Determined to know from her own lips," he pursued, to the shuddering +Clara, whose hopes, hitherto strongly excited, now, began again to fade +beneath the new aspect given to the strange history of this terrible +man;—"determined to satisfy myself from her own acknowledgment, +whether all I had heard was not an imposition, I summoned calmness +enough to desire that your mother might confirm in person the +alienation of her affection, as nothing short of that could convince me +of the truth. He left the room, and presently re-appeared, conducting +her in from another: I thought she looked more beautiful than ever, +but, alas! I had the inexpressible horror to discover, before a word +was uttered, that all the fondness of her nature was indeed transferred +to your father. How I endured the humiliation of that scene has often +been a source of utter astonishment to myself; but I did endure it. To +my wild demand, how she could so soon have forgotten her vows, and +falsified her plighted engagements, she replied, timidly and +confusedly, she had not yet known her own heart; but if she had pained +me by her conduct, she was sorry for it, and hoped I would forgive her. +She would always be happy to esteem me as a friend, but she loved her +Charles far, far better than she had ever loved me. This damning +admission, couched in the same language of simplicity that had first +touched and won my affection, was like boiling lead upon my brain. In a +transport of madness I sprang towards her, caught her in my arms, and +swore she should accompany me back to the oasis—when I had taken her +there, to be regained by my detested rival, if he could; but that he +should not eat the fruit I had plucked at so much peril to myself. She +struggled to disengage herself, calling on your father by the most +endearing epithets to free her from my embrace. He attempted it, and I +struck him senseless to the floor at a single blow with the flat of my +sabre, which in my extreme fury I had unsheathed. Instead, however, of +profiting by the opportunity thus afforded to execute my threat, a +feeling of disgust and contempt came over me, for the woman, whose +inconstancy had been the cause of my committing myself in this +ungentlemanly manner; and bestowing deep but silent curses on her head, +I rushed from the house in a state of frenzy. How often since have I +regretted that I had not pursued my first impulse, and borne her to +some wild, where, forgetting one by whose beauty of person her eye +alone had been seduced, her heart might have returned to its allegiance +to him who had first awakened the sympathies of her soul, and would +have loved her with a love blending the fiercest fires of the eagle +with the gentlest devotedness of the dove. But destiny had differently +ordained. +</P> + +<P> +"Did my injuries end here?" pursued the dark warrior, as his eye +kindled with rage. "No: for weeks I was insensible to any thing but the +dreadful shock my soul had sustained. A heavy stupor weighed me down, +and for a period it was supposed my reason was overthrown: no such +mercy was reserved for me. The regiment had quitted the Highlands, and +were now stationary in ——, whither I had accompanied it in arrest. +The restoration of my faculties was the signal for new persecutions. +Scarcely had the medical officers reported me fit to sustain the +ordeal, when a court-martial was assembled to try me on a variety of +charges. Who was my prosecutor? Listen, Clara," and he shook her +violently by the arm. "He who had robbed me of all that gave value to +life, and incentive to honour,—he who, under the guise of friendship, +had stolen into the Eden of my love, and left it barren of affection. +In a word, yon detested governor, to whose inhuman cruelty even the son +of my brother has, by some strange fatality of coincidence, so recently +fallen a second sacrifice. Curses, curses on him," he pursued, with +frightful vehemence, half rising as he spoke, and holding forth his +right arm in a menacing attitude; "but the hour of retribution is at +hand, and revenge, the exclusive passion of the gods, shall at length +be mine. In no other country in the world—under no other circumstances +than the present—could I have so secured it. +</P> + +<P> +"What were the charges preferred against me?" he continued, with a +violence that almost petrified the unhappy girl. "Hear them, and judge +whether I have not cause for the inextinguishable hate that rankles at +my heart. Every trifling disobedience of orders—every partial neglect +of duty that could be raked up—was tortured into a specific charge; +and, as I have already admitted I had latterly transgressed not a +little in this respect, these were numerous enough. Yet they were but +preparatory to others of greater magnitude. Next succeeded one that +referred to the message I had given, and countermanded, to the sergeant +of my company, when in the impatience of my disappointment I had +desired him to tell the colonel I would see the service d—d rather +than inconvenience myself at that moment for it. This was unsupported +by other evidence, however, and therefore failed in the proof. But the +web was too closely woven around to admit of my escaping.—Will you, +can you believe any thing half so atrocious, as that your father should +have called on this same man not only to prove the violent and +insubordinate language I had used in reference to the commanding +officer in my own rooms, but also to substantiate a charge of +cowardice, grounded on the unwillingness I had expressed to accompany +the expedition, and the extraordinary trepidation I had evinced, while +preparing for the duty, manifested, as it was stated to be, by the +various errors he had rectified in my equipment with his own hand? Yes, +even this pitiful charge was one of the many preferred; but the +severest was that which he had the unblushing effrontery to make the +subject of public investigation, rather than of private redress—the +blow I had struck him in his own apartments. And who was his witness in +this monstrous charge?—your mother, Clara. Yea, I stood as a criminal +in her presence; and yet she came forward to tender an evidence that +was to consign me to a disgraceful sentence. My vile prosecutor had, +moreover, the encouragement, the sanction of his colonel throughout, +and by him he was upheld in every contemptible charge his ingenuity +could devise. Do you not anticipate the result?—I was found guilty, +and dismissed the service. +</P> + +<P> +"How acted my brother officers, when, previously to the trial, I +alluded to the damnable treachery of your father? Did they condemn his +conduct, or sympathise with me in my misfortune?—No; they shrugged +their shoulders, and coldly observed, I ought to have known better than +to trust one against whom they had so often cautioned me; but that as I +had selected him for my friend, I should have bestowed a whole, and not +a half confidence upon him. He had had the hypocrisy to pretend to them +he had violated no trust, since he had honourably espoused a lady whom +I had introduced to him as a cousin, and in whom I appeared to have no +other interest than that of relationship. Not, they said, that they +believed he actually did entertain that impression; but still the +excuse was too plausible, and had been too well studied by my cunning +rival, to be openly refuted. As for the mere fact of his supplanting +me, they thought it an excellent thing,—a ruse d'amour for which they +never would have given him credit; and although they admitted it was +provoking enough to be ousted out of one's mistress in that cool sort +of way, still I should not so far have forgotten myself as to have +struck him while he was unarmed, when it was so easy to have otherwise +fastened an insult on him. Such," bitterly pursued Wacousta, "was the +consolation I received from men, who, a few short weeks before, had +been sedulous to gain and cultivate my friendship,—but even this was +only vouchsafed antecedent to my trial. When the sentence was +promulgated, announcing my dismissal from the service, every back was +turned upon me, as though I had been found guilty of some dishonourable +action or some disgraceful crime; and, on the evening of the same day, +when I threw from me for ever an uniform that I now loathed from my +inmost soul, there was not one among those who had often banqueted at +my expense, who had the humanity to come to me and say, 'Sir Reginald +Morton, farewell.' +</P> + +<P> +"What agonies of mind I endured,—what burning tears I nightly shed +upon a pillow I was destined to press in freezing loneliness,—what +hours of solitude I passed, far from the haunts of my fellow-men, and +forming plans of vengeance,—it would take much longer time to relate +than I have actually bestowed on my unhappy history. To comprehend +their extent and force, you must understand the heart of fire in which +the deep sense of injury had taken root; but the night wears away, and +briefly told must be the remainder of my tale. The rebellion of +forty-five saw me in arms in the Scottish ranks; and, in one instance, +opposed to the regiment from which I had been so ignominiously +expelled. Never did revenge glow like a living fire in the heart of man +as it did in mine; for the effect of my long brooding in solitude had +been to inspire me with a detestation, not merely for those who had +been most rancorous in their enmity, but for every thing that wore the +uniform, from the commanding officer down to the meanest private. Every +blow that I dealt, every life that I sacrificed, was an insult washed +away from my attainted honour; but him whom I most sought in the melee +I never could reach. At length the corps to which I had attached myself +was repulsed; and I saw, with rage in my heart, that my enemy still +lived to triumph in the fruit of his villainy. +</P> + +<P> +"Although I was grown considerably in stature at this period, and was +otherwise greatly altered in appearance, I had been recognised in the +action by numbers of the regiment; and, indeed, more than once I had, +in the intoxication of my rage, accompanied the blow that slew or +maimed one of my former associates with a declaration of the name of +him who inflicted it. The consequence was, I was denounced as a rebel +and an outlaw, and a price was put upon my head. Accustomed, however, +as I had ever been, to rocks and fastnesses, I had no difficulty in +eluding the vigilance of those who were sent in pursuit of me; and thus +compelled to live wholly apart from my species, I at length learned to +hate them, and to know that man is the only enemy of man upon earth. +</P> + +<P> +"A change now came ever the spirit of my vengeance; for about this +period your mother died. I had never ceased to love, even while I +despised her; and notwithstanding, had she, after her flagrant +inconstancy, thrown herself into my arms, I should have rejected her +with scorn, still I was sensible no other woman could ever supply her +place in my affection. She was, in truth, the only being I had ever +looked upon with fondness; and deeply even as I had been injured by +her, I wept her memory with many a scalding tear. This, however, only +increased my hatred for him who had rioted in her beauty, and +supplanted me in her devotedness. I had the means of learning, +occasionally, all that passed in the regiment; and the same account +that brought me the news of your mother's death also gave me the +intelligence that three children had been the fruit of her union with +De Haldimar. How," pursued Wacousta, with bitter energy, "shall I +express the deep loathing I felt for those children? It seemed to me as +if their existence had stamped a seal of infamy on my own brow; and I +hated them, even in their childhood, as the offspring of an abhorred, +and, as it appeared to me, an unnatural union. I heard, moreover (and +this gave me pleasure), that their father doated on them; and from that +moment I resolved to turn his cup of joy into bitterness, even as he +had turned mine. I no longer sought his life; for the jealousy that had +half impelled that thirst existed no longer: but, deeming his cold +nature at least accessible through his parental affection, I was +resolved that in his children he should suffer a portion of the agonies +he had inflicted on me. I waited, however, until they should be grown +up to an age when the heart of the parent would be more likely to mourn +their loss; and then I was determined my vengeance should be complete. +</P> + +<P> +"Circumstances singularly favoured my design. Many years afterwards, +the regiment formed one of the expedition against Quebec under General +Wolfe. They were commanded by your father, who, in the course of +promotion, had obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy; and I observed by the +army list, that a subaltern of the same name, whom I presumed to be his +eldest son, was in the corps. Here was a field for my vengeance beyond +any I could have hoped for. I contrived to pass over into Cornwall, the +ban of outlawry being still unrepealed; and having procured from my +brother a sum sufficient for my necessities, and bade him an eternal +farewell, embarked in a fishing-boat for the coast of France, whence I +subsequently took a passage to this country. At Montreal I found the +French general, who gladly received my allegiance as a subject of +France, and gave me a commission in one of the provincial corps that +usually served in concert with our Indian allies. With the general I +soon became a favourite; and, as a mark of his confidence at the attack +on Quebec, he entrusted me with the command of a detached irregular +force, consisting partly of Canadians and partly of Indians, intended +to harass the flanks of the British army. This gave me an opportunity +of being at whatever point of the field I might think most favourable +to my design; and I was too familiar with the detested uniform of the +regiment not to be able to distinguish it from afar. In a word, Clara, +for I am weary of my own tale, in that engagement I had an opportunity +of recognising your brother. He struck me by his martial appearance as +he encouraged his grenadiers to the attack of the French columns; and, +as I turned my eye upon him in admiration, I was stung to the soul by +his resemblance to his father. Vengeance thrilled throughout every +fibre of my frame at that moment. The opportunity I had long sought was +at length arrived; and already, in anticipation, I enjoyed the conquest +his fall would occasion to my enemy. I rushed within a few feet of my +victim; but the bullet aimed at his heart was received in the breast of +a faithful soldier, who had flown to intercept it. How I cursed the +meddler for his officiousness!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that soldier was your nephew," eagerly interrupted Clara, pointing +towards her companion, who had fallen into a profound slumber, "the +husband of this unfortunate woman. Frank Halloway (for by that name was +he alone known in the regiment) loved my brother as though he had been +of the same blood. He it was who flew to receive the ball that was +destined for another. But I nursed him on his couch of suffering, and +with my own hands prepared his food and dressed his wound. Oh, if pity +can touch your heart (and I will not believe that a heart that once +felt as you say yours has felt can be inaccessible to pity), let the +recollection of your nephew's devotedness to my mother's child disarm +you of vengeance, and induce you to restore us!" +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" thundered Wacousta,—"never! The very circumstance you have +now named is an additional incentive to my vengeance. My nephew saved +the life of your brother at the hazard of his own; and how has he been +rewarded for the generous deed? By an ignominious death, inflicted, +perhaps, for some offence not more dishonouring than those which have +thrown me an outcast upon these wilds; and that at the command and in +the presence of the father of him whose life he was fool enough to +preserve. Yet, what but ingratitude of the grossest nature could a +Morton expect at the hands of the false family of De Haldimar! They +were destined to be our bane, and well have they fulfilled the end for +which they were created." +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty Providence!" aspirated the sinking Clara, as she turned her +streaming eyes to heaven; "can it be that the human heart can undergo +such change? Can this be the being who once loved my mother with a +purity and tenderness of affection that angels themselves might hallow +with approval; or is all that I have heard but a bewildering dream?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Clara," calmly and even solemnly returned the warrior; "it is no +dream, but a reality—a sad, dreadful, heart-rending reality; yet, if I +am that altered being, to whom is the change to be ascribed? Who turned +the generous current of my blood into a river of overflowing gall? Who, +when my cup was mantling with the only bliss I coveted upon earth, +traitorously emptied it, and substituted a heart-corroding poison in +its stead? Who blighted my fair name, and cast me forth an alien in the +land of my forefathers? Who, in a word, cut me off from every joy that +existence can impart to man? Who did all this? Your father! But these +are idle words. What I have been, you know; what I now am, and through +what agency I have been rendered what I now am, you know also. Not more +fixed is fate than my purpose. Your brother dies even on the spot on +which my nephew died; and you, Clara, shall be my bride; and the first +thing your children shall be taught to lisp shall be curses on the vile +name of De Haldimar!" +</P> + +<P> +"Once more, in the name of my sainted mother, I implore you to have +mercy," shrieked the unhappy Clara. "Oh!" she continued, with vehement +supplication, "let the days of your early love be brought back to' your +memory, that your heart may be softened; and cut yourself not wholly +off from your God, by the commission of such dreadful outrages. Again I +conjure you, restore us to my father." +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" savagely repeated Wacousta. "I have passed years of torture in +the hope of such an hour as this; and now that fruition is within my +grasp, may I perish if I forego it! Ha, sir!" turning from the almost +fainting Clara to Sir Everard, who had listened with deep attention to +the history of this extraordinary man;—"for this," and he thrust aside +the breast of his hunting coat, exhibiting the scar of a long but +superficial wound,—"for this do you owe me a severe reckoning. I would +recommend you, however,"—and he spoke in mockery,—"when next you +drive a weapon into the chest of an unresisting enemy, to be more +certain of your aim. Had that been as true as the blow from the butt of +your rifle, I should not have lived to triumph in this hour. I little +deemed," he pursued, still addressing the nearly heart-broken officer +in the same insolent strain, "that my intrigue with that dark-eyed +daughter of the old Canadian would have been the means of throwing your +companion so speedily into my power, after his first narrow escape. +Your disguise was well managed, I confess; and but that there is an +instinct about me, enabling me to discover a De Haldimar, as a hound +does the deer, by scent, you might have succeeded in passing for what +you appeared. But" (and his tone suddenly changed its irony for +fierceness) "to the point, sir. That you are the lover of this girl I +clearly perceive, and death were preferable to a life embittered by the +recollection that she whom we love reposes in the arms of another. No +such kindness is meant you, however. To-morrow you shall return to the +fort; and, when there, you may tell your colonel, that, in exchange for +a certain miniature and letters, which, in the hurry of departure, I +dropped in his apartment, some ten days since, Sir Reginald Morton, the +outlaw, has taken his daughter Clara to wife, but without the +solemnisation of those tedious forms that bound himself in accursed +union with her mother. Oh! what would I not give," he continued, +bitterly, "to witness the pang inflicted on his false heart, when first +the damning truth arrests his ear. Never did I know the triumph of my +power until now; for what revenge can be half so sweet as that which +attains a loathed enemy through the dishonour of his child? But, hark! +what mean those sounds?" +</P> + +<P> +A loud yelling was now heard at some distance in rear of the tent. +Presently the bounding of many feet on the turf was distinguishable; +and then, at intervals, the peculiar cry that announces the escape of a +prisoner. Wacousta started to his feet, and fiercely grasping his +tomahawk, advanced to the front of the tent, where he seemed to listen +for a moment attentively, as if endeavouring to catch the direction of +the pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! by Heaven!" he exclaimed, "there must be treachery in this, or yon +slippery captain would not so soon be at his flight again, bound as I +had bound him." Then uttering a deafening yell, and rushing past Sir +Everard, near whom he paused an instant, as if undecided whether he +should not first dispose of him, as a precautionary measure, he flew +with the speed of an antelope in the direction in which he was guided +by the gradually receding sounds. +</P> + +<P> +"The knife, Miss de Haldimar," exclaimed Sir Everard, after a few +moments of breathless and intense anxiety. "See, there is one in the +belt that Ellen Halloway has girt around her loins. Quick, for Heaven's +sake, quick; our only chance of safety is in this." +</P> + +<P> +With an activity arising from her despair, the unhappy Clara sprang +from the rude couch on which she had been left by Wacousta, and, +stooping over the form of the maniac, extended her hand to remove the +weapon from her side; but Ellen, who had been awakened from her long +slumber by the yells just uttered, seemed resolute to prevent it. A +struggle for its possession now ensued between these frail and delicate +beings; in which Clara, however, had the advantage, not only from the +recumbent position of her opponent, but from the greater security of +her grasp. At length, with a violent effort, she contrived to disengage +it from the sheath, around which Ellen had closely clasped both her +hands; but, with the quickness of thought, the latter were again +clenched round the naked blade, and without any other evident motive +than what originated in the obstinacy of her madness, the unfortunate +woman fiercely attempted to wrest it away. In the act of doing so, her +hands were dreadfully cut; and Clara, shocked at the sight of the blood +she had been the means of shedding, lost all the energy she had +summoned, and sunk senseless at the feet of the maniac, who now began +to utter the most piteous cries. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, God! we are lost," exclaimed Sir Everard; "the voice of that +wretched woman has alarmed our enemy, and even now I hear him +approaching. Quick, Clara, give me the knife. But no, it is now too +late; he is here." +</P> + +<P> +At that instant, the dark form of a warrior rushed noiselessly to the +spot on which he stood. The officer turned his eyes in desperation on +his enemy, but a single glance was sufficient to assure him it was not +Wacousta. The Indian paused not in his course, but passing close round +the tree to which the baronet was attached, made a circular movement, +that brought him in a line with the direction that had been taken by +his enemy; and again they were left alone. +</P> + +<P> +A new fear now oppressed the heart of the unfortunate Valletort, even +to agony: Clara still lay senseless, speechless, before him; and his +impression was, that, in the struggle, Ellen Halloway had murdered her. +The latter yet continued her cries; and, as she held up her hands, he +could see by the fire-light they were covered with blood. An +instinctive impulse caused him to bound forward to the assistance of +the motionless Clara; when, to his infinite surprise and joy, he +discovered the cord, which had bound him to the tree, to be severed. +The Indian who had just passed had evidently been his deliverer; and a +sudden flash of recollection recalled the figure of the young warrior +that had escaped from the schooner and was supposed to have leaped into +the canoe of Oucanasta at the moment when Madeline de Haldimar was +removed into that of the Canadian. +</P> + +<P> +In a transport of conflicting feelings, Sir Everard now raised the +insensible Clara from the ground; and, having satisfied himself she had +sustained no serious injury, prepared for a flight which he felt to be +desperate, if not altogether hopeless. There was not a moment to be +lost, for the cries of the wretched Ellen increased in violence, as she +seemed sensible she was about to be left utterly alone; and ever and +anon, although afar off, yet evidently drawing nearer, was to be heard +the fierce denouncing yell of Wacousta. The spot on which the officer +stood, was not far from that whence his unfortunate friend had +commenced his flight on the first memorable occasion; and as the moon +shone brightly in the cloudless heavens, there could be no mistake in +the course he was to pursue. Dashing down the steep, therefore, with +all the speed his beloved burden would enable him to attain, he made +immediately for the bridge, over which his only chance of safety lay. +</P> + +<P> +It unfortunately happened, however, that, induced either by the malice +of her insanity, or really terrified at the loneliness of her position, +the wretched Ellen Halloway had likewise quitted the tent, and now +followed close in the rear of the fugitives, still uttering the same +piercing cries of anguish. The voice of Wacousta was also again heard +in the distance; and Sir Everard had the inexpressible horror to find +that, guided by the shrieks of the maniac woman, he was now shaping his +course, not to the tent where he had left his prisoners, but in an +oblique direction towards the bridge; where he evidently hoped to +intercept them. Aware of the extreme disadvantages under which he +laboured in a competition of speed with his active enemy, the unhappy +officer would have here terminated the struggle, had he not been +partially sustained by the hope that the detachment prayed for by De +Haldimar, through the friendly young chief, to whom he owed his own +liberation, might be about this time on its way to attempt their +rescue. This thought supported his faltering resolution, although +nearly exhausted with his efforts—compelled, as he was, to sustain the +motionless form of the slowly reviving Clara; and he again braced +himself to the unequal flight The moon still shone beautifully bright, +and he could now distinctly see the bridge over which he was to pass; +but notwithstanding he strained his eyes as he advanced, no vestige of +a British uniform was to be seen in the open space that lay beyond. +Once he turned to regard his pursuers. Ellen was a few yards only in +his rear; and considerably beyond her rose, in tall relief against the +heavens, the gigantic form of the warrior. The pursuit of the latter +was now conducted with a silence that terrified even more than the +yells he had previously uttered; and he gained so rapidly on his +victims, that the tread of his large feet was now distinctly audible. +Again the officer, with despair in his heart, made the most incredible +exertions to reach the bridge, without seeming to reflect that, even +when there, no security was offered him against his enemy. Once, as he +drew nearer, he fancied he saw the dark heads of human beings peering +from under that part of the arch which had afforded cover to De +Haldimar and himself oh the memorable occasion of their departure with +the Canadian; and, convinced that the warriors of Wacousta had been +sent there to lie in ambuscade and intercept his retreat, his hopes +were utterly paralysed; and although he stopped not, his flight was +rather mechanical than the fruit of any systematic plan of escape. +</P> + +<P> +He had now gained the extremity of the bridge, with Ellen Halloway and +Wacousta close in his rear, when suddenly the heads of many men were +once more distinguishable, even in the shadow of the arch that overhung +the sands of the river. Three individuals detached themselves from the +group and leaping upon the further extremity of the bridge, moved +rapidly to meet him. Meanwhile the baronet had stopped suddenly, as if +in doubt whether to advance or to recede. His suspense was but +momentary. Although the persons of these men were disguised as Indian +warriors, the broad moonlight that beamed full on their countenances, +disclosed the well-remembered features of Blessington, Erskine, and +Charles de Haldimar. The latter sprang before his companions, and, +uttering a cry of joy, sank in speechless agony on the neck of his +still unconscious sister. +</P> + +<P> +"For God's sake, free me, De Haldimar!" exclaimed the excited baronet, +disengaging his charge from the embrace of his friend. "This is no +moment for congratulation. Erskine, Blessington, see you not who is +behind me? Be upon your guard; defend your lives!" And as he spoke, he +rushed forward with feint and tottering steps to place his companions +between the unhappy girl and the danger that threatened her. +</P> + +<P> +The swords of the officers were drawn; but instead of advancing upon +the formidable being, who stood as if paralysed at this unexpected +rencontre, the two seniors contented themselves with assuming a +defensive attitude,—retiring slowly and gradually towards the other +extremity of the bridge. +</P> + +<P> +Overcome by his emotion, Charles de Haldimar had not noticed this +action of his companions, and stood apparently riveted to the spot. The +voice of Blessington calling on him by name to retire, seemed to arouse +the dormant consciousness of the unhappy maniac. She uttered a piercing +shriek, and, springing forward, sank on her knees at his feet, +exclaiming, as she forcibly detained him by his dress,— +</P> + +<P> +"Almighty Heaven! where am I? surely that was Captain Blessington's +kind voice I heard; and you—you are Charles de Haldimar. Oh! save my +husband; plead for him with your father!——but no," she continued +wildly,—"he is dead—he is murdered! Behold these hands all covered +with his blood! Oh!——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! another De Haldimar!" exclaimed Wacousta, recovering his +slumbering energies, "this spot seems indeed fated for our meeting. +More than thrice have I been balked of my just revenge, but now will I +secure it. Thus, Ellen, do I avenge your husband's and my nephew's +death. My own wrongs demand another sacrifice. But, ha! where is she? +where is Clara? where is my bride?" +</P> + +<P> +Bounding over the ill-fated De Haldimar, who lay, even in death, firmly +clasped in the embrace of the wretched Ellen, the fierce man dashed +furiously forward to renew his pursuit of the fugitives. But suddenly +the extremity of the bridge was filled with a column of armed men, that +kept issuing from the arch beneath. Sensible of his danger, he sought +to make good his retreat; but when he turned for the purpose, the same +formidable array met his view at the opposite extremity; and both +parties now rapidly advanced in double quick time, evidently with a +view of closing upon and taking him prisoner. In this dilemma, his only +hope was in the assistance that might be rendered him by his warriors. +A yell, so terrific as to be distinctly heard in the fort itself, burst +from his vast chest, and rolled in prolonged echoes through the forest. +It was faintly answered from the encampment, and met by deep but +noiseless curses from the exasperated soldiery, whom the sight of their +murdered officer was momentarily working into frenzy. +</P> + +<P> +"Kill him not, for your lives!—I command you, men, kill him not!" +muttered Captain Blessington with suppressed passion, as his troops +were preparing to immolate him on their clustering bayonets. "Such a +death were, indeed, mercy to such a villain." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! ha!" laughed Wacousta in bitter scorn; "who is there of all your +accursed regiment who will dare to take him alive?" Then brandishing +his tomahawk around him, to prevent their finally closing, he dealt his +blows with such astonishing velocity, that no unguarded point was left +about his person; and more than one soldier was brought to the earth in +the course of the unequal struggle. +</P> + +<P> +"By G—d!" said Captain Erskine, "are the two best companies of the +regiment to be kept at bay by a single desperado? Shame on ye, fellows! +If his hands are too many for you, lay him by the heels." +</P> + +<P> +This ruse was practised with success. In attempting to defend himself +from the attack of those who sought to throw him down, the warrior +necessarily left his upper person exposed; when advantage was taken to +close with him and deprive him of the play of his arms. It was not, +however, without considerable difficulty, that they succeeded in +disarming and binding his hands; after which a strong cord being +fastened round his waist, he was tightly lashed to a gun, which, +contrary to the original intention of the governor, had been sent out +with the expedition. The retreat of the detachment then commenced +rapidly; but it was not without being hotly pursued by the band of +warriors the yell of Wacousta had summoned in pursuit, that they +finally gained the fort: under what feelings of sorrow for the fate of +an officer so beloved, we leave it to our readers to imagine. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0312"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<P> +The morning of the next day dawned on few who had pressed their +customary couches—on none, whose feverish pulse and bloodshot eye +failed to attest the utter sleeplessness in which the night had been +passed. Numerous groups of men were to be seep assembling after the +reveille, in various parts of the barrack square—those who had borne a +part in the recent expedition commingling with those who had not, and +recounting to the latter, with mournful look and voice, the +circumstances connected with the bereavement of their universally +lamented officer. As none, however, had seen the blow struck that +deprived him of life, although each had heard the frantic exclamations +of a voice that had been recognised for Ellen Halloway's, much of the +marvellous was necessarily mixed up with truth in their +narrative,—some positively affirming Mr. de Haldimar had not once +quitted his party, and declaring that nothing short of a supernatural +agency could have transported him unnoticed to the fatal spot, where, +in their advance, they had beheld him murdered. The singular appearance +of Ellen Halloway also, at that moment, on the very bridge on which she +had pronounced her curse on the family of De Haldimar, and in company +with the terrible and mysterious being who had borne her off in triumph +on that occasion to the forest, and under circumstances calculated to +excite the most superstitious impressions, was not without its weight +in determining their rude speculations; and all concurred in opinion, +that the death of the unfortunate young officer was a judgment on their +colonel for the little mercy he had extended to the noble-hearted +Halloway. +</P> + +<P> +Then followed allusion to their captive, whose gigantic stature and +efforts at escape, tremendous even as the latter were, were duly +exaggerated by each, with the very laudable view of claiming a +proportionate share of credit for his own individual exertions; and +many and various were the opinions expressed as to the manner of death +he should be made to suffer. Among the most conspicuous of the orators +were those with whom our readers have already made slight acquaintance +in our account of the sortie by Captain Erskine's company for the +recovery of the supposed body of Frederick de Haldimar. One was for +impaling him alive, and setting him up to rot on the platform above the +gate. Another for blowing him from the muzzle of a twenty-four pounder, +into the centre of the first band of Indians that approached the fort, +that thus perceiving they had lost the strength and sinew of their +cunning war, they might be the more easily induced to propose terms of +peace. A third was of opinion he ought to be chained to the top of the +flag-staff, as a target, to be shot at with arrows only, contriving +never to touch a mortal part. A fourth would have had him tied naked +over the sharp spikes that constituted the chevaux-de-frize garnishing +the sides of the drawbridge. Each devised some new death—proposed some +new torture; but all were of opinion, that simply to be shot, or even +to be hanged, was too merciful a punishment for the wretch who had so +wantonly and inhumanly butchered the kind-hearted, gentle-mannered +officer, whom they had almost all known and loved from his very +boyhood; and they looked forward, with mingled anxiety and vengeance, +to the moment when, summoned as it was expected he shortly would be, +before the assembled garrison, he would be made to expiate the atrocity +with his blood. +</P> + +<P> +While the men thus gave indulgence to their indignation and their +grief, their officers were even mere painfully affected. The body of +the ill-fated Charles had been borne to his apartment, where, divested +of its disguise, it had again been inducted in such apparel as was +deemed suited to the purpose. Extended on the very bed on which he lay +at the moment when she, whose maniac raving, and forcible detention, +had been the immediate cause of his destruction, had preferred her wild +but fruitless supplication for mercy, he exhibited, even in death, the +same delicate beauty that had characterised him on that occasion; yet, +with a mildness and serenity of expression on his still, pale features, +strongly in contrast with the agitation and glow of excitement that +then distinguished him. Never was human loveliness in death so marked +as in Charles de Haldimar; and but for the deep wound that, dividing +his clustering locks, had entered from the very crown of the head to +the opening of his marble brow, one ignorant of his fate might have +believed he but profoundly slept. Several women of the regiment were +occupied in those offices about the corpse, which women alone are +capable of performing at such moments, and as they did so, suffered +their tears to flow silently yet abundantly over him, who was no longer +sensible either of human grief or of human joy. Close at the head of +the bed stood an old man, with his face buried in his hands; the latter +reposing against the wainscoting of the room. He, too, wept, but his +weeping was more audible, more painful, and accompanied by suffocating +sobs. It was the humble, yet almost paternally attached servant of the +defunct—the veteran Morrison. +</P> + +<P> +Around the bed were grouped nearly all the officers, standing in +attitudes indicative of anxiety and interest, and gazing mournfully on +the placid features of their ill-fated friend. All, on entering, moved +noiselessly over the rude floor, as though fearful of disturbing the +repose of one who merely slumbered; and the same precaution was +extended to the brief but heartfelt expressions of sorrow that passed, +from one to the other, as they gazed on all that remained of the gentle +De Haldimar. At length the preparations of the women having been +completed, they retired from the room, leaving one of their number +only, rather out of respect than necessity, to remain by the corpse. +When they were departed, this woman, the wife of one of Blessington's +sergeants, and the same who had been present at the scene between Ellen +Halloway and the deceased, cut off a large lock of his beautiful hair, +and separating it into small tresses, handed one to each of the +officers. This considerate action, although unsolicited on the part of +the latter, deeply touched them, as indicating a sense of the high +estimation in which the youth bad been held. It was a tribute to the +memory of him they mourned, of the purest kind; and each, as he +received his portion, acknowledged with a mournful but approving look, +or nod, or word, the motive that bad prompted the offering. Nor was it +a source of less satisfaction, melancholy even as that satisfaction +was, to perceive that, after having set aside another lock, probably +for the sister of the deceased, she selected and consigned to the bosom +of her dress a third, evidently intended for herself. The whole scene +was in striking contrast with the almost utter absence of all +preparation or concern that had preceded the interment of Murphy, on a +former occasion. In one, the rude soldier was mourned,—in the other, +the gentle friend was lamented; nor the latter alone by the companions +to whom intimacy had endeared him, but by those humbler dependants, who +knew him only through those amiable attributes of character, which were +ever equally extended to all. Gradually the officers now moved away in +the same noiseless manner in which they had approached, either in +pursuance of their several duties, or to make their toilet of the +morning. Two only of their number remained near the couch of death. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor unfortunate De Haldimar!" observed one of these, in a low tone, +as if speaking to himself; "too fatally, indeed, have your forebodings +been realised; and what I considered as the mere despondency of a mind +crashed into feebleness by an accumulation of suffering, was, after +all, but the first presentiment of a death no human power might avert. +By Heaven! I would give up half my own being to be able to reanimate +that form once more,—but the wish is vain." +</P> + +<P> +"Who shall announce the intelligence to his sister?" sighed his +companion. "Never will that already nearly heart-broken girl be able to +survive the shock of her brother's death. Blessington, you alone are +fitted to such a task; and, painful as it is, you must undertake it. Is +the colonel apprised of the dreadful truth, do you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is. It was told him at the moment of our arrival last night; but +from the little outward emotion displayed by him, I should be tempted +to infer he had almost anticipated some such catastrophe." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor, poor Charles!" bitterly exclaimed Sir Everard Valletort—for it +was he. "What would I not give to recall the rude manner in which I +spurned you from me last night. But, alas! what could I do, laden with +such a trust, and pursued, without the power of defence, by such an +enemy? Little, indeed, did I imagine what was so speedily to be your +doom! Blessington," he pursued, with increased emotion, "it grieves me +to wretchedness to think that he, whom I loved as though he had been my +twin brother, should have perished with his last thoughts, perhaps, +lingering on the seeming unkindness with which I had greeted him after +so anxious an absence." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, if there be blame, it must attach to me," sorrowfully observed +Captain Blessington. "Had Erskine and myself not retired before the +savage, as we did, our unfortunate friend would in all probability have +been alive at this very hour. But in our anxiety to draw the former +into the ambuscade we had prepared for him, we utterly overlooked that +Charles was not retreating with us." +</P> + +<P> +"How happened it," demanded Sir Everard, his attention naturally +directed to the subject by the preceding remarks, "that you lay thus in +ambuscade, when the object of the expedition, as solicited by Frederick +de Haldimar, was an attempt to reach us in the encampment of the +Indians?" +</P> + +<P> +"It certainly was under that impression we left the fort; but, on +coming to the spot where the friendly Indian lay waiting to conduct us, +he proposed the plan we subsequently adopted as the most likely, not +only to secure the escape of the prisoners, whom he pledged himself to +liberate, but to defend ourselves with advantage against Wacousta and +the immediate guard set over them, should they follow in pursuit. +Erskine approving, as well as myself, of the plan, we halted at the +bridge, and disposed of our men under each extremity; so that, if +attacked by the Indians in front, we might be enabled to throw them +into confusion by taking them in rear, as they flung themselves upon +the bridge. The event seemed to answer our expectations. The alarm +raised in the encampment satisfied us the young Indian had contrived to +fulfil his promise; and we momentarily looked for the appearance of +those whose flight we naturally supposed would be directed towards the +bridge. To our great surprise, however, we remarked that the sounds of +pursuit, instead of approaching us, seemed to take an opposite +direction, apparently towards the point whence we had seen the +prisoners disembarked in the morning. At length, when almost tempted to +regret we had not pushed boldly on, in conformity with our first +intention, we heard the shrill cries of a woman; and, not long +afterwards, the sounds of human feet rushing down the slope. What our +sensations were, you may imagine; for we all believed it to be either +Clara or Madeline de Haldimar fleeing alone, and pursued by our +ferocious enemies. To show ourselves would, we were sensible, be to +ensure the death of the pursued, before we could possibly come up; and, +although it was with difficulty we repressed the desire to rush forward +to the rescue, our better judgment prevailed. Finally we saw you +approach, followed closely by what appeared to be a mere boy of an +Indian, and, at a considerable distance, by the tall warrior of the +Fleur de lis. We imagined there was time enough for you to gain the +bridge; and finding your more formidable pursuer was only accompanied +by the youth already alluded to, conceived at that moment the design of +making him our prisoner. Still there were half a dozen muskets ready to +be levelled on him should he approach too near to his fugitives, or +manifest any other design than that of simply recapturing them. How +well our plan succeeded you are aware; but, alas!" and he glanced +sorrowfully at the corpse, "why was our success to be embittered by so +great a sacrifice?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, would to Heaven that he at least had been spared," sighed Sir +Everard, as he took the wan white hand of his friend in his own; "and +yet I know not: he looks so calm, so happy in death, it is almost +selfish to repine he has escaped the horrors that still await us in +this dreadful warfare. But what of Frederick and Madeline de Haldimar? +From the statement you have given, they must have been liberated by the +young Ottawa before he came to me; yet, what could have induced them to +have taken a course of flight so opposite to that which promised their +only chance of safety?" +</P> + +<P> +"Heaven only knows," returned Captain Blessington. "I fear they have +again been recaptured by the savages; in which case their doom is +scarcely doubtful; unless, indeed, our prisoner of last night be given +up in exchange for them." +</P> + +<P> +"Then will their liberty be purchased at a terrible price," remarked +the baronet. "Will you believe, Blessington, that that man, whose +enmity to our colonel seems almost devilish, was once an officer in +this very regiment?" +</P> + +<P> +"You astonish me, Valletort.—Impossible! and yet it has always been +apparent to me they were once associates." +</P> + +<P> +"I heard him relate his history only last night to Clara, whom he had +the audacity to sully with proposals to become his bride," pursued the +baronet. "His tale was a most extraordinary one. He narrated it, +however, only up to the period when the life of De Haldimar was +attempted by him at Quebec. But with his subsequent history we are all +acquainted, through the fame of his bloody atrocities in all the posts +that have fallen into the hands of Ponteac. That man, savage and even +fiendish as he now is, was once possessed of the noblest qualities. I +am sorry to say it; but Colonel de Haldimar has brought this present +affliction upon himself. At some future period I will tell you all." +</P> + +<P> +"Alas!" said Captain Blessington, "poor Charles, then, has been made to +pay the penalty of his father's errors; and, certainly, the greatest of +these was his dooming the unfortunate Halloway to death in the manner +he did." +</P> + +<P> +"What think you of the fact of Halloway being the nephew of this +extraordinary man, and both of high family?" demanded Sir Everard. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed! and was the latter, then, aware of the connection?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not until last night," replied Sir Everard. "Some observations made by +the wretched wife of Halloway, in the course of which she named his +true name, (which was that of the warrior also,) first indicated the +fact to the latter. But, what became of that unfortunate creature?—was +she brought in?" +</P> + +<P> +"I understand not," said Captain Blessington. "In the confusion and +hurry of securing our prisoner, and the apprehension of immediate +attack from his warriors, Ellen was entirely overlooked. Some of my men +say they left her lying, insensible, on the spot whence they had raised +the body of our unfortunate friend, which they had some difficulty in +releasing from her convulsive embrace. But, hark! there is the first +drum for parade, and I have not yet exchanged my Indian garb." +</P> + +<P> +Captain Blessington now quitted the room, and Sir Everard, relieved +from the restraining presence of his companions, gave free vent to his +emotion, throwing himself upon the body of his friend, and giving +utterance to the feelings of anguish that oppressed his heart. +</P> + +<P> +He had continued some minutes in this position, when he fancied he felt +the warm tears of a human being bedewing a hand that reposed on the +neck of his unfortunate friend. He looked up, and, to his infinite +surprise, beheld Clara de Haldimar standing before him at the opposite +side of the bed. Her likeness to her brother, at that moment, was so +striking, that, for a second or two, the irrepressible thought passed +through the mind of the officer, it was not a living being he gazed +upon, but the immaterial spirit of his friend. The whole attitude and +appearance of the wretched girl, independently of the fact of her +noiseless entrance, tended to favour the delusion. Her features, of an +ashy paleness, seemed fixed, even as those of the corpse beneath him; +and, but for the tears that coursed silently down her cheek, there was +scarcely an outward evidence of emotion. Her dress was a simple white +robe, fastened round her waist with a pale blue riband; and over her +shoulders hung her redundant hair, resembling in colour, and disposed +much in the manner of that of her brother, which had been drawn +negligently down to conceal the wound on his brow. For some moments the +baronet gazed at her in speechless agony. Her tranquil exterior was +torture to him; for he, feared it betokened some alienation of reason. +He would have preferred to witness the most hysteric convulsion of +grief, rather than that traitorous calm; and yet he had not the power +to seek to remove it. +</P> + +<P> +"You are surprised to see me here, mingling my grief with yours, Sir +Everard," she at length observed, with the same calm mien, and in tones +of touching sweetness. "I came, with my father's permission, to take a +last farewell of him whose death has broken my heart. I expected to be +alone; but—Nay, do not go," she added, perceiving that the officer was +about to depart. "Had you not been here, I should have sent for you; +for we have both a sacred duty to perform. May I not ask your hand?" +</P> + +<P> +More and more dismayed at her collected manner, the young officer gazed +at her with the deepest sorrow depicted in every line of his own +countenance. He extended his hand, and Clara, to his surprise, grasped +and pressed it firmly. +</P> + +<P> +"It was the wish of this poor boy that his Clara should be the wife of +his friend, Sir Everard. Did he ever express such to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was the fondest desire of his heart," returned the baronet, unable +to restrain the emotion of joy that mingled, despite of himself, with +his worst apprehensions. +</P> + +<P> +"I need not ask how you received his proposal," continued Clara, with +the same calmness of manner. "Last night," she pursued solemnly, "I was +the bride of the murderer of my brother, of the lover of my +mother,—tomorrow night I may be the bride of death; but to-night I am +the bride of my brother's friend. Yes, here am I come to pledge myself +to the fulfilment of his wish. If you deem a heart-broken girl not +unworthy of you, I am your wife, Sir Everard; and, recollect, it is a +solemn pledge, that which a sister gives over the lifeless body of a +brother, beloved as this has been." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Clara—dearest Clara," passionately exclaimed the excited young +man, "if a life devoted to your happiness can repay you for this, count +upon it as you would upon your eternal salvation. In you will I love +both my friend and the sister he has bequeathed to me. Clara, my +betrothed wife, summon all the energies of your nature to sustain this +cruel shock; and exert yourself for him who will be to you both a +brother and a husband." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke he drew the unresisting girl towards him, and, locking her +in his embrace, pressed, for the first time, the lips, which it had +maddened him the preceding night to see polluted by the forcible kisses +of Wacousta. But Clara shared not, but merely suffered his momentary +happiness. Her cheek wore not the crimson of excitement, neither were +her tears discontinued. She seemed as one who mechanically submitted to +what she had no power of resistance to oppose; and even in the embrace +of her affianced husband, she exhibited the same deathlike calm that +had startled him at her first appearance. Religion could not hallow a +purer feeling than that which had impelled the action of the young +officer. The very consciousness of the sacred pledge having been +exchanged over the corpse of his friend, imparted a holiness of fervour +to his mind; and even while he pressed her, whom he secretly swore to +love with all the affection of a fond brother and a husband united, he +felt that if the spirit of him, who slept unconscious of the scene, +were suffered to linger near, it would be to hallow it with approval. +</P> + +<P> +"And now," said Clara at length, yet without attempting to disengage +herself,—"now that we are united, I would be alone with my brother. My +husband, leave me." +</P> + +<P> +Deeply touched at the name of husband, Sir Everard could not refrain +from imprinting another kiss on the lips that uttered it. He then +gently disengaged himself from his lovely but suffering charge, whom he +deposited with her head resting on the bed; and making a significant +motion of his hand to the woman, who, as well as old Morrison, had been +spectators of the whole scene, stole gently from the apartment, under +what mingled emotions of joy and grief it would be difficult to +describe. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0313"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<P> +It was the eighth hour of morning, and both officers and men, quitting +their ill-relished meal, were to be seen issuing to the parade, where +the monotonous roll of the assemblee now summoned them. Presently the +garrison was formed in the order we have described in our first volume; +that is to say, presenting three equal sides of a square. The vacant +space fronted the guard-house, near one extremity of which was to be +seen a flight of steps communicating with the rampart, where the +flag-staff was erected. Several men were employed at this staff, +passing strong ropes through iron pulleys that were suspended from the +extreme top, while in the basement of the staff itself, to a height of +about twenty feet, were stuck at intervals strong wooden pegs, serving +as steps to the artillerymen for greater facility in clearing, when +foul, the lines to which the colours were attached. The latter had been +removed; and, from the substitution of a cord considerably stronger +than that which usually appeared there, it seemed as if some far +heavier weight was about to be appended to it. Gradually the men, +having completed their unusual preparations, quitted the rampart, and +the flagstaff, which was of tapering pine, was left totally unguarded. +</P> + +<P> +The "Attention!" of Major Blackwater to the troops, who had been +hitherto standing in attitudes of expectancy that rendered the +injunction almost superfluous, announced the approach of the governor. +Soon afterwards that officer entered the area, wearing his +characteristic dignity of manner, yet exhibiting every evidence of one +who had suffered deeply. Preparation for a drum-head court-martial, as +in the first case of Halloway, had already been made within the square, +and the only actor wanting in the drama was he who was to be tried. +</P> + +<P> +Once Colonel de Haldimar made an effort to command his appearance, but +the huskiness of his voice choked his utterance, and he was compelled +to pause. After the lapse of a few moments, he again ordered, but in a +voice that was remarked to falter,— +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be brought forth." +</P> + +<P> +The feeling of suspense that ensued between the delivery and execution +of this command was painful throughout the ranks. All were penetrated +with curiosity to behold a man who had several times appeared to them +under the most appalling circumstances, and against whom the strongest +feeling of indignation had been excited for his barbarous murder of +Charles de Haldimar. It was with mingled awe and anger they now awaited +his approach. At length the captive was seen advancing from the cell in +which he had been confined, his gigantic form towering far above those +of the guard of grenadiers by whom he was surrounded; and with a +haughtiness in his air, and insolence in his manner, that told he came +to confront his enemy with a spirit unsubdued by the fate that too +probably awaited him. +</P> + +<P> +Many an eye was turned upon the governor at that moment. He was +evidently struggling for composure to meet the scene he felt it to be +impossible to avoid; and he turned pale and paler as his enemy drew +near. +</P> + +<P> +At length the prisoner stood nearly in the same spot where his +unfortunate nephew had lingered on a former occasion. He was unchained; +but his hands were firmly secured behind his back. He threw himself +into an attitude of carelessness, resting on one foot, and tapping the +earth with the other; riveting his eye, at the same time, with an +expression of the most daring insolence, on the governor, while his +swarthy cheek was moreover lighted up with a smile of the deepest scorn. +</P> + +<P> +"You are Reginald Morton the outlaw, I believe," at length observed the +governor in an uncertain tone, that, however, acquired greater firmness +as he proceeded,—"one whose life has already been forfeited through +his treasonable practices in Europe, and who has, moreover, incurred +the penalty of an ignominious death, by acting in this country as a spy +of the enemies of England. What say you, Reginald Morton, that you +should not be convicted in the death that awaits the traitor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! ha! by Heaven, such cold, pompous insolence amuses me," +vociferated Wacousta. "It reminds me of Ensign de Haldimar of nearly +five and twenty years back, who was then as cunning a dissembler as he +is now." Suddenly changing his ribald tone to one of scorn and +rage:—"You BELIEVE me, you say, to be Reginald Morton the outlaw. Well +do you know it. I am that Sir Reginald Morton, who became an outlaw, +not through his own crimes, but through your villainy. Ay, frown as you +may, I heed it not. You may award me death, but shall not chain my +tongue. To your whole regiment do I proclaim you for a false, +remorseless villain." Then turning his flashing eye along the +ranks:—"I was once an officer in this corps, and long before any of +you wore the accursed uniform. That man, that fiend, affected to be my +friend; and under the guise of friendship, stole into the heart I loved +better than my own life. Yes," fervently pursued the excited prisoner, +stamping violently with his foot upon the earth, "he robbed me of my +affianced wife; and for that I resented an outrage that should have +banished him to some lone region, where he might never again pollute +human nature with his presence—he caused me to be tried by a +court-martial, and dismissed the service. Then, indeed, I became the +outlaw he has described, but not until then. Now, Colonel de Haldimar, +that I have proclaimed your infamy, poor and inefficient as the triumph +be, do your worst—I ask no mercy. Yesterday I thought that years of +toilsome pursuit of the means of vengeance were about to be crowned +with success; but fate has turned the tables on me and I yield." +</P> + +<P> +To all but the baronet and Captain Blessington this declaration was +productive of the utmost surprise. Every eye was turned upon the +colonel. He grew impatient under the scrutiny, and demanded if the +court, who meanwhile had been deliberating, satisfied of the guilt of +the prisoner, had come to a decision in regard to his punishment. An +affirmative answer was given, and Colonel de Haldimar proceeded. +</P> + +<P> +"Reginald Morton, with the private misfortunes of your former life we +have nothing to do. It is the decision of this court, who are merely +met out of form, that you suffer immediate death by hanging, as a just +recompense for your double treason to your country. There," and he +pointed to the flag-staff, "will you be exhibited to the misguided +people whom your wicked artifices have stirred up into hostility +against us. When they behold your fate, they will take warning from +your example; and, finding we have heads and arms not to suffer offence +with impunity, be more readily brought to obedience." +</P> + +<P> +"I understand your allusion," coolly rejoined Wacousta, glancing +earnestly at, and apparently measuring with his eye, the dimensions of +the conspicuous scaffold on which he was to suffer. "You had ever a +calculating head, De Haldimar, where any secret villainy, any thing to +promote your own selfish ends, was to be gained by it; but your +calculation seems now, methinks, at fault." +</P> + +<P> +Colonel de Haldimar looked at him enquiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"You have STILL a son left," pursued the prisoner with the same +recklessness of manner, and in a tone denoting allusion to him who was +no more, that caused an universal shudder throughout the ranks. "He is +in the hands of the Ottawa Indians, and I am the friend of their great +chief, inferior only in power among the tribe to himself. Think you +that he will see me hanged up like a dog, and fail to avenge my +disgraceful death?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! presumptuous renegade, is this the deep game you have in view? +Hope you then to stipulate for the preservation of a life every way +forfeited to the offended justice of your country? Dare you to cherish +the belief, that, after the horrible threats so often denounced by you, +you will again be let loose upon a career of crime and blood?" +</P> + +<P> +"None of your cant, de Haldimar, as I once observed to you before," +coolly retorted Wacousta, with bitter sarcasm. "Consult your own heart, +and ask if its catalogue of crime be not far greater than my own: yet I +ask not my life. I would but have the manner of my fate altered, and +fain would die the death of the soldier I WAS before you rendered me +the wretch I AM. Methinks the boon is not so great, if the restoration +of your son be the price." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean, then," eagerly returned the governor, "that if the mere +mode of your death be changed, my son shall be restored?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do," was the calm reply. +</P> + +<P> +"What pledge have we of the fact? What faith can we repose in the word +of a fiend, whose brutal vengeance has already sacrificed the gentlest +life that ever animated human clay?" Here the emotion of the governor +almost choked, his utterance, and considerable agitation and murmuring +were manifested in the ranks. +</P> + +<P> +"Gentle, said you?" replied the prisoner, musingly; "then did he +resemble his mother, whom I loved, even as his brother resembles you +whom I have had so much reason to hate. Had I known the boy to be what +you describe, I might have felt some touch of pity even while I delayed +not to strike his death blow; but the false moonlight deceived me, and +the detested name of De Haldimar, pronounced by the lips of my nephew's +wife—that wife whom your cold-blooded severity had widowed and driven +mad—was in itself sufficient to ensure his doom." +</P> + +<P> +"Inhuman ruffian!" exclaimed the governor, with increasing indignation; +"to the point. What pledge have you to offer that my son will be +restored?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, the pledge is easily given, and without much risk. You have only +to defer my death until your messenger return from his interview with +Ponteac. If Captain de Haldimar accompany him back, shoot me as I have +requested; if he come not, then it is but to hang me after all." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! I understand you; this is but a pretext to gain time, a device to +enable your subtle brain to plan some mode of escape." +</P> + +<P> +"As you will, Colonel de Haldimar," calmly retorted Wacousta; and again +he sank into silence, with the air of one utterly indifferent to +results. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean," resumed the colonel, "that a request from yourself to +the Ottawa chief will obtain the liberation of my son?" +</P> + +<P> +"Unless the Indian be false as yourself, I do." +</P> + +<P> +"And of the lady who is with him?" continued the colonel, colouring +with anger. +</P> + +<P> +"Of both." +</P> + +<P> +"How is the message to be conveyed?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha, sir!" returned the prisoner, drawing himself up to his full +height, "now are you arrived at a point that is pertinent. My wampum +belt will be the passport, and the safeguard of him you send; then for +the communication. There are certain figures, as you are aware, that, +traced on bark, answer the same purpose among the Indians with the +European language of letters. Let my hands be cast loose," he pursued, +but in a tone in which agitation and excitement might be detected, "and +if bark be brought me, and a burnt stick or coal, I will give you not +only a sample of Indian ingenuity, but a specimen of my own progress in +Indian acquirements." +</P> + +<P> +"What, free your hands, and thus afford you a chance of escape?" +observed the governor, doubtingly. +</P> + +<P> +Wacousta bent his stedfast gaze on him for a few moments, as if he +questioned he had heard aright. Then bursting into a wild and scornful +laugh,—"By Heaven!" he exclaimed, "this is, indeed, a high compliment +you pay me at the expense of these fine fellows. What, Colonel de +Haldimar afraid to liberate an unarmed prisoner, hemmed in by a forest +of bayonets? This is good; gentlemen," and he bent himself in sarcastic +reverence to the astonished troops, "I beg to offer you my very best +congratulations on the high estimation in which you are held by your +colonel." +</P> + +<P> +"Peace, sirrah!" exclaimed the governor, enraged beyond measure at the +insolence of him who thus held him up to contempt before his men, "or, +by Heaven, I will have your tongue cut out!—Mr. Lawson, let what this +fellow requires be procured immediately." Then addressing Lieutenant +Boyce, who commanded the immediate guard over the prisoner,—"Let his +hands be liberated, sir, and enjoin your men to be watchful of the +movements of this supple traitor. His activity I know of old to be +great, and he seems to have doubled it since he assumed that garb." +</P> + +<P> +The command was executed, and the prisoner stood, once more, free and +unfettered in every muscular limb. A deep and unbroken silence ensued; +and the return of the adjutant was momentarily expected. Suddenly a +loud scream was heard, and the slight figure of a female, clad in +white, came rushing from the piazza in which the apartment of the +deceased De Haldimar was situated. It was Clara. The guard of Wacousta +formed the fourth front of the square; but they were drawn up somewhat +in the distance, so as to leave an open space of several feet at the +angles. Through one of these the excited girl now passed into the area, +with a wildness in her air and appearance that riveted every eye in +painful interest upon her. She paused not until she had gained the side +of the captive, at whose feet she now sank in an attitude expressive of +the most profound despair. +</P> + +<P> +"Tiger!—monster!" she raved, "restore my brother!—give me back the +gentle life you have taken, or destroy my own! See, I am a weak +defenceless girl: can you not strike?—you who have no pity for the +innocent. But come," she pursued, mournfully, regaining her feet and +grasping his iron hand,—"come and see the sweet calm face of him you +have slain:—come with me, and behold the image of Clara Beverley; and, +if you ever loved her as you say you did, let your soul be touched with +remorse for your crime." +</P> + +<P> +The excitement and confusion produced by this unexpected interruption +was great. Murmurs of compassion for the unhappy Clara, and of +indignation against the prisoner, were no longer sought to be repressed +by the men; while the officers, quitting their places in the ranks, +grouped themselves indiscriminately in the foreground. One, more +impatient than his companions, sprang forward, and forcibly drew away +the delicate, hand that still grasped that of the captive. It was Sir +Everard Valletort. +</P> + +<P> +"Clara, my beloved wife!" he exclaimed, to the astonishment of all who +heard him, "pollute not your lips by further communion with such a +wretch; his heart is as inaccessible to pity as the rugged rocks on +which his spring-life was passed. For Heaven's sake,—for my +sake,—linger not within his reach. There is death in his very +presence." +</P> + +<P> +"Your wife, sir!" haughtily observed the governor, with irrepressible +astonishment and indignation in his voice; "what mean you?—Gentlemen, +resume your places in the ranks.—Clara—Miss de Haldimar, I command +you to retire instantly to your apartment.—We will discourse of this +later, Sir Everard Valletort. I trust you have not dared to offer an +indignity to my child." +</P> + +<P> +While he was yet turned to that officer, who had taken his post, as +commanded, in the inner angle of the square, and with a countenance +that denoted the conflicting emotions of his soul, he was suddenly +startled by the confused shout and rushing forward of the whole body, +both of officers and men. Before he had time to turn, a loud and +well-remembered yell burst upon his ear. The next moment, to his +infinite surprise and horror, he beheld the bold warrior rapidly +ascending the very staff that had been destined for his scaffold, and +with Clara in his arms. +</P> + +<P> +Great was the confusion that ensued. To rush forward and surround the +flag-staff, was the immediate action of the troops. Many of the men +raised their muskets, and in the excitement of the moment, would have +fired, had they not been restrained by their officers, who pointed out +the certain destruction it would entail on the unfortunate Clara. With +the rapidity of thought, Wacousta had snatched up his victim, while the +attention of the troops was directed to the singular conversation +passing between the governor and Sir Everard Valletort, and darting +through one of the open angles already alluded to, had gained the +rampart before they had recovered from the stupor produced by his +daring action. Stepping lightly upon the pegs, he had rapidly ascended +to the utmost height of these, before any one thought of following him; +and then grasping in his teeth the cord which was to have served for +his execution, and holding Clara firmly against his chest, while he +embraced the smooth staff with knees and feet closely compressed around +it, accomplished the difficult ascent with an ease that astonished all +who beheld him. Gradually, as he approached the top, the tapering pine +waved to and fro; and at each moment it was expected, that, yielding to +their united weight, it would snap asunder, and precipitate both Clara +and himself, either upon the rampart, or into the ditch beyond. +</P> + +<P> +More than one officer now attempted to follow the fugitive in his +adventurous course; but even Lieutenant Johnstone, the most active and +experienced in climbing of the party, was unable to rise more than a +few yards above the pegs that afforded a footing, add the enterprise +was abandoned as an impossibility. At length Wacousta was seen to gain +the extreme summit. For a moment he turned his gaze anxiously beyond +the town, in the direction of the bridge; and, after pealing forth one +of his terrific yells, exclaimed, exultingly, as he turned his eye upon +his enemy:— +</P> + +<P> +"Well, colonel, what think you of this sample of Indian ingenuity? Did +I not tell you," he continued, in mockery, "that, if my hands were but +free, I would give you a specimen of my progress in Indian +acquirements?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you would avoid a death even more terrible than that of hanging," +shouted the governor, in a voice of mingled rage and terror, "restore +my daughter." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! ha! ha!—excellent!" vociferated the savage. "You threaten +largely, my good governor; but your threats are harmless as those of a +weak besieging army before an impregnable fortress. It is for the +strongest, however, to propose his terms.—If I restore this girl to +life, will you pledge yourself to mine?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never!" thundered Colonel de Haldimar, with unusual energy.—"Men, +procure axes; cut the flag-staff down, since this is the only means +left of securing yon insolent traitor! Quick to your work: and mark, +who first seizes him shall have promotion on the spot." +</P> + +<P> +Axes were instantly procured, and two of the men now lent themselves +vigorously to the task. Wacousta seemed to watch these preparations +with evident anxiety; and to all it appeared as if his courage had been +paralysed by this unexpected action. No sooner, however, had the axemen +reached the heart of the staff, than, holding Clara forth over the edge +of the rampart, he shouted,— +</P> + +<P> +"One stroke more, and she perishes!" +</P> + +<P> +Instantaneously the work was discontinued. A silence of a few moments +ensued. Every eye was turned upward,—every heart beat with terror to +see the delicate girl, held by a single arm, and apparently about to be +precipitated from that dizzying height. Again Wacousta shouted,— +</P> + +<P> +"Life for life, De Haldimar! If I yield her shall I live?" +</P> + +<P> +"No terms shall be dictated to me by a rebel, in the heart of my own +fort," returned the governor. "Restore my child, and we will then +consider what mercy may be extended to you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well do I know what mercy dwells in such a heart as yours," gloomily +remarked the prisoner; "but I come." +</P> + +<P> +"Surround the staff, men," ordered the governor, in a low tone. "The +instant he descends, secure him: lash him in every limb, nor suffer +even his insolent tongue to be longer at liberty." +</P> + +<P> +"Boyce, for God's sake open the gate, and place men in readiness to +lower the drawbridge," implored Sir Everard of the officer of the +guard, and in a tone of deep emotion that was not meant to be overheard +by the governor. "I fear the boldness of this vengeful man may lead him +to some desperate means of escape." +</P> + +<P> +While the officer whom he addressed issued a command, the +responsibility of which he fancied he might, under the peculiar +circumstances of the moment, take upon himself, Wacousta began his +descent, not as before, by adhering to the staff, but by the rope which +he held in his left hand, while he still supported the apparently +senseless Clara against his right chest with the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Colonel de Haldimar, I hope your heart is at rest," he shouted, +as he rapidly glided by the cord; "enjoy your triumph as best may suit +your pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +Every eye followed his movement with interest; every heart beat lighter +at the certainty of Clara being again restored, and without other +injury than the terror she must have experienced in such a scene. Each +congratulated himself on the favourable termination of the terrible +adventure, yet were all ready to spring upon and secure the desperate +author of the wrong. Wacousta had now reached the centre of the +flag-staff. Pausing for a moment, he grappled it with his strong and +nervous feet, on which he apparently rested, to give a momentary relief +to the muscles of his left arm. He then abruptly abandoned his hold, +swinging himself out a few yards from the staff, and returning again, +dashed his feet against it with a force that caused the weakened mass +to vibrate to its very foundation. Impelled by his weight, and the +violence of his action, the creaking pine gave way; its lofty top +gradually bending over the exterior rampart until it finally snapped +asunder, and fell with a loud crash across the ditch. +</P> + +<P> +"Open the gate, down with the drawbridge!" exclaimed the excited +governor. +</P> + +<P> +"Down with the drawbridge," repeated Sir Everard to the men already +stationed there ready to let loose at the first order. The heavy chains +rattled sullenly through the rusty pulleys, and to each the bridge +seemed an hour descending. Before it had reached its level, it was +covered with the weight of many armed men rushing confusedly to the +front; and the foremost of these leaped to the earth before it had sunk +into its customary bed. Sir Everard Valletort and Lieutenant Johnstone +were in the front, both armed with their rifles, which had been brought +them before Wacousta commenced his descent. Without order or +combination, Erskine, Blessington, and nearly half of their respective +companies, followed as they could; and dispersing as they advanced, +sought only which could outstep his fellows in the pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the fugitive, assisted in his fall by the gradual rending +asunder of the staff, had obeyed the impulsion first given to his +active form, until, suddenly checking himself by the rope, he dropped +with his feet downward into the centre of the ditch. For a moment he +disappeared, then came again uninjured to the surface; and in the face +of more than fifty men, who, lining the rampart with their muskets +levelled to take him at advantage the instant he should reappear, +seemed to laugh their efforts to scorn. Holding Clara before him as a +shield, through which the bullets of his enemies must pass before they +could attain him, he impelled his gigantic form with a backward +movement towards the opposite bank, which he rapidly ascended; and, +still fronting his enemies, commenced his flight in that manner with a +speed which (considering the additional weight of the drenched garments +of both) was inconceivable. The course taken by him was not through the +town, but circuitously across the common until he arrived on that +immediate line whence, as we have before stated, the bridge was +distinctly visible from the rampart; on which, nearly the whole of the +remaining troops, in defiance of the presence of their austere chief, +were now eagerly assembled, watching, with unspeakable interest, the +progress of the chase. +</P> + +<P> +Desperate as were the exertions of Wacousta, who evidently continued +this mode of flight from a conviction that the instant his person was +left exposed the fire-arms of his pursuers would be brought to bear +upon him, the two officers in front, animated by the most extraordinary +exertions, were rapidly gaining upon him. Already was one within fifty +yards of him, when a loud yell was heard from the bridge. This was +fiercely answered by the fleeing man, and in a manner that implied his +glad sense of coming rescue. In the wild exultation of the moment, he +raised Clara high above his head, to show her in triumph to the +governor, whose person his keen eye could easily distinguish among +those crowded upon the rampart. In the gratified vengeance of that +hour, he seemed utterly to overlook the actions of those who were so +near him. During this brief scene, Sir Everard had dropped upon one +knee, and supporting his elbow on the other, aimed his rifle at the +heart of the ravisher of his wife. An exulting shout burst from the +pursuing troops. Wacousta bounded a few feet in air, and placing his +hand to his side, uttered another yell, more appalling than any that +had hitherto escaped him. His flight was now uncertain and wavering. He +staggered as one who had received a mortal wound; and discontinuing his +unequal mode of retreat, turned his back upon his pursuers, and threw +all his remaining energies into a final effort at escape. +</P> + +<P> +Inspirited by the success of his shot, and expecting momentarily to see +him fall weakened with the loss of blood, the excited Valletort +redoubled his exertions. To his infinite joy, he found that the efforts +of the fugitive became feebler at each moment Johnstone was about +twenty paces behind him, and the pursuing party at about the same +distance from Johnstone. The baronet had now reached his enemy, and +already was the butt of his rifle raised with both hands with murderous +intent, when suddenly Wacousta, every feature distorted with rage and +pain, turned like a wounded lion at bay, and eluding the blow, +deposited the unconscious form of his victim upon the sward. Springing +upon his infinitely weaker pursuer, he grappled him furiously by the +throat, exclaiming through his clenched teeth:— +</P> + +<P> +"Nay then, since you will provoke your fate—be it so. Die like a dog, +and be d—d, for having balked me—of my just revenge!" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, he hurled the gasping officer to the earth with a violence +that betrayed the dreadful excitement of his soul, and again hastened +to assure himself of his prize. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, Lieutenant Johnstone had come up, and, seeing his companion +struggling as he presumed, with advantage, with his severely wounded +enemy, made it his first care to secure the unhappy girl; for whose +recovery the pursuit had been principally instituted. Quitting his +rifle, he now essayed to raise her in his arms. She was without life or +consciousness, and the impression on his mind was that she was dead. +</P> + +<P> +While in the act of raising her, the terrible Wacousta stood at his +side, his vast chest heaving forth a laugh of mingled rage and +contempt. Before the officer could extricate, with a view of defending +himself, his arms were pinioned as though in a vice; and ere he could +recover from his surprise, he felt himself lifted up and thrown to a +considerable distance. When he opened his eyes a moment afterwards, he +was lying amid the moving feet of his own men. +</P> + +<P> +From the instant of the closing of the unfortunate Valletort with his +enemy, the Indians, hastening to the assistance of their chief, had +come up, and a desultory fire had already commenced, diverting, in a +great degree, the attention of the troops from the pursued. Emboldened +by this new aspect of things Wacousta now deliberately grasped the +rifle that had been abandoned by Johnstone; and raising it to his +shoulder, fired among the group collected on the ramparts. For a moment +he watched the result of his shot, and then, pealing forth another +fierce yell, he hurled the now useless weapon into the very heart of +his pursuers; and again raising Clara in his arms, once more commenced +his retreat, which, under cover of the fire of his party, was easily +effected. +</P> + +<P> +"Who has fallen?" demanded the governor of his adjutant, perceiving +that some one had been hit at his side, yet without taking his eyes off +his terrible enemy. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Delme, sir," was the reply. "He has been shot through the heart, +and his men are bearing him from the rampart." +</P> + +<P> +"This must not be," resumed the governor with energy. "Private feelings +must no longer be studied at the expense of the public good. That +pursuit is hopeless; and already too many of my officers have fallen. +Desire the retreat to be sounded, Mr. Lawson. Captain Wentworth, let +one or two covering guns be brought to bear upon the savages. They are +gradually increasing hi numbers; and if we delay, the party will be +wholly cut off." +</P> + +<P> +In issuing these orders, Colonel de Haldimar evinced a composedness +that astonished all who heard him. But although his voice was calm, +despair was upon his brow. Still he continued to gaze fixedly on the +retreating form of his enemy, until he finally disappeared behind the +orchard of the Canadian of the Fleur de lis. +</P> + +<P> +Obeying the summons from the fort, the troops without now commenced +their retreat, bearing off the bodies of their fallen officers and +several of their comrades who had fallen by the Indian fire. There was +a show of harassing them on their return; but they were too near the +fort to apprehend much danger. Two or three well-directed discharges of +artillery effectually checked the onward progress of the savages; and, +in the course of a minute, they had again wholly disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +In gloomy silence, and with anger and disappointment in their hearts, +the detachment now re-entered the fort. Johnstone was only severely +bruised; Sir Everard Valletort not dead. Both were conveyed to the same +room, where they were instantly attended by the surgeon, who pronounced +the situation of the latter hopeless. +</P> + +<P> +Major Blackwater, Captains Blessington and Erskine, Lieutenants Leslie +and Boyce, and Ensigns Fortescue and Summers, were now the only +regimental officers that remained of thirteen originally comprising the +strength of the garrison. The whole of these stood grouped around their +colonel, who seemed transfixed to the spot he had first occupied on the +rampart, with his arms folded, and his gaze bent in the direction in +which he had lost sight of Wacousta and his child. +</P> + +<P> +Hitherto the morning had been cold and cheerless, and objects in the +far distance were but indistinctly seen through a humid atmosphere. At +about half an hour before mid-day the air became more rarified, and, +the murky clouds gradually disappearing, left the blue autumnal sky +without spot or blemish. Presently, as the bells of the fort struck +twelve, a yell as of a legion of devils rent the air; and, riveting +their gaze in that direction, all beheld the bridge, hitherto deserted, +suddenly covered with a multitude of savages, among whom were several +individuals attired in the European garb, and evidently prisoners. Each +officer had a telescope raised to his eye, and each prepared himself, +shudderingly, for some horrid consummation. Presently the bridge was +cleared of all but a double line of what appeared to be women, armed +with war-clubs and tomahawks. Along the line were now seen to pass, in +slow succession, the prisoners that had previously been observed. At +each step they took (and it was evident they had been compelled to run +the gauntlet), a blow was inflicted by some one or other of the line, +until the wretched victims were successively despatched. A loud yell +from the warriors, who, although hidden from view by the intervening +orchards, were evidently merely spectators in the bloody drama, +announced each death. These yells were repeated, at intervals, to about +the number of thirty, when, suddenly, the bridge was again deserted as +before. +</P> + +<P> +After the lapse of a minute, the tall figure of a warrior was seen to +advance, holding a female in his arms. No one could mistake, even at +that distance, the gigantic proportions of Wacousta,—as he stood in +the extreme centre of the bridge, in imposing relief against the flood +that glittered like a sea of glass beyond. From his chest there now +burst a single yell; but, although audible, it was fainter than any +remembered ever to have been heard from him by the garrison. He then +advanced to the extreme edge of the bridge; and, raising the form of +the female far above his head with his left hand, seemed to wave her in +vengeful triumph. A second warrior was seen upon the bridge, and +stealing cautiously to the same point. The right hand of the first +warrior was now raised and brandished in air; in the next instant it +descended upon the breast of the female, who fell from his arms into +the ravine beneath. Yells of triumph from the Indians, and shouts of +execration from the soldiers, mingled faintly together. At that moment +the arm of the second warrior was raised, and a blade was seen to +glitter in the sunshine. His arm descended, and Wacousta was observed +to stagger forward and fall heavily into the abyss into which his +victim had the instant before been precipitated. Another loud yell, but +of disappointment and anger, was heard drowning that of exultation +pealed by the triumphant warrior, who, darting to the open extremity of +the bridge, directed his flight along the margin of the river, where a +light canoe was ready to receive him. Into this he sprang, and, seizing +the paddle, sent the waters foaming from its sides; and, pursuing his +way across the river, had nearly gained the shores of Canada before a +bark was to be seen following in pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +How felt—how acted Colonel de Haldimar throughout this brief but +terrible scene? He uttered not a word. With his arms still folded +across his breast, he gazed upon the murder of his child; but he heaved +not a groan, he shed not a tear. A momentary triumph seemed to, +irradiate his pallid features, when he saw the blow struck that +annihilated his enemy; but it was again instantly shaded by an +expression of the most profound despair. +</P> + +<P> +"It is done, gentlemen," he at length remarked. "The tragedy is closed, +the curse of Ellen Halloway is fulfilled, and I +am—childless!—Blackwater," he pursued, endeavouring to stifle the +emotion produced by the last reflection, "pay every attention to the +security of the garrison, see that the drawbridge is again properly +chained up, and direct that the duties of the troops be prosecuted in +every way as heretofore." +</P> + +<P> +Leaving his officers to wonder at and pity that apathy of mind that +could mingle the mere forms of duty with the most heart-rending +associations, Colonel de Haldimar now quitted the rampart; and, with a +head that was remarked for the first time to droop over his chest, +paced his way musingly to his apartments. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap0314"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. +</H3> + +<P> +Night had long since drawn her circling mantle over the western +hemisphere; and deeper, far deeper than the gloom of that night was the +despair which filled every bosom of the devoted garrison, whose +fortunes it has fallen to our lot to record. A silence, profound as +that of death, pervaded the ramparts and exterior defences of the +fortress, interrupted only, at long intervals, by the customary "All's +well!" of the several sentinels; which, after the awful events of the +day, seemed to many who now heard it as if uttered in mockery of their +hopelessness of sorrow. The lights within the barracks of the men had +been long since extinguished; and, consigned to a mere repose of limb, +in which the eye and heart shared not, the inferior soldiery pressed +their rude couches with spirits worn out by a succession of painful +excitements, and frames debilitated, by much abstinence and watching. +It was an hour at which sleep was wont to afford them the blessing of a +temporary forgetfulness of endurances that weighed the more heavily as +they were believed to be endless and without fruit; but sleep had now +apparently been banished from all; for the low and confused murmur that +met the ear from the several block-houses was continuous and general, +betraying at times, and in a louder key, words that bore reference to +the tragic occurrences of the day. +</P> + +<P> +The only lights visible in the fort proceeded from the guard-house and +a room adjoining that of the ill-fated Charles de Haldimar. Within the +latter were collected, with the exception of the governor, and grouped +around a bed on which lay one of their companions in a nearly expiring +state, the officers of the garrison, reduced nearly one third in number +since we first offered them to the notice of our readers. The dying man +was Sir Everard Valletort, who, supported by pillows, was concluding a +narrative that had chained the earnest attention of his auditory, even +amid the deep and heartfelt sympathy perceptible in each for the +forlorn and hopeless condition of the narrator. At the side of the +unhappy baronet, and enveloped in a dressing gown, as if recently out +of bed, sat, reclining in a rude elbow chair, one whose pallid +countenance denoted, that, although far less seriously injured, he, +too, had suffered severely:—it was Lieutenant Johnstone. +</P> + +<P> +The narrative was at length closed; and the officer, exhausted by the +effort he had made in his anxiety to communicate every particular to +his attentive and surprised companions, had sunk back upon his pillow, +when, suddenly, the loud and unusual "Who comes there?" of the sentinel +stationed on the rampart above the gateway, arrested every ear. A +moment of pause succeeded, when again was heard the "Stand, friend!" +evidently given in reply to the familiar answer to the original +challenge. Then were audible rapid movements in the guard-house, as of +men aroused from temporary slumber, and hastening to the point whence +the voice proceeded. +</P> + +<P> +Silently yet hurriedly the officers now quitted the bedside of the +dying man, leaving only the surgeon and the invalid Johnstone behind +them; and, flying to the rampart, stood in the next minute confounded +with the guard, who were already grouped round the challenging +sentinel, bending their gaze eagerly in the direction of the road. +</P> + +<P> +"What now, man?—whom have you challenged?" asked Major Blackwater. +</P> + +<P> +"It is I—De Haldimar," hoarsely exclaimed one of four dark figures +that, hitherto, unnoticed by the officers, stood immediately beyond the +ditch, with a burden deposited at their feet. "Quick, Blackwater, let +us in for God's sake! Each succeeding minute may bring a scouting party +on our track. Lower the drawbridge!" +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible!" exclaimed the major: "after all that has passed, it is +more than my commission is worth to lower the bridge without +permission. Mr. Lawson, quick to the governor, and report that Captain +de Haldimar is here: with whom shall he say?" again addressing the +impatient and almost indignant officer. +</P> + +<P> +"With Miss de Haldimar, Francois the Canadian, and one to whom we all +owe our lives," hurriedly returned the officer; "and you may add," he +continued gloomily, "the corpse of my sister. But while we stand in +parley here, we are lost: Lawson, fly to my father, and tell him we +wait for entrance." +</P> + +<P> +With nearly the speed enjoined the adjutant departed. Scarcely a minute +elapsed when he again stood upon the rampart, and advancing closely to +the major, whispered a few words in his ear. +</P> + +<P> +"Good God! can it be possible? When? How came this? but we will enquire +later. Open the gate; down with the bridge, Leslie," addressing the +officer of the guard. +</P> + +<P> +The command was instantly obeyed. The officers flew to receive the +fugitives; and as the latter crossed the drawbridge, the light of a +lantern, that had been brought from the guard-room, flashed full upon +the harassed countenances of Captain and Miss de Haldimar, Francois the +Canadian, and the devoted Oucanasta. +</P> + +<P> +Silent and melancholy was the greeting that took place between the +parties: the voice spoke not; the hand alone was eloquent; but it was +in the eloquence of sorrow only that it indulged. Pleasure, even in +this almost despaired of re-union, could not be expressed; and even the +eye shrank from mutual encounter, as if its very glance at such a +moment were sacrilege. Recalled to a sense of her situation by the +preparation of the men to raise the bridge, the Indian woman was the +first to break the silence. +</P> + +<P> +"The Saganaw is safe within his fort, and the girl of the pale faces +will lay her head upon his bosom," she remarked solemnly. "Oucanasta +will go to her solitary wigwam among the red skins." +</P> + +<P> +The heart of Madeline de Haldimar was oppressed by the weight of many +griefs; yet she could not see the generous preserver of her life, and +the rescuer of the body of her ill-fated cousin, depart without +emotion. Drawing a ring, of some value and great beauty, from her +finger, which she had more than once observed the Indian to admire, she +placed it on her hand; and then, throwing herself on the bosom of the +faithful creature, embraced her with deep manifestations of affection, +but without uttering a word. +</P> + +<P> +Oucanasta was sensibly gratified: she raised her large eyes to heaven +as if in thankfulness; and by the light of the lantern, which fell upon +her dark but expressive countenance, tears were to be seen starting +unbidden from their source. +</P> + +<P> +Released from the embrace of her, whose life she had twice preserved at +imminent peril to her own, the Indian again prepared to depart; but +there was another, who, like Madeline, although stricken by many +sorrows, could not forego the testimony of his heart's gratitude. +Captain de Haldimar, who, during this short scene, had despatched a +messenger to his room for the purpose, now advanced to the poor girl, +bearing a short but elegantly mounted dagger, which he begged her to +deliver as a token of his friendship to the young chief her brother. He +then dropped on one knee at her feet, and raising her hand, pressed it +fervently against his heart; an action which, even to the untutored +mind of the Indian, bore evidence only of the feeling that prompted it, +A heavy sigh escaped her labouring chest; and as the officer now rose +and quitted her hand, she turned slowly and with dignity from him, and +crossing the drawbridge, was in a few minutes lost in the surrounding +gloom. +</P> + +<P> +Our readers have, doubtless, anticipated the communication made to +Major Blackwater by the Adjutant Lawson. Bowed down to the dust by the +accomplishment of the curse of Ellen Halloway, the inflexibility of +Colonel de Haldimar's pride was not proof against the utter +annihilation wrought to his hopes as a father by the unrelenting hatred +of the enemy his early falsehood and treachery had raised up to him. +When the adjutant entered his apartment, the stony coldness of his +cheek attested he had been dead some hours. +</P> + +<P> +We pass over the few days of bitter trial that succeeded to the +restoration of Captain de Haldimar and his bride to their friends; +days, during which were consigned to the same grave the bodies of the +governor, his lamented children, and the scarcely less regretted Sir +Everard Valletort. The funeral service was attempted by Captain +Blessington; but the strong affection of that excellent officer, for +three of the defunct parties at least, was not armed against the trial. +He had undertaken a task far beyond his strength; and scarcely had +commenced, ere he was compelled to relinquish the performance of the +ritual to the adjutant. A large grave had been dug close under the +rampart, and near the fatal flag-staff, to receive the bodies of their +deceased friends; and, as they were lowered successively into their +last earthly resting place, tears fell unrestrainedly over the bronzed +cheeks of the oldest soldiers, while many a female sob blended with and +gave touching solemnity to the scene. +</P> + +<P> +On the morning of the third day from this quadruple interment, notice +was given by one of the sentinels that an Indian was approaching the +fort, making signs as if in demand for a parley. The officers, headed +by Major Blackwater, now become the commandant of the place, +immediately ascended the rampart, when the stranger was at once +recognised by Captain de Haldimar for the young Ottawa, the preserver +of his life, and the avenger of the deaths of those they mourned, in +whose girdle was thrust, in seeming pride, the richly mounted dagger +that officer had caused to be conveyed to him through his no less +generous sister. A long conference ensued, in the language of the +Ottawas, between the parties just named, the purport of which was of +high moment to the garrison, now nearly reduced to the last extremity. +The young chief had come to apprise them, that, won by the noble +conduct of the English, on a late occasion, when his warriors were +wholly in their power, Ponteac had expressed a generous determination +to conclude a peace with the garrison, and henceforth to consider them +as his friends. This he had publicly declared in a large council of the +chiefs, held the preceding night; and the motive of the Ottawa's coming +was, to assure the English, that, on this occasion, their great leader +was perfectly sincere in a resolution, at which he had the more readily +arrived, now that his terrible coadjutor and vindictive adviser was no +more. He prepared them for the coming of Ponteac and the principal +chiefs of the league to demand a council on the morrow; and, with this +final communication, again withdrew. +</P> + +<P> +The Ottawa was right Within a week from that period the English were to +be seen once more issuing from their fort; and, although many months +elapsed before the wounds of their suffering hearts were healed, still +were they grateful to Providence for their final preservation from a +doom that had fallen, without exception, on every fortress on the line +of frontier in which they lay. +</P> + +<P> +Time rolled on; and, in the course of years, Oucanasta might be seen +associating with and bearing curious presents, the fruits of Indian +ingenuity, to the daughters of De Haldimar, now become the colonel of +the —— regiment; while her brother, the chief, instructed his sons in +the athletic and active exercises peculiar to his race. As for poor +Ellen Halloway, search had been made for her, but she never was heard +of afterwards. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac +Conspiracy--Volume 3, by John Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA--VOLUME 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 4911-h.htm or 4911-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/1/4911/ + +Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks +and the distributed proofers. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy--Volume 3 + +Author: John Richardson + +Posting Date: September 6, 2009 [EBook #4911] +Release Date: January, 2004 +First Posted: March 25, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA--VOLUME 3 *** + + + + +Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks +and the distributed proofers. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +WACOUSTA; + + or + +THE PROPHECY. + +Volume Three of Three + + +by + +John Richardson + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The night passed away without further event on board the schooner, yet +in all the anxiety that might be supposed incident to men so perilously +situated. Habits of long-since acquired superstition, too powerful to +be easily shaken off, moreover contributed to the dejection of the +mariners, among whom there were not wanting those who believed the +silent steersman was in reality what their comrade had represented,--an +immaterial being, sent from the world of spirits to warn them of some +impending evil. What principally gave weight to this impression were +the repeated asseverations of Fuller, during the sleepless night passed +by all on deck, that what he had seen was no other, could be no other, +than a ghost! exhibiting in its hueless, fleshless cheek, the +well-known lineaments of one who was supposed to be no more: and, if +the story of their comrade had needed confirmation among men in whom +faith in, rather than love for, the marvellous was a constitutional +ingredient, the terrible effect that seemed to have been produced on +Captain de Haldimar by the same mysterious visitation would have been +more than conclusive. The very appearance of the night, too, favoured +the delusion. The heavens, comparatively clear at the moment when the +canoe approached the vessel, became suddenly enveloped in the deepest +gloom at its departure, as if to enshroud the course of those who, +having so mysteriously approached, had also so unaccountably +disappeared. Nor had this threatening state of the atmosphere the +counterbalancing advantage of storm and tempest to drive them onward +through the narrow waters of the Sinclair, and enable them, by +anticipating the pursuit of their enemies, to shun the Scylla and +Charybdis that awaited their more leisure advance. The wind increased +not; and the disappointed seamen remarked, with dismay, that their +craft scarcely made more progress than at the moment when she first +quitted her anchorage. + +It was now near the first hours of day; and although, perhaps, none +slept, there were few who were not apparently at rest, and plunged in +the most painful reflections. Still occupying her humble couch, and +shielded from the night air merely by the cloak that covered her own +blood-stained garments, lay the unhappy Clara, her deep groans and +stifled sobs bursting occasionally from her pent-up heart, and falling +on the ears of the mariners like sounds of fearful import, produced by +the mysterious agency that already bore such undivided power over their +thoughts. On the bare deck, at her side, lay her brother, his face +turned upon the planks, as if to shut out all objects from eyes he had +not the power to close; and, with one arm supporting his heavy brow, +while the other, cast around the restless form of his beloved sister, +seemed to offer protection and to impart confidence, even while his +lips denied the accents of consolation. Seated on an empty hen-coop at +their head, was Sir Everard Valletort, his back reposing against the +bulwarks of the vessel, his arms folded across his chest, and his eyes +bent mechanically on the man at the helm, who stood within a few paces +of him,--an attitude of absorption, which he, ever and anon, changed to +one of anxious and enquiring interest, whenever the agitation of Clara +was manifested in the manner already shown. + +The main deck and forecastle of the vessel presented a similar picture +of mingled unquietness and repose. Many of the seamen might be seen +seated on the gun-carriages, with their cheeks pressing the rude metal +that served them for a pillow. Others lay along the decks, with their +heads resting on the elevated hatches; while not a few, squatted on +their haunches with their knees doubled up to their very chins, +supported in that position the aching head that rested between their +rough and horny palms. A first glance might have induced the belief +that all were buried in the most profound slumber; but the quick +jerking of a limb,--the fitful, sudden shifting of a position,--the +utter absence of that deep breathing which indicates the +unconsciousness of repose, and the occasional spirting of tobacco juice +upon the deck,--all these symptoms only required to be noticed, to +prove the living silence that reigned throughout was not born either of +apathy or sleep. + +At the gangway at which the canoe had approached now stood the +individual already introduced to our readers as Jack Fuller. The same +superstitious terror that caused his flight had once more attracted him +to the spot where the subject of his alarm first appeared to him; and, +without seeming to reflect that the vessel, in her slow but certain +progress, had left all vestige of the mysterious visitant behind, he +continued gazing over the bulwarks on the dark waters, as if he +expected at each moment to find his sight stricken by the same +appalling vision. It was at the moment when he had worked up his +naturally dull imagination to its highest perception of the +supernatural, that he was joined by the rugged boatswain, who had +passed the greater part of the night in pacing up and down the decks, +watching the aspect of the heavens, and occasionally tauting a rope or +squaring a light yard, unassisted, as the fluttering of the canvass in +the wind rendered the alteration necessary. + +"Well, Jack!" bluntly observed the latter in a gruff whisper that +resembled the suppressed growling of a mastiff, "what the hell are ye +thinking of now?--Not got over your flumbustification yet, that ye +stand here, looking as sanctified as an old parson!" + +"I'll tell ye what it is, Mr. Mullins," returned the sailor, in the +same key; "you may make as much game on me as you like; but these here +strange sort of doings are somehow quizzical; and, though I fears +nothing in the shape of flesh and blood, still, when it comes to having +to do with those as is gone to Davy Jones's locker like, it gives a +fellow an all-overishness as isn't quite the thing. You understand me?" + +"I'm damned if I do!" was the brief but energetic rejoinder. + +"Well, then," continued Fuller, "if I must out with it, I must. I think +that 'ere Ingian must have been the devil, or how could he come so +sudden and unbeknownst upon me, with the head of a 'possum: and then, +agin, how could he get away from the craft without our seeing him? and +how came the ghost on board of the canoe?" + +"Avast there, old fellow; you means not the head of a 'possum, but a +beaver: but that 'ere's all nat'r'l enough, and easily 'counted for; +but you hav'n't told us whose ghost it was, after all." + +"No; the captain made such a spring to the gunwale, as frighted it all +out of my head: but come closer, Mr. Mullins, and I'll whisper it in +your ear.--Hark! what was that?" + +"I hears nothing," said the boatswain, after a pause. + +"It's very odd," continued Fuller; "but I thought as how I heard it +several times afore you came." + +"There's something wrong, I take it, in your upper story, Jack Fuller," +coolly observed his companion; "that 'ere ghost has quite capsized you." + +"Hark, again!" repeated the sailor. "Didn't you hear it then? A sort of +a groan like." + +"Where, in what part?" calmly demanded the boatswain, though in the +same suppressed tone in which the dialogue had been, carried on. + +"Why, from the canoe that lies alongside there. I heard it several +times afore." + +"Well, damn my eyes, if you a'rn't turned a real coward at last," +politely remarked Mr. Mullins. "Can't the poor fat devil of a Canadian +snooze a bit in his hammock, without putting you so completely out of +your reckoning?" + +"The Canadian--the Canadian!" hurriedly returned Fuller: "why, don't +you see him there, leaning with his back to the main-mast, and as fast +asleep as if the devil himself couldn't wake him?" + +"Then it was the devil, you heard, if you like," quaintly retorted +Mullins: "but bear a hand, and tell us all about this here ghost." + +"Hark, again! what was that?" once more enquired the excited sailor. + +"Only a gust of wind passing through the dried boughs of the canoe," +said the boatswain: "but since we can get nothing out of that crazed +noddle of yours, see if you can't do something with your hands. That +'ere canoe running alongside, takes half a knot off the ship's way. +Bear a hand then, and cast off the painter, and let her drop astarn, +that she may follow in our wake. Hilloa! what the hell's the matter +with the man now?" + +And well might he ask. With his eyeballs staring, his teeth chattering, +his body half bent, and his arms thrown forward, yet pendent as if +suddenly arrested in that position while in the act of reaching the +rope, the terrified sailor stood gazing on the stern of the canoe; in +which, by the faint light of the dawning day, was to be seen an object +well calculated to fill the least superstitious heart with terror and +dismay. Through an opening in the foliage peered the pale and spectral +face of a human being, with its dull eyes bent fixedly and mechanically +upon the vessel. In the centre of the wan forehead was a dark +incrustation, as of blood covering the superficies of a newly closed +wound. The pallid mouth was partially unclosed, so as to display a row +of white and apparently lipless teeth; and the features were otherwise +set and drawn, as those of one who is no longer of earth. Around the +head was bound a covering so close, as to conceal every part save the +face; and once or twice a hand was slowly raised, and pressed upon the +blood spot that dimmed the passing fairness of the brow. Every other +portion of the form was invisible. + +"Lord have mercy upon us!" exclaimed the boatswain, in a voice that, +now elevated to more than its natural tone, sounded startlingly on the +stillness of the scene; "sure enough it is, indeed, a ghost!" + +"Ha! do you believe me now?" returned Fuller, gaining confidence from +the admission of his companion, and in the same elevated key. "It is, +as I hope to be saved, the ghost I see'd afore." + +The commotion on deck was now every where universal. The sailors +started to their feet, and, with horror and alarm visibly imprinted on +their countenances, rushed tumultuously towards the dreaded gangway. + +"Make way--room, fellows!" exclaimed a hurried voice; and presently +Captain de Haldimar, who had bounded like lightning from the deck, +appeared with eager eye and excited cheek among them. To leap into the +bows of the canoe, and disappear under the foliage, was the work of a +single instant. All listened breathlessly for the slightest sound; and +then every heart throbbed with the most undefinable emotions, as his +lips were heard giving utterance to the deep emotion of his own +spirit,-- + +"Madeline, oh, my own lost Madeline!" he exclaimed with almost frantic +energy of passion: "do I then press you once more in madness to my +doting heart? Speak, speak to me--for God's sake speak, or I shall go +mad! Air, air,--she wants air only--she cannot be dead." + +These last words were succeeded by the furious rending asunder of the +fastenings that secured the boughs, and presently the whole went +overboard, leaving revealed the tall and picturesque figure of the +officer; whose left arm encircled while it supported the reclining and +powerless form of one who well resembled, indeed, the spectre for which +she had been mistaken, while his right hand was busied in detaching the +string that secured a portion of the covering round her throat. At +length it fell from her shoulders; and the well known form of Madeline +de Haldimar, clad even in the vestments in which they had been wont to +see her, met the astonished gaze of the excited seamen. Still there +were some who doubted it was the corporeal woman whom they beheld; and +several of the crew who were catholics even made the sign of the cross +as the supposed spirit was now borne up the gangway in the arms of the +pained yet gratified De Haldimar: nor was it until her feet were seen +finally resting on the deck, that Jack Fuller could persuade himself it +was indeed Miss de Haldimar, and not her ghost, that lay clasped to the +heart of the officer. + +With the keen rush of the morning air upon her brow returned the +suspended consciousness of the bewildered Madeline. The blood came +slowly and imperceptibly to her cheek; and her eyes, hitherto glazed, +fixed, and inexpressive, looked enquiringly, yet with stupid +wonderment, around. She started from the embrace of her lover, gazed +alternately at his disguise, at himself, and at Clara; and then passing +her hand several times rapidly across her brow, uttered an hysteric +scream, and threw herself impetuously forward on the bosom of the +sobbing girl; who, with extended arms, parted lips, and heaving bosom, +sat breathlessly awaiting the first dawn of the returning reason of her +more than sister. + +We should vainly attempt to paint all the heart-rending misery of the +scene exhibited in the gradual restoration of Miss de Haldimar to her +senses. From a state of torpor, produced by the freezing of every +faculty into almost idiocy, she was suddenly awakened to all the +terrors of the past and the deep intonations of her rich voice were +heard only in expressions of agony, that entered into the most +iron-hearted of the assembled seamen; while they drew from the bosom of +her gentle and sympathising cousin fresh bursts of desolating grief. +Imagination itself would find difficulty in supplying the harrowing +effect upon all, when, with upraised hands, and on her bended knees, +her large eyes turned wildly up to heaven, she invoked in deep and +startling accents the terrible retribution of a just God on the inhuman +murderers of her father, with whose life-blood her garments were +profusely saturated; and then, with hysteric laughter, demanded why she +alone had been singled out to survive the bloody tragedy. Love and +affection, hitherto the first principles of her existence, then found +no entrance into her mind. Stricken, broken-hearted, stultified to all +feeling save that of her immediate wretchedness, she thought only of +the horrible scenes through which she had passed; and even he, whom at +another moment she could have clasped in an agony of fond tenderness to +her beating bosom,--he to whom she had pledged her virgin faith, and +was bound by the dearest of human ties,--he whom she had so often +longed to behold once more, and had thought of, the preceding day, with +all the tenderness of her impassioned and devoted soul,--even he did +not, in the first hours of her terrible consciousness, so much as +command a single passing regard. All the affections were for a period +blighted in her bosom. She seemed as one devoted, without the power of +resistance, to a grief which calcined and preyed upon all other +feelings of the mind. One stunning and annihilating reflection seemed +to engross every principle of her being; nor was it for hours after she +had been restored to life and recollection that a deluge of burning +tears, giving relief to her heart and a new direction to her feelings, +enabled her at length to separate the past from, and in some degree +devote herself to, the present. Then, indeed, for the first time did +she perceive and take pleasure in the presence of her lover; and +clasping her beloved and weeping Clara to her heart, thank her God, in +all the fervour of true piety, that she at least had been spared to +shed a ray of comfort on her distracted spirit. But we will not pain +the reader by dwelling on a scene that drew tears even from the rugged +and flint-nerved boatswain himself; for, although we should linger on +it with minute anatomical detail, no powers of language we possess +could convey the transcript as it should be. Pass we on, therefore, to +the more immediate incidents of our narrative. + +The day now rapidly developing, full opportunity was afforded the +mariners to survey the strict nature of their position. To all +appearance they were yet in the middle of the lake, for around them lay +the belting sweep of forest that bounded the perspective of the +equidistant circle, of which their bark was the focus or immediate +centre. The wind was dying gradually away, and when at length the sun +rose, in all his splendour, there was scarce air enough in the heavens +to keep the sails from flapping against the masts, or to enable the +vessel to obey her helm. In vain was the low and peculiar whistle of +the seamen heard, ever and anon, in invocation of the departing breeze. +Another day, calm and breathless as the preceding, had been chartered +from the world of light; and their hearts failed them, as they foresaw +the difficulty of their position, and the almost certainty of their +retreat being cut off. It was while labouring under the disheartening +consciousness of danger, peculiar to all, that the anxious boatswain +summoned Captain de Haldimar and Sir Everard Valletort, by a +significant beck of the finger, to the side of the deck opposite to +that on which still lay the suffering and nearly broken-hearted girls. + +"Well, Mullins, what now?" enquired the former, as he narrowly scanned +the expression of the old man's features: "that clouded brow of yours, +I fear me, bodes no agreeable information." + +"Why, your honour, I scarcely knows what to say about it; but seeing as +I'm the only officer in the ship, now our poor captain is killed, God +bless him! I thought I might take the liberty to consult with your +honours as to the best way of getting out of the jaws of them sharks of +Ingians; and two heads, as the saying is, is always better than one." + +"And now you have the advantage of three," observed the officer, with a +sickly smile; "but I fear, Mullins, that if your own be not sufficient +for the purpose, ours will be of little service. You must take counsel +from your own experience and knowledge of nautical matters." + +"Why, to be sure, your honour," and the sailor rolled his quid from one +cheek to the other, "I think I may say as how I'll venture to steer the +craft with any man on the Canada lakes, and bring her safe into port +too; but seeing as how I'm only a petty officer, and not yet +recommended by his worship the governor for the full command, I thought +it but right to consult with my superiors, not as to the management of +the craft, but the best as is to be done. What does your honour think +of making for the high land over the larboard bow yonder, and waiting +for the chance of the night-breeze to take us through the Sinclair?" + +"Do whatever you think best," returned the officer. "For my part, I +scarcely can give an opinion. Yet how are we to get there? There does +not appear to be a breath of wind." + +"Oh, that's easily managed; we have only to brail and furl up a little, +to hide our cloth from the Ingians, and then send the boats a-head to +tow the craft, while some of us lend a hand at her own sweeps. We shall +get close under the lee of the land afore night, and then we must pull +up agin along shore, until we get within a mile or so of the head of +the river." + +"But shall we not be seen by our enemies?" asked Sir Everard; "and will +they not be on the watch for our movements, and intercept our retreat?" + +"Now that's just the thing, your honour, as they're not likely to do, +if so be as we bears away for yon headlands. I knows every nook and +sounding round the lake; and odd enough if I didn't, seeing as how the +craft circumnavigated it, at least, a dozen times since we have been +cooped up here. Poor Captain Danvers! (may the devil damn his +murderers, I say, though it does make a commander of me for once;) he +used always to make for that 'ere point, whenever he wished to lie +quiet; for never once did we see so much as a single Ingian on the +headland. No, your honour, they keeps all at t'other side of the lake, +seeing as how that is the main road from Mackina' to Detroit." + +"Then, by all means, do so," eagerly returned Captain de Haldimar. "Oh, +Mullins! take us but safely through, and if the interest of my father +can procure you a king's commission, you shall not want it, believe me." + +"And if half my fortune can give additional stimulus to exertion, it +shall be shared, with pleasure, between yourself and crew," observed +Sir Everard. + +"Thank your honours,--thank your honours," said the boatswain, somewhat +electrified by these brilliant offers. "The lads may take the money, if +they like; all I cares about is the king's commission. Give me but a +swab on my shoulder, and the money will come fast enough of itself. +But, still, shiver my topsails, if I wants any bribery to make me do my +duty; besides, if 'twas only for them poor girls alone, I would go +through fire and water to sarve them. I'm not very chicken-hearted in +my old age, your honours, but I don't recollect the time when I +blubbered so much as I did when Miss Madeline come aboard. But I can't +bear to think of it; and now let us see and get all ready for towing." + +Every thing now became bustle and activity on board the schooner. The +matches, no longer required for the moment, were extinguished, and the +heavy cutlasses and pistols unbuckled from the loins of the men, and +deposited near their respective guns. Light forms flew aloft, and, +standing out upon the yards, loosely furled the sails that had +previously been hauled and clewed up; but, as this was an operation +requiring little time in so small a vessel, those who were engaged in +it speedily glided to the deck again, ready for a more arduous service. +The boats had, meanwhile, been got forward, and into these the sailors +sprang, with an alacrity that could scarcely have been expected from +men who had passed not only the preceding night, but many before it, in +utter sleeplessness and despair. But the imminence of the danger, and +the evident necessity existing for exertion, aroused them to new +energy; and the hitherto motionless vessel was now made to obey the +impulse given by the tow ropes of the boats, in a manner that proved +their crews to have entered on their toil with the determination of +men, resolved to devote themselves in earnest to their task. Nor was +the spirit of action confined to these. The long sweeps of the schooner +had been shipped, and such of the crew as remained on board laboured +effectually at them,--a service, in which they were essentially aided, +not only by mine host of the Fleur de lis, but by the young officers +themselves. + +At mid-day the headlands were seen looming largely in the distance, +while the immediate shores of the ill-fated fortress were momentarily, +and in the same proportion, disappearing under the dim line of horizon +in the rear. More than half their course, from the spot whence they +commenced towing, had been completed, when the harassed men were made +to quit their oars, in order to partake of the scanty fare of the +vessel, consisting chiefly of dried bear's meat and venison. Spirit of +any description they had none; but, unlike their brethren of the +Atlantic, when driven to extremities in food, they knew not what it was +to poison the nutritious properties of the latter by sipping the putrid +dregs of the water-cask, in quantities scarce sufficient to quench the +fire of their parched palates. Unslaked thirst was a misery unknown to +the mariners of these lakes: it was but to cast their buckets deep into +the tempting element, and water, pure, sweet, and grateful as any that +ever bubbled from the moss-clad fountain of sylvan deity, came cool and +refreshing to their lips, neutralising, in a measure, the crudities of +the coarsest food. It was to this inestimable advantage the crew of the +schooner had been principally indebted for their health, during the +long series of privation, as far as related to fresh provisions and +rest, to which they had been subjected. All appeared as vigorous in +frame, and robust in health, as at the moment when they had last +quitted the waters of the Detroit; and but for the inward sinking of +the spirit, reflected in many a bronzed and furrowed brow, there was +little to show they had been exposed to any very extraordinary trials. + +Their meal having been hastily dispatched, and sweetened by a draught +from the depths of the Huron, the seamen once more sprang into their +boats, and devoted themselves, heart and soul, to the completion of +their task, pulling with a vigour that operated on each and all with a +tendency to encouragement and hope. At length the vessel, still +impelled by her own sweeps, gradually approached the land; and at +rather more than an hour before sunset was so near that the moment was +deemed arrived when, without danger of being perceived, she might be +run up along the shore to the point alluded to by the boatswain. Little +more than another hour was occupied in bringing her to her station; and +the red tints of departing day were still visible in the direction of +the ill-fated fortress of Michilimackinac, when the sullen rumbling of +the cable, following the heavy splash of the anchor, announced the +place of momentary concealment had been gained. + +The anchorage lay between two projecting headlands; to the outermost +extremities of which were to be seen, overhanging the lake, the stately +birch and pine, connected at their base by an impenetrable brushwood, +extending to the very shore, and affording the amplest concealment, +except from the lake side and the banks under which the schooner was +moored. From the first quarter, however, little danger was incurred, as +any canoes the savages might send in discovery of their course, must +unavoidably be seen the moment they appeared over the line of the +horizon, while, on the contrary, their own vessel, although much +larger, resting on and identified with the land, must be invisible, +except on a very near approach. In the opposite direction they were +equally safe; for, as Mullins had truly remarked, none, save a few +wandering hunters, whom chance occasionally led to the spot, were to be +met with in a part of the country that lay so completely out of the +track of communication between the fortresses. It was, however, but to +double the second headland in their front, and they came within view of +the Sinclair, the head of which was situated little more than a league +beyond the spot where they now lay. Thus secure for the present, and +waiting only for the rising of the breeze, of which the setting sun had +given promise, the sailors once more snatched their hasty refreshment, +while two of their number were sent aloft to keep a vigilant look-out +along the circuit embraced by the enshrouding headlands. + +During the whole of the day the cousins had continued on deck clasped +in each other's arms, and shedding tears of bitterness, and heaving the +most heart-rending sobs at intervals, yet but rarely conversing. The +feelings of both were too much oppressed to admit of the utterance of +their grief. The vampire of despair had banqueted on their hearts. +Their vitality had been sucked, as it were, by its cold and bloodless +lips; and little more than the withered rind, that had contained the +seeds of so many affections, had been left. Often had Sir Everard and +De Haldimar paused momentarily from the labour of their oars, to cast +an eye of anxious solicitude on the scarcely conscious girls, wishing, +rather than expecting, to find the violence of their desolation abated, +and that, in the full expansion of unreserved communication, they were +relieving their sick hearts from the terrible and crushing weight of +woe that bore them down. Captain de Haldimar had even once or twice +essayed to introduce the subject himself, in the hope that some fresh +paroxysm, following their disclosures, would remove the horrible +stupefaction of their senses; but the wild look and excited manner of +Madeline, whenever he touched on the chord of her affliction, had as +often caused him to desist. + +Towards the evening, however, her natural strength of character came in +aid of his quiescent efforts to soothe her; and she appeared not only +more composed, but more sensible of the impression produced by +surrounding objects. As the last rays of the sun were tinging the +horizon, she drew up her form in a sitting position against the +bulwarks, and, raising her clasped hands to heaven, while her eyes were +bent long and fixedly on the distant west, appeared for some minutes +wholly lost in that attitude of absorption. Then she closed her eyes; +and through the swollen lids came coursing, one by one, over her +quivering cheek, large tears, that seemed to scald a furrow where they +passed. After this she became more calm--her respiration more free; and +she even consented to taste the humble meal which the young man now +offered for the third time. Neither Clara nor herself had eaten food +since the preceding morning; and the weakness of their frames +contributed not a little to the increasing despondency of their +spirits; but, notwithstanding several attempts previously made, they +had rejected what was offered them, with insurmountable loathing. When +they had now swallowed a few morsels of the sliced venison ham, +prepared with all the delicacy the nearly exhausted resources of the +vessel could supply, accompanied by a small portion of the cornbread of +the Canadian, Captain de Haldimar prevailed on them to swallow a few +drops of the spirit that still remained in the canteen given them by +Erskine on their departure from Detroit. The genial liquid sent a +kindling glow to their chilled hearts, and for a moment deadened the +pungency of their anguish; and then it was that Miss de Haldimar +entered briefly on the horrors she had witnessed, while Clara, with her +arm encircling her waist, fixed her dim and swollen eyes, from which a +tear ever and anon rolled heavily to her lap, on those of her beloved +cousin. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Without borrowing the affecting language of the unhappy girl--a +language rendered even more touching by the peculiar pathos of her +tones, and the searching agony of spirit that burst at intervals +through her narrative--we will merely present our readers with a brief +summary of what was gleaned from her melancholy disclosure. On bearing +her cousin to the bedroom, after the terrifying yell first heard from +without the fort, she had flown down the front stairs of the +blockhouse, in the hope of reaching the guardroom in time to acquaint +Captain Baynton with what she and Clara had witnessed from their +window. Scarcely, however, had she gained the exterior of the building, +when she saw that officer descending from a point of the rampart +immediately on her left, and almost in a line with the block-house. He +was running to overtake and return the ball of the Indian players, +which had, at that moment, fallen into the centre of the fort, and was +now rolling rapidly away from the spot on which Miss de Haldimar stood. +The course of the ball led the pursuing officer out of the reach of her +voice; and it was not until he had overtaken and thrown it again over +the rampart, she could succeed in claiming his attention. No sooner, +however, had he heard her hurried statement, than, without waiting to +take the orders of his commanding officer, he prepared to join his +guard, and give directions for the immediate closing of the gates. But +the opportunity was now lost. The delay occasioned by the chase and +recovery of the ball had given the Indians time to approach the gates +in a body, while the unsuspicious soldiery looked on without so much as +dreaming to prevent them; and Captain Baynton had scarcely moved +forward in execution of his purpose, when the yelling fiends were seen +already possessing themselves of the drawbridge, and exhibiting every +appearance of fierce hostility. Wild, maddened at the sight, the almost +frantic Madeline, alive only to her father's danger, rushed back +towards the council-room, whence the startling yell from without had +already been echoed, and where the tramp of feet, and the clashing of +weapons, were distinguishable. + +Cut off from his guard, by the rapid inundation of warriors, Captain +Baynton had at once seen the futility of all attempts to join the men, +and his first impression evidently had been to devote himself to the +preservation of the cousins. With this view he turned hastily to Miss +de Haldimar, and hurriedly naming the back staircase of the +block-house, urged her to direct her flight to that quarter. But the +excited girl had neither consideration nor fear for herself; she +thought only of her father: and, even while the fierceness of contest +was at its height within, she suddenly burst into the council-room. The +confusion and horror of the scene that met her eyes no language can +render: blood was flowing in every direction, and dying and dead +officers, already stripped of their scalps, were lying strewed about +the room. Still the survivors fought with all the obstinacy of despair, +and many of the Indians had shared the fate of their victims. Miss de +Haldimar attempted to reach her father, then vigorously combating with +one of the most desperate of the chiefs; but, before she could dart +through the intervening crowd, a savage seized her by the hair, and +brandished a tomahawk rapidly over her neck. At that moment Captain +Baynton sent his glittering blade deep into the heart of the Indian, +who, relinquishing his grasp, fell dead at the feet of his intended +victim. The devoted officer then threw his left arm round her waist, +and, parrying with his sword-arm the blows of those who sought to +intercept his flight, dragged his reluctant burden towards the door. +Hotly pressed by the remaining officers, nearly equal in number, the +Indians were now compelled to turn and defend themselves in front, when +Captain Baynton took that opportunity of getting once more into the +corridor, not, however, without having received a severe wound +immediately behind the right ear, and leaving a skirt and lappel of his +uniform in the hands of two savages who had successively essayed to +detain him. At that moment the band without had succeeded in forcing +open the door of the guard-room; and the officer saw, at a glance, +there was little time left for decision. In hurried and imploring +accents he besought Miss de Haldimar to forget every thing but her own +danger, and to summon resolution to tear herself from the scene: but +prayer and entreaty, and even force, were alike employed in vain. +Clinging firmly to the rude balustrades, she refused to be led up the +staircase, and wildly resisting all his efforts to detach her hands, +declared she would again return to the scene of death, in which her +beloved parent was so conspicuous an actor. While he was yet engaged in +this fruitless attempt to force her from the spot, the door of the +council-room was suddenly burst open, and a group of bleeding officers, +among whom was Major de Haldimar, followed by their yelling enemies, +rushed wildly into the passage, and, at the very foot of the stairs +where they yet stood, the combat was renewed. From that moment Miss de +Haldimar lost sight of her generous protector. Meanwhile the tumult of +execrations, and groans, and yells, was at its height; and one by one +she saw the unhappy officers sink beneath weapons yet reeking with the +blood of their comrades, until not more than three or four, including +her father and the commander of the schooner, were left. At length +Major de Haldimar, overcome by exertion, and faint from wounds, while +his wild eye darted despairingly on his daughter, had his sword-arm +desperately wounded, when the blade dropped to the earth, and a dozen +weapons glittered above his head. The wild shriek that had startled +Clara then burst from the agonised heart of her maddened cousin, and +she darted forward to cover her father's head with her arms. But her +senses failed her in the attempt; and the last thing she recollected +was falling over the weltering form of Middleton, who pressed her, as +she lay there, in the convulsive energy of death, to his almost +pulseless heart. + +A vague consciousness of being raised from the earth, and borne rapidly +through the air, came over her even in the midst of her insensibility, +but without any definite perception of the present, or recollection of +the past, until she suddenly, when about midway between the fort and +the point of wood that led to Chabouiga, opened her eyes, and found +herself in the firm grasp of an Indian, whose features, even in the +hasty and fearful glance she cast at the countenance, she fancied were +not unfamiliar to her. Not another human being was to be seen in the +clearing at that moment; for all the savages, including even the women +assembled outside, were now within the fort assisting in the complex +horrors of murder, fire, and spoliation. In the wild energy of +returning reason and despair, the wretched girl struggled violently to +free herself; and so far with success, that the Indian, whose strength +was evidently fast failing him, was compelled to quit his hold, and +suffer her to walk. No sooner did Miss de Haldimar feel her feet +touching the ground, when she again renewed her exertions to free +herself, and return to the fort; but the Indian held her firmly secured +by a leathern thong he now attached to her waist, and every attempt +proved abortive. He was evidently much disconcerted at her resistance; +and more than once she expected, and almost hoped, the tomahawk at his +side would be made to revenge him for the test to which his patience +was subjected; but Miss de Haldimar looked in vain for the expression +of ferocity and impatience that might have been expected from him at +such a moment. There was an air of mournfulness, and even kindness, +mingled with severity, on his smooth brow that harmonised ill with the +horrible atrocities in which he had, to all appearance, covered as he +was with blood, been so recent and prominent an actor. The Indian +remarked her surprise; and then looking hurriedly, yet keenly, around, +and finding no living being near them, suddenly tore the shirt from his +chest, and emphatically pronouncing the names "Oucanasta," "De +Haldimar," disclosed to the still struggling captive the bosom of a +woman. After which, pointing in the direction of the wood, and finally +towards Detroit, she gave Miss de Haldimar to understand that was the +course intended to be pursued. + +In a moment the resistance of the latter ceased. She at once recognised +the young Indian woman whom her cousin had rescued from death: and +aware, as she was, of the strong attachment that had subsequently bound +her to her preserver, she was at no loss to understand how she might +have been led to devote herself to the rescue of one whom, it was +probable, she knew to be his affianced wife. Once, indeed, a suspicion +of a different nature crossed her mind; for the thought occurred to her +she had only been saved from the general doom to be made the victim of +private revenge--that it was only to glut the jealous vengeance of the +woman at a more deliberative hour, she had been made a temporary +captive. The apprehension, however, was no sooner formed than +extinguished. Bitterly, deeply as she had reason to abhor the treachery +and cunning of the dark race to which her captor belonged, there was an +expression of openness and sincerity, and even imploringness, in the +countenance of Oucanasta, which, added to her former knowledge of the +woman, at once set this fear at rest, inducing her to look upon her +rather in the character of a disinterested saviour, than in that of a +cruel and vindictive enemy, goaded on to the indulgence of malignant +hate by a spirit of rivalry and revenge. Besides, even were her +cruellest fears to be realised, what could await her worse than the +past? If she could even succeed in getting away, it would only be to +return upon certain death; and death only could await her, however +refined the tortures accompanying its infliction, in the event of her +quietly following and yielding herself up to the guidance of one who +offered this slight consolation, at least, that she was of her own sex. +But Miss de Haldimar was willing to attribute more generous motives to +the Indian; and fortified in her first impression, she signified by +signs, that seemed to be perfectly intelligible to her companion, she +appreciated her friendly intentions, and confided wholly in her. + +No longer checked in her efforts, Oucanasta now directed her course +towards the wood, still holding the thong that remained attached to +Miss de Haldimar's waist, probably with a view to deceive any +individuals from the villages on whom they might chance to fall, into a +belief that the English girl was in reality her prisoner. No sooner, +however, had they entered the depths of the forest, when, instead of +following the path that led to Chabouiga, Oucanasta took a direction to +the left, and then moving nearly on a parallel line with the course of +the lake, continued her flight as rapidly as the rude nature of the +underwood, and the unpractised feet of her companion, would permit. +They had travelled in this manner for upwards of four hours, without +meeting a breathing thing, or even so much as exchanging a sound +between themselves, when, at length, the Indian stopped at the edge of +a deep cavern-like excavation in the earth, produced by the tearing up, +by the wild tempest, of an enormous pine. Into this she descended, and +presently reappeared with several blankets, and two light painted +paddles. Then unloosing the thong from the waist of the exhausted girl, +she proceeded to disguise her in one of the blankets in the manner +already shown, securing it over the head, throat, and shoulders with +the badge of captivity, now no longer necessary for her purpose. She +then struck off at right angles from the course they had previously +pursued; and in less than twenty minutes both stood on the lake shore, +apparently at a great distance from the point whence they had +originally set out. The Indian gazed for a moment anxiously before her; +and then, with an exclamation, evidently meant to convey a sense of +pleasure and satisfaction, pointed forward upon the lake. Miss de +Haldimar followed, with eager and aching eyes, the direction of her +finger, and beheld the well-known schooner evidently urging her flight +towards the entrance of the Sinclair. Oh, how her sick heart seemed +ready to burst at that moment! When she had last gazed upon it was from +the window of her favourite apartment; and even while she held her +beloved Clara clasped fondly in her almost maternal embrace, she had +dared to indulge the fairest images that ever sprung into being at the +creative call of woman's fancy. How bitter had been the reverse! and +what incidents to fill up the sad volume of the longest life of sorrow +and bereavement had not Heaven awarded her in lieu! In one short hour +the weight of a thousand worlds had fallen on and crushed her heart; +and when and how was the panacea to be obtained to restore one moment's +cessation from suffering to her agonised spirit? Alas! she felt at that +moment, that, although she should live a thousand years, the bitterness +and desolation of her grief must remain. From the vessel she turned her +eyes away upon the distant shore, which it was fast quitting, and +beheld a column of mingled flame and smoke towering far above the +horizon, and attesting the universal wreck of what had so long been +endeared to her as her home. And she had witnessed all this, and yet +had strength to survive it! + +The courage of the unhappy girl had hitherto been sustained by no +effort of volition of her own. From the moment when, discovering a +friend in Oucanasta, she had yielded herself unresistingly to the +guidance of that generous creature, her feelings had been characterised +by an obtuseness strongly in contrast with the high excitement that had +distinguished her previous manner. A dreamy recollection of some past +horror, it is true, pursued her during her rapid and speechless flight; +but any analysis of the causes conducing to that horror, her subjugated +faculties were unable to enter upon. Even as one who, under the +influence of incipient slumber, rejects the fantastic images that rise +successively and indistinctly to the slothful brain, until, at length, +they weaken, fade, and gradually die away, leaving nothing but a +formless and confused picture of the whole; so was it with Miss de +Haldimar. Had she been throughout alive to the keen recollections +associated with her flight, she could not have stirred a foot in +furtherance of her own safety, even if she would. The mere instinct of +self-preservation would never have won one so truly devoted to the +generous purpose of her deliverer, had not the temporary stupefaction +of her mind prevented all desire of opposition. It is true, in the +moment of her discovery of the sex of Oucanasta, she had been able to +exercise her reflecting powers; but they were only in connection with +the present, and wholly abstract and separate from the past. She had +followed her conductor almost without consciousness, and with such deep +absorption of spirit, that she neither once conjectured whither they +were going, nor what was to be the final issue of their flight. But +now, when she stood on the lake shore, suddenly awakened, as if by some +startling spell, to every harrowing recollection, and with her +attention assisted by objects long endeared, and rendered familiar to +her gaze--when she beheld the vessel that had last borne her across the +still bosom of the Huron, fleeing for ever from the fortress where her +arrival had been so joyously hailed--when she saw that fortress itself +presenting the hideous spectacle of a blackened mass of ruins fast +crumbling into nothingness--when, in short, she saw nothing but what +reminded her of the terrific past, the madness of reason returned, and +the desolation of her heart was complete. And then, again, when she +thought of her generous, her brave, her beloved, and too unfortunate +father, whom she had seen perish at her feet--when she thought of her +own gentle Clara, and the sufferings and brutalities to which, if she +yet lived, she must inevitably be exposed, and of the dreadful fate of +the garrison altogether, the most menial of whom was familiar to her +memory, brought up, as she had been, among them from her +childhood--when she dwelt on all these things, a faintness, as of +death, came over her, and she sank without life on the beach. Of what +passed afterwards she had no recollection. She neither knew how she had +got into the canoe, nor what means the Indian had taken to secure her +approach to the schooner. She had no consciousness of having been +removed to the bark of the Canadian, nor did she even remember having +risen and gazed through the foliage on the vessel at her side; but she +presumed, the chill air of morning having partially restored pulsation, +she had moved instinctively from her recumbent position to the spot in +which her spectre-like countenance had been perceived by Fuller. The +first moment of her returning reason was that when, standing on the +deck of the schooner, she found herself so unexpectedly clasped to the +heart of her lover. + +Twilight had entirely passed away when Miss de Haldimar completed her +sad narrative; and already the crew, roused to exertion by the swelling +breeze, were once more engaged in weighing the anchor, and setting and +trimming the sails of the schooner, which latter soon began to shoot +round the concealing headland into the opening of the Sinclair. A +deathlike silence prevailed throughout the decks of the little bark, as +her bows, dividing the waters of the basin that formed its source, +gradually immerged into the current of that deep but narrow river; so +narrow, indeed, that from its centre the least active of the mariners +might have leaped without difficulty to either shore. This was the most +critical part of the dangerous navigation. With a wide sea-board, and +full command of their helm, they had nothing to fear; but so limited +was the passage of this river, it was with difficulty the yards and +masts of the schooner could be kept disengaged from the projecting +boughs of the dense forest that lined the adjacent shores to their very +junction with the water. The darkness of the night, moreover, while it +promised to shield them from the observation of the savages, +contributed greatly to perplex their movements; for such was the +abruptness with which the river wound itself round in various +directions, that it required a man constantly on the alert at the bows +to apprise the helmsman of the course he should steer, to avoid +collision with the shores. Canopies of weaving branches met in various +directions far above their heads, and through these the schooner glided +with a silence that might have called up the idea of a Stygian freight. +Meanwhile, the men stood anxiously to their guns, concealing the +matches in their water-buckets as before; and, while they strained both +ear and eye through the surrounding; gloom to discover the slightest +evidence of danger, grasped the handles of their cutlasses with a firm +hand, ready to unsheathe them at the first intimation of alarm. + +At the suggestion of the boatswain, who hinted at the necessity of +having cleared decks, Captain de Haldimar had prevailed on his +unfortunate relatives to retire to the small cabin arranged for their +reception; and here they were attended by an aged female, who had long +followed the fortunes of the crew, and acted in the twofold character +of laundress and sempstress. He himself, with Sir Everard, continued on +deck watching the progress of the vessel with an anxiety that became +more intense at each succeeding hour. Hitherto their course had been +unimpeded, save by the obstacles already enumerated; and they had now, +at about an hour before dawn, gained a point that promised a speedy +termination to their dangers and perplexities. Before them lay a reach +in the river, enveloped in more than ordinary gloom, produced by the +continuous weaving of the tops of the overhanging trees; and in the +perspective, a gleam of relieving light, denoting the near vicinity of +the lake that lay at the opposite extremity of the Sinclair, whose name +it also bore. This was the narrowest part of the river; and so +approximate were its shores, that the vessel in her course could not +fail to come in contact both with the obtruding foliage of the forest +and the dense bullrushes skirting the edge of either bank. + +"If we get safe through this here place," said the boatswain, in a +rough whisper to his anxious and attentive auditors, "I think as how +I'll venture to answer for the craft. I can see daylight dancing upon +the lake already. Ten minutes more and she will be there." Then turning +to the man at the helm,--"Keep her in the centre of the stream, Jim. +Don't you see you're hugging the weather shore?" + +"It would take the devil himself to tell which is the centre," growled +the sailor, in the same suppressed tone. "One might steer with one's +eyes shut in such a queer place as this and never be no worser off than +with them open." + +"Steady her helm, steady," rejoined Mullins, "it's as dark as pitch, to +be sure, but the passage is straight as an arrow, and with a steady +helm you can't miss it. Make for the light ahead." + +"Abaft there!" hurriedly and loudly shouted the man on the look-out at +the bows, "there's a tree lying across the river, and we're just upon +it." + +While he yet spoke, and before the boatswain could give such +instructions as the emergency required, the vessel suddenly struck +against the obstacle in question; but the concussion was not of the +violent nature that might have been anticipated. The course of the +schooner, at no one period particularly rapid, had been considerably +checked since her entrance into the gloomy arch, in the centre of which +her present accident had occurred; so that it was without immediate +injury to her hull and spars she had been thus suddenly brought to. But +this was not the most alarming part of the affair. Captain de Haldimar +and Sir Everard both recollected, that, in making the same passage, not +forty-eight hours previously, they had encountered no obstacle of the +kind, and a misgiving of danger rose simultaneously to the hearts of +each. It was, however, a thing of too common occurrence in these +countries, where storm and tempest were so prevalent and partial, to +create more than a mere temporary alarm; for it was quite as probable +the barrier had been interposed by some fitful outburst of Nature, as +that it arose from design on the part of their enemies: and when the +vessel had continued stationary for some minutes, without the prepared +and expectant crew discovering the slightest indication of attack, the +former impression was preserved by the officers--at least avowedly to +those around. + +"Bear a hand, my lads, and cut away," at length ordered the boatswain, +in a low but clear tone; "half a dozen at each end of the stick, and we +shall soon clear a passage for the craft." + +A dozen sailors grasped their axes, and hastened forward to execute the +command. They sprang lightly from the entangled bows of the schooner, +and diverging in equal numbers moved to either extremity of the fallen +tree. + +"This is sailing through the heart of the American forest with a +vengeance," muttered Mullins, whose annoyance at their detention was +strongly manifested as he paced up and down the deck. "Shiver my +topsails, if it isn't bad enough to clear the Sinclair at any time, +much more so when one's running for one's life, and not a whisper's +length from one's enemies. Do you know, Captain," abruptly checking his +movement, and familiarly placing his hand on the shoulder of De +Haldimar, "the last time we sailed through this very reach I couldn't +help telling poor Captain Danvers, God rest his soul, what a nice spot +it was for an Ingian ambuscade, if they had only gumption enough to +think of it." + +"Hark!" said the officer, whose heart, eye, and ear were painfully on +the alert, "what rustling is that we hear overhead?" + +"It's Jack Fuller, no doubt, your honour; I sent him up to clear away +the branches from the main topmast rigging." Then raising his head, and +elevating his voice, "Hilloa! aloft there!" + +The only answer was a groan, followed by a deeper commotion among the +rustling foliage. + +"Why, what the devil's the matter with you now, Jack?" pursued the +boatswain, in a voice of angry vehemence. "Are ye scared at another +ghost, and be damned to you, that ye keep groaning there after that +fashion?" + +At that moment a heavy dull mass was heard tumbling through the upper +rigging of the schooner towards the deck, and presently a human form +fell at the very feet of the small group, composed of the two officers +and the individual who had last spoken. + +"A light, a light!" shouted the boatswain; "the foolish chap has lost +his hold through fear, and ten to one if he hasn't cracked his +skull-piece for his pains. Quick there with a light, and let's see what +we can do for him." + +The attention of all had been arrested by the sound of the falling +weight, and as one of the sailors now advanced, bearing a dark lantern +from below, the whole of the crew, with the exception of those employed +on the fallen tree, gathered themselves in a knot round the motionless +form of the prostrate man. But no sooner had their eyes encountered the +object of their interest, when each individual started suddenly and +involuntarily back, baring his cutlass, and drawing forth his pistol, +the whole presenting a group of countenances strongly marked by various +shades of consternation and alarm, even while their attitudes were +those of men prepared for some fierce and desperate danger. It was +indeed Fuller whom they had beheld, but not labouring, as the boatswain +had imagined, under the mere influence of superstitious fear. He was +dead, and the blood flowing from a deep wound, inflicted by a sharp +instrument in his chest, and the scalped head, too plainly told the +manner of his death, and the danger that awaited them all. + +A pause ensued, but it was short. Before any one could find words to +remark on the horrible circumstance, the appalling war-cry of the +savages burst loudly from every quarter upon the ears of the devoted +crew. In the desperation of the moment, several of the men clutched +their cutlasses between their teeth, and seizing the concealed matches, +rushed to their respective stations at the guns. It was in vain the +boatswain called out to them, in a voice of stern authority, to desist, +intimating that their only protection lay in the reservation of the +fire of their batteries. Goaded and excited, beyond the power of +resistance, to an impulse that set all subordination at defiance, they +applied the matches, and almost at the same instant the terrific +discharge of both broadsides took place, rocking the vessel to the +water's edge, and reverberating, throughout, the confined space in +which she lay, like the deadly explosion of some deeply excavated mine. + +Scarcely had the guns been fired, when the seamen became sensible of +their imprudence. The echoes were yet struggling to force a passage +through the dense forest, when a second yell of the Indians announced +the fiercest joy and triumph, unmixed by disaster, at the result; and +then the quick leaping of many forms could be heard, as they divided +the crashing underwood, and rushed forward to close with their prey. It +was evident, from the difference of sound, their first cry had been +pealed forth while lying prostrate on the ground, and secure from the +bullets, whose harmless discharge that cry was intended to provoke; for +now the voices seemed to rise progressively from the earth, until they +reached the level of each individual height, and were already almost +hotly breathing in the ears of those they were destined to fill with +illimitable dismay. + +"Shiver my topsails, but this comes of disobeying orders," roared the +boatswain, in a voice of mingled anger and vexation. "The Ingians are +quite as cunning as ourselves, and arn't to be frighted that way. +Quick, every cutlass and pistol to his gangway, and let's do our best. +Pass the word forward for the axemen to return to quarters." + +Recovered from their first paroxysm of alarm, the men at length became +sensible of the presence of a directing power, which, humble as it was, +their long habits of discipline had taught them to respect, and, headed +on the one side by Captain de Haldimar, and on the other by Sir Everard +Valletort, neither of whom, however, entertained the most remote chance +of success, flew, as commanded, to their respective gangways. The yell +of the Indians had again ceased, and all was hushed into stillness; but +as the anxious and quicksighted officers gazed over the bulwarks, they +fancied they could perceive, even through the deep gloom that every +where prevailed, the forms of men,--resting in cautious and eager +attitudes, on the very verge of the banks, and at a distance of little +more than half pistol shot. Every heart beat with expectancy,--every +eye was riveted intently in front, to watch and meet the first +movements of their foes, but not a sound of approach was audible to the +equally attentive ear. In this state of aching suspense they might have +continued about five minutes, when suddenly their hearts were made to +quail by a third cry, that came, not as previously, from the banks of +the river, but from the very centre of their own decks, and from the +top-mast and riggings of the schooner. So sudden and unexpected too was +this fresh danger, that before the two parties had time to turn, and +assume a new posture of defence, several of them had already fallen +under the butchering blades of their enemies. Then commenced a +desperate but short conflict, mingled with yellings, that again were +answered from every point; and rapidly gliding down the pendant ropes, +were to be seen the active and dusky forms of men, swelling the number +of the assailants, who had gained the deck in the same noiseless +manner, until resistance became almost hopeless. + +"Ha! I hear the footsteps of our lads at last," exclaimed Mullins +exultingly to his comrades, as he finished despatching a third savage +with his sturdy weapon. "Quick, men, quick, up with hatchet and +cutlass, and take them in the rear. If we are to die, let's die--" +game, he would perhaps have added, but death arrested the word upon his +lips; and his corpse rolled along the deck, until its further progress +was stopped by the stiffened body of the unhappy Fuller. + +Notwithstanding the fall of their brave leader, and the whoopings of +their enemies, the flagging spirits of the men were for a moment +excited by the announcement of the return even of the small force of +the axemen, and they defended themselves with a courage and +determination worthy of a better result; but when, by the lurid light +of the torches, now lying burning about the decks, they turned and +beheld not their companions, but a fresh band of Indians, at whose +pouch-belts dangled the reeking scalps of their murdered friends, they +at once relinquished the combat as hopeless, and gave themselves +unresistingly up to be bound by their captors. + +Meanwhile the cousins experienced a renewal of all those horrors from +which their distracted minds had been temporarily relieved; and, +petrified with alarm, as they lay in the solitary berth that contained +them both, endured sufferings infinitely more terrible than death +itself. The early part of the tumult they had noticed almost without +comprehending its cause, and but for the terrific cry of the Indians +that had preceded them, would have mistaken the deafening broadsides +for the blowing up of the vessel, so tremendous and violent bad been +the concussion. Nay, there was a moment when Miss de Haldimar felt a +pang of deep disappointment and regret at the misconception; for, with +the fearful recollection of past events, so strongly impressed on her +bleeding heart, she could not but acknowledge, that to be engulfed in +one general and disastrous explosion, was mercy compared with the +alternative of falling into the hands of those to whom her loathing +spirit bad been too fatally taught to deny even the commonest +attributes of humanity. As for Clara, she had not the power to think, +or to form a conjecture on the subject:--she was merely sensible of a +repetition of the horrible scenes from which she had so recently been +snatched, and with a pale cheek, a fixed eye, and an almost pulseless +heart, lay without motion in the inner side of the berth. The piteous +spectacle of her cousin's alarm lent a forced activity to the despair +of Miss de Haldimar, in whom apprehension produced that strong energy +of excitement that sometimes gives to helplessness the character of +true courage. With the increasing clamour of appalling conflict on +deck, this excitement grew at every moment stronger, until it finally +became irrepressible, so that at length, when through the cabin windows +there suddenly streamed a flood of yellow light, extinguishing that of +the lamp that threw its flickering beams around the cabin, she flung +herself impetuously from the berth, and, despite of the aged and +trembling female who attempted to detain her, burst open the narrow +entrance to the cabin, and rushed up the steps communicating with the +deck. + +The picture that here met her eyes was at once graphic and fearful in +the extreme. On either side of the river lines of streaming torches +were waved by dusky warriors high above their heads, reflecting the +grim countenances, not only of those who bore them, but of dense groups +in their rear, whose numbers were alone concealed by the foliage of the +forest in which they stood. From the branches that wove themselves +across the centre of the river, and the topmast and rigging of the +vessel, the same strong yellow light, produced by the bark of the birch +tree steeped in gum, streamed down upon the decks below, rendering each +line and block of the schooner as distinctly visible as if it had been +noon on the sunniest of those far distant lakes. The deck itself was +covered with the bodies of slain men--sailors, and savages mixed +together; and amid these were to be seen fierce warriors, reclining +triumphantly and indolently on their rifles, while others were occupied +in securing the arms of their captives with leathern thongs behind +their backs. The silence that now prevailed was strongly in contrast +with, and even more fearful than, the horrid shouts by which it had +been preceded; and, but for the ghastly countenances of the captives, +and the quick rolling eyes of the savages, Miss de Haldimar might have +imagined herself the sport of some extraordinary and exciting illusion. +Her glance over these prominent features in the tragedy had been +cursory, yet accurate. It now rested on one that had more immediate and +terrifying interest for herself. At a few paces in front of the +companion ladder, and with their backs turned towards her, stood two +individuals, whose attitudes denoted the purpose of men resolved to +sell with their lives alone a passage to a tall fierce-looking savage, +whose countenance betrayed every mark of triumphant and deadly passion, +while he apparently hesitated whether his uplifted arm should stay the +weapon it wielded. These individuals were Captain de Haldimar and Sir +Everard Valletort; and to the former of these the attention of the +savage was more immediately and exultingly directed; so much so, +indeed, that Miss de Haldimar thought she could read in the ferocious +expression of his features the death-warrant of her cousin. In the wild +terror of the moment she gave a piercing scream that was answered by a +hundred yelling voices, and rushing between her lover and his enemy, +threw herself wildly and supplicatingly at the feet of the latter. +Uttering a savage laugh, the monster spurned her from him with his +foot, when, quick as thought, a pistol was discharged within a few +inches of his face; but with a rapidity equal to that of his assailant, +he bent aside his head, and the ball passed harmlessly on. The yell +that followed was terrific; and while it was yet swelling into fulness, +Captain de Haldimar felt an iron hand furiously grappling his throat, +and, ere the grasp was relinquished, he again stood the bound and +passive victim of the warrior of the Fleur de lis. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The interval that succeeded to the last council-scene of the Indians +was passed by the officers of Detroit in a state of inexpressible +anxiety and doubt. The fears entertained for the fate of their +companions, who had set out in the perilous and almost forlorn hope of +reaching Michilimackinac, in time to prevent the consummation of the +threatened treachery, had, in some degree, if not wholly, been allayed +by the story narrated by the Ottawa chief. It was evident, from his +statement, the party had again met, and been engaged in fearful +struggle with the gigantic warrior they had all so much reason to +recollect; and it was equally apparent, that in that struggle they had +been successful. But still, so many obstacles were likely to be opposed +to their navigation of the several lakes and rivers over which lay +their course, it was almost feared, even if they eventually escaped +unharmed themselves, they could not possibly reach the fort in time to +communicate the danger that awaited their friends. It is true, the time +gained by Governor de Haldimar on the first occasion had afforded a +considerable interval, of which advantage might be taken; but it was +also, on the other hand, uncertain whether Ponteac had commanded the +same delay in the council of the chiefs investing Michilimackinac, to +which he had himself assented. Three days were sufficient to enable an +Indian warrior to perform the journey by land; and it was chiefly on +this vague and uncertain ground they based whatever little of hope was +entertained on the subject. + +It had been settled at the departure of the adventurers, that the +instant they effected a communication with the schooner on Lake Huron, +Francois should be immediately sent back, with instructions so to +contrive the period of his return, that his canoe should make its +appearance soon after daybreak at the nearest extremity of Hog Island, +the position of which has been described in our introductory chapter. +From this point a certain signal, that could be easily distinguished +with the aid of a telescope, was to be made from the canoe, which, +without being of a nature to attract the attention of the savages, was +yet to be such as could not well be mistaken by the garrison. This was +a precaution adopted, not only with the view of giving the earliest +intimation of the result of the enterprise, but lest the Canadian +should be prevented, by any closer investment on the part of the +Indians, from communicating personally with the fort in the way he had +been accustomed. + +It will easily be comprehended therefore, that, as the period +approached when they might reasonably look for the return of Francois, +if he should return at all, the nervous anxiety of the officers became +more and more developed. Upwards of a week had elapsed since the +departure of their friends; and already, for the last day or two, their +impatience had led them, at early dawn, and with beating hearts, to +that quarter of the rampart which overlooked the eastern extremity of +Hog Island. Hitherto, however, their eager watching had been in vain. +As far as our recollection of the Canadian tradition of this story +serves us, it must have been on the fourth night after the final +discomfiture of the plans of Ponteac, and the tenth from the departure +of the adventurers, that the officers were assembled in the mess-room, +partaking of the scanty and frugal supper to which their long +confinement had reduced them. The subject of their conversation, as it +was ever of their thoughts, was the probable fate of their companions; +and many and various, although all equally melancholy, were the +conjectures offered as to the result. There was on the countenance of +each, that deep and fixed expression of gloom, which, if it did not +indicate any unmanliness of despair, told at least that hope was nearly +extinct: but more especially was this remarkable in the young but sadly +altered Charles de Haldimar, who, with a vacant eye and a pre-occupied +manner, seemed wholly abstracted from the scene before him. + +All was silence in the body of the fort. The men off duty had long +since retired to rest in their clothes, and only the "All's well!" of +the sentinels was heard at intervals of a quarter of an hour, as the +cry echoed from mouth to mouth in the line of circuit. Suddenly, +however, between two of those intervals, and during a pause in the +languid conversation of the officers, the sharp challenge of a sentinel +was heard, and then quick steps on the rampart, as of men hastening to +the point whence the challenge had been given. The officers, whom this +new excitement seemed to arouse into fresh activity, hurriedly quitted +the room; and, with as little noise as possible, gained the spot where +the voice had been heard. Several men were bending eagerly over the +rampart, and, with their muskets at the recover, riveting their gaze on +a dark and motionless object that lay on the verge of the ditch +immediately beneath them. + +"What have you here, Mitchell?" asked Captain Blessington, who was in +command of the guard, and who had recognised the gruff voice of the +veteran in the challenge just given. + +"An American burnt log, your honour," muttered the soldier, "if one was +to judge from its stillness; but if it is, it must have rolled there +within the last minute; for I'll take my affidavy it wasn't here when I +passed last in my beat." + +"An American burnt log, indeed! it's some damned rascal of a spy, +rather," remarked Captain Erskine. "Who knows but it may be our big +friend, come to pay us a visit again? And yet he is not half long +enough for him, either. Can't you try and tickle him with the bayonet, +any of you fellows, and see whether he is made of flesh and blood?" + +Although this observation was made almost without object, it being +totally impossible for any musket, even with the addition of its +bayonet, to reach more than half way across the ditch, the several +sentinels threw themselves on their chests, and, stretching over the +rampart as far as possible, made the attempt to reach the suspicious +looking object that lay beyond. No sooner, however, had their arms been +extended in such a manner as to be utterly powerless, when the dark +mass was seen to roll away in an opposite direction, and with such +rapidity that, before the men could regain their feet and level their +muskets, it had entirely disappeared from their view. + +"Cleverly managed, to give the red skin his due," half laughingly +observed Captain Erskine, while his brother officers continued to fix +their eyes in astonishment on the spot so recently occupied by the +strange object; "but what the devil could be his motive for lying there +so long? Not playing the eaves-dropper, surely; and yet, if he meant to +have picked off a sentinel, what was to have prevented him from doing +it sooner?" + +"He had evidently no arms," said Ensign Delme. + +"No, nor legs either, it would appear," resumed the literal Erskine. +"Curse me if I ever saw any thing in the shape of a human form bundled +together in that manner." + +"I mean he had no fire-arms--no rifle," pursued Delme. + +"And if he had, he certainly would have rifled one of us of a life," +continued the captain, laughing at his own conceit. "But come, the bird +is flown, and we have only to thank ourselves for having been so +egregiously duped. Had Valletort been here, he would have given a +different account of him." + +"Hist! listen!" exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone, calling the attention +of the party to a peculiar and low sound in the direction in which the +supposed Indian had departed. + +It was repeated, and in a plaintive tone, indicating a desire to +propitiate. Soon afterwards a human form was seen advancing slowly, but +without show either of concealment or hostility in its movements. It +finally remained stationary on the spot where the dark and shapeless +mass had been first perceived. + +"Another Oucanasta for De Haldimar, no doubt," observed Captain +Erskine, after a moment's pause. "These grenadiers carry every thing +before them as well in love as in war." + +The error of the good-natured officer was, however, obvious to all but +himself. The figure, which was now distinctly traced in outline for +that of a warrior, stood boldly and fearlessly on the brink of the +ditch, holding up its left arm, in the hand of which dangled something +that was visible in the starlight, and pointing energetically to this +pendant object with the other. + +A voice from one of the party now addressed the Indian in two several +dialects, but without eliciting a reply. He either understood not, or +would not answer the question proposed, but continued pointing +significantly to the indistinct object which he still held forth in an +elevated position. + +"The governor must be apprised of this," observed Captain Blessington +to De Haldimar, who was his subaltern of the guard. "Hasten, Charles, +to acquaint your father, and receive his orders." + +The young officer willingly obeyed the injunction of his superior. A +secret and indefinable hope rushed through his mind, that as the Indian +came not in hostility, he might be the bearer of some communication +from their friends; and he moved rapidly towards that part of the +building occupied by his father. + +The light of a lamp suspended over the piazza leading to the governor's +rooms reflecting strongly on his regimentals, he passed unchallenged by +the sentinels posted there, and uninterruptedly gained a door that +opened on a narrow passage, at the further extremity of which was the +sitting-room usually occupied by his parent. This again was entered +from the same passage by a second door, the upper part of which was of +common glass, enabling any one on the outside to trace with facility +every object within when the place was lighted up. + +A glance was sufficient to satisfy the youth his father was not in the +room; although there was strong evidence he had not retired for the +night. In the middle of the floor stood an oaken table, and on this lay +an open writing desk, with a candle on each side, the wicks of which +had burnt so long as to throw a partial gloom over the surrounding +wainscotting. Scattered about the table and desk were a number of +letters that had apparently been just looked at or read; and in the +midst of these an open case of red morocco, containing a miniature. The +appearance of these letters, thus left scattered about by one who was +scrupulously exact in the arrangement of his papers, added to the +circumstance of the neglected and burning candles, confirmed the young +officer in an impression that his father, overcome by fatigue, had +retired into his bed-room, and fallen unconsciously asleep. Imagining, +therefore, he could not, without difficulty, succeed in making himself +heard, and deeming the urgency of the case required it, he determined +to wave the usual ceremony of knocking, and penetrate to his father's +bedroom unannounced. The glass door being without fastening within, +easily yielded to his pressure of the latch; but as he passed by the +table, a strong and natural feeling of curiosity induced him to cast +his eye upon the miniature. To his infinite surprise, nay, almost +terror, he discovered it was that of his mother--the identical portrait +which his sister Clara had worn in her bosom from infancy, and which he +had seen clasped round her neck on the very deck of the schooner in +which she sailed for Michilimackinac. He felt there could be no +mistake, for only one miniature of the sort had ever been in possession +of the family, and that the one just accounted for. Almost stupified at +what he saw, and scarcely crediting the evidence of his senses, the +young officer glanced his eye hurriedly along one of the open letters +that lay around. It was in the well remembered hand-writing of his +mother, and commenced, "Dear, dearest Reginald." After this followed +expressions of endearment no woman might address except to an affianced +lover, or the husband of her choice; and his heart sickened while he +read. Scarcely, however, had he scanned half a dozen lines, when it +occurred to him he was violating some secret of his parents; and, +discontinuing the perusal with an effort, he prepared to acquit himself +of his mission. + +On raising his eyes from the paper he was startled by the appearance of +his father, who, with a stern brow and a quivering lip, stood a few +paces from the table, apparently too much overcome by his indignation +to be able to utter a sentence. + +Charles de Haldimar felt all the awkwardness of his position. Some +explanation of his conduct, however, was necessary; and he stammered +forth the fact of the portrait having riveted his attention, from its +striking resemblance to that in his sister's possession. + +"And to what do these letters bear resemblance?" demanded the governor, +in a voice that trembled in its attempt to be calm, while he fixed his +penetrating eye on that of his son. "THEY, it appears, were equally +objects of attraction with you." + +"The letters were in the hand-writing of my mother; and I was +irresistibly led to glance at one of them," replied the youth, with the +humility of conscious wrong. "The action was involuntary, and no sooner +committed than repented of. I am here, my father, on a mission of +importance, which must account for my presence." + +"A mission of importance!" repeated the governor, with more of sorrow +than of anger in the tone in which he now spoke. "On what mission are +you here, if it be not to intrude unwarrantably on a parent's privacy?" + +The young officer's cheek flushed high, as he proudly answered:--"I was +sent by Captain Blessington, sir, to take your orders in regard to an +Indian who is now without the fort under somewhat extraordinary +circumstances, yet evidently without intention of hostility. It is +supposed he bears some message from my brother." + +The tone of candour and offended pride in which this formal +announcement of duty was made seemed to banish all suspicion from the +mind of the governor; and he remarked, in a voice that had more of the +kindness that had latterly distinguished his address to his son, "Was +this, then, Charles, the only motive for your abrupt intrusion at this +hour? Are you sure no inducement of private curiosity was mixed up with +the discharge of your duty, that you entered thus unannounced? You must +admit, at least, I found you employed in a manner different from what +the urgency of your mission would seem to justify." + +There was lurking irony in this speech; yet the softened accents of his +father, in some measure, disarmed the youth of the bitterness he would +have flung into his observation,--"That no man on earth, his parent +excepted, should have dared to insinuate such a doubt with impunity." + +For a moment Colonel de Haldimar seemed to regard his son with a +surprised but satisfied air, as if he had not expected the +manifestation of so much spirit, in one whom he had been accustomed +greatly to undervalue. + +"I believe you, Charles," he at length observed; "forgive the +justifiable doubt, and think no more of the subject. Yet, one word," as +the youth was preparing to depart; "you have read that letter" (and he +pointed to that which had principally arrested the attention of the +officer): "what impression has it given you of your mother? Answer me +sincerely. MY name," and his faint smile wore something of the +character of triumph, "is not REGINALD, you know." + +The pallid cheek of the young man flushed at this question. His own +undisguised impression was, that his mother had cherished a guilty love +for another than her husband. He felt the almost impiety of such a +belief, but he could not resist the conviction that forced itself on +his mind; the letter in her handwriting spoke for itself; and though +the idea was full of wretchedness, he was unable to conquer it. +Whatever his own inference might be, however, he could not endure the +thought of imparting it to his father; he, therefore, answered +evasively. + +"Doubtless my mother had some dear relative of the name, and to him was +this letter addressed; perhaps a brother, or an uncle. But I never +knew," he pursued, with a look of appeal to his father, "that a second +portrait of my mother existed. This is the very counterpart of Clara's." + +"It may be the same," remarked the governor, but in a tone of +indecision, that dented his faith in what he uttered. + +"Impossible, my father. I accompanied Clara, if you recollect, as far +as Lake Sinclair; and when I quitted the deck of the schooner to +return, I particularly remarked my sister wore her mother's portrait, +as usual, round her neck." + +"Well, no matter about the portrait," hurriedly rejoined the governor; +"yet, whatever your impression, Charles," and he spoke with a warmth +that was far from habitual to him, "dare not to sully the memory of +your mother by a doubt of her purity. An accident has given this letter +to your inspection, but breathe not its contents to a human creature; +above all, respect the being who gave you birth. Go, tell Captain +Blessington to detain the Indian; I will join you immediately." + +Strongly, yet confusedly, impressed with the singularity of the scene +altogether, and more particularly with his father's strange admonition, +the young officer quitted the room, and hastened to rejoin his +companions. On reaching the rampart he found that the Indian, during +his long absence, had departed; yet not without depositing, on the +outer edge of the ditch, the substance to which he had previously +directed their attention. At the moment of De Haldimar's approach, the +officers were bending over the rampart, and, with straining eyes, +endeavouring to make out what it was, but in vain; something was just +perceptible in the withered turf, but what that something was no one +could succeed in discovering. + +"Whatever this be, we must possess ourselves of it," said Captain +Blessington: "it is evident, from the energetic manner of him who left +it, it is of importance. I think I know who is the best swimmer and +climber of our party." + +Several voices unanimously pronounced the name of "Johnstone." + +"Any thing for a dash of enterprise," said that officer, whose slight +wound had been perfectly healed. "But what do you propose that the +swimmer and climber should do, Blessington?" + +"Secure yon parcel, without lowering the drawbridge." + +"What! and be scalped in the act? Who knows if it be not a trick after +all, and that the rascal who placed it there is not lying within a few +feet, ready to pounce upon me the instant I reach the bank." + +"Never mind," said Erskine, laughingly, "we will revenge your death, my +boy." + +"Besides, consider the nunquam non paratus, Johnstone," slily remarked +Lieutenant Leslie. + +"What, again, Leslie?" energetically responded the young Scotsman. "Yet +think not I hesitate, for I did but jest: make fast a rope round my +loins, and I think I will answer for the result." + +Colonel de Haldimar now made his appearance. Having heard a brief +statement of the facts, and approving of the suggestion of Captain +Blessington, a rope was procured, and made fast under the shoulders of +the young officer, who had previously stripped himself of his uniform +and shoes. He then suffered himself to drop gently over the edge of the +rampart, his companions gradually lowering the rope, until a deep and +gasping aspiration, such as is usually wrung from one coming suddenly +in contact with cold water, announced he had gained the surface of the +ditch. The rope was then slackened, to give him the unrestrained +command of his limbs; and in the next instant he was seen clambering up +the opposite elevation. + +Although the officers, indulging in a forced levity, in a great degree +meant to encourage their companion, had treated his enterprise with +indifference, they were far from being without serious anxiety for the +result. They had laughed at the idea, suggested by him, of being +scalped; whereas, in truth, they entertained the apprehension far more +powerfully than he did himself. The artifices resorted to by the +savages, to secure an isolated victim, were so many and so various, +that suspicion could not but attach to the mysterious occurrence they +had just witnessed. Willing even as they were to believe their present +visitor, whoever he was, came not in a spirit of enmity, they could not +altogether divest themselves of a fear that it was only a subtle +artifice to decoy one of them within the reach of their traitorous +weapons. They, therefore, watched the movements of their companion with +quickening pulses; and it was with a lively satisfaction they saw him, +at length, after a momentary search, descend once more into the ditch, +and, with a single powerful impulsion of his limbs, urge himself back +to the foot of the rampart. Neither feet nor hands were of much +service, in enabling him to scale the smooth and slanting logs that +composed the exterior surface of the works; but a slight jerk of the +well secured rope, serving as a signal to his friends, he was soon +dragged once more to the summit of the rampart, without other injury +than a couple of slight bruises. + +"Well, what success?" eagerly asked Leslie and Captain Erskine in the +same breath, as the dripping Johnstone buried himself in the folds of a +capacious cloak procured during his absence. + +"You shall hear," was the reply; "but first, gentlemen, allow me, if +you please, to enjoy, with yourselves, the luxury of dry clothes. I +have no particular ambition to contract an American ague fit just now; +yet, unless you take pity on me, and reserve my examination for a +future moment, there is every probability I shall not have a tooth left +by to-morrow morning." + +No one could deny the justice of the remark, for the teeth of the young +man were chattering as he spoke. It was not, therefore, until after he +had changed his dress, and swallowed a couple of glasses of Captain +Erskine's never failing spirit, that they all repaired once more to the +mess-room, when Johnstone anticipated all questions, by the production +of the mysterious packet. + +After removing several wrappers of bark, each of which was secured by a +thong of deerskin, Colonel de Haldimar, to whom the successful officer +had handed his prize, at length came to a small oval case of red +morocco, precisely similar, in size and form, to that which had so +recently attracted the notice of his son. For a moment he hesitated, +and his cheek was observed to turn pale, and his hand to tremble; but +quickly subduing his indecision, he hurriedly unfastened the clasp, and +disclosed to the astonished view of the officers the portrait of a +young and lovely woman, habited in the Highland garb. + +Exclamations of various kinds burst from the lips of the group of +officers. Several knew it to be the portrait of Mrs. de Haldimar; +others recognised it from the striking likeness it bore to Clara and to +Charles; all knew it had never been absent from the possession of the +former since her mother's death; and feeling satisfied as they did that +its extraordinary appearance among them, at the present moment, was an +announcement of some dreadful disaster, their countenances wore an +impress of dismay little inferior to that of the wretched Charles, who, +agonized beyond all attempt at description, had thrown himself into a +seat in the rear of the group, and sat like one bewildered, with his +head buried in his hands. + +"Gentlemen," at length observed Colonel de Haldimar, in a voice that +proved how vainly his natural emotion was sought to be subdued by his +pride, "this, I fear me, is an unwelcome token. It comes to announce to +a father the murder of his child; to us all, the destruction of our +last remaining friends and comrades." + +"God forbid!" solemnly aspirated Captain Blessington. After a pause of +a moment or two he pursued: "I know not why, sir; but my impression is, +the appearance of this portrait, which we all recognise for that worn +by Miss de Haldimar, bears another interpretation." + +Colonel de Haldimar shook his head.--"I have but too much reason to +believe," he observed, smiling in mournful bitterness, "it has been +conveyed to us not in mercy but in revenge." + +No one ventured to question why; for notwithstanding all were aware +that in the mysterious ravisher of the wife of Halloway Colonel de +Haldimar had a fierce and inexorable private enemy, no allusion had +ever been made by that officer himself to the subject. + +"Will you permit me to examine the portrait and envelopes, Colonel?" +resumed Captain Blessington: "I feel almost confident, although I +confess I have no other motive for it than what springs from a +recollection of the manner of the Indian, that the result will bear me +out in my belief the bearer came not in hostility but in friendship." + +"By my faith, I quite agree with Blessington," said Captain Erskine; +"for, in addition to the manner of the Indian, there is another +evidence in favour of his position. Was it merely intended in the light +in which you consider it, Colonel, the case or the miniature itself +might have been returned, but certainly not the metal in which it is +set. The savages are fully aware of the value of gold, and would not so +easily let it slip through their fingers." + +"And wherefore thus carefully wrapped up?" remarked Lieutenant +Johnstone, "unless it had been intended it should meet with no injury +on the way. I certainly think the portrait never would have been +conveyed, in its present perfect state, by an enemy." + +"The fellow seemed to feel, too, that he came in the character of one +whose intentions claimed all immunity from harm," remarked Captain +Wentworth. "He surely never would have stood so fearlessly on the brink +of the ditch, and within pistol shot, had he not been conscious of +rendering some service to those connected with us." + +To these several observations of his officers, Colonel de Haldimar +listened attentively; and although he made no reply, it was evident he +felt gratified at the eagerness with which each sought to remove the +horrible impression he had stated to have existed in his own mind. +Meanwhile, Captain Blessington had turned and examined the miniature in +fifty different ways, but without succeeding in discovering any thing +that could confirm him in his original impression. Vexed and +disappointed, he at length flung it from him on the table, and sinking +into a seat at the side of the unfortunate Charles, pressed the hand of +the youth in significant silence. + +Finding his worst fears now confirmed. Colonel de Haldimar, for the +first time, cast a glance towards his son, whose drooping head, and +sorrowing attitude, spoke volumes to his heart. For a moment his own +cheek blanched, and his eye was seen to glisten with the first tear +ever witnessed there by those around him. Subduing his emotion, +however, he drew up his person to its lordly height, as if that act +reminded him the commander was not to be lost in the father, and +quitting the room with a heavy brow and step, recommended to his +officers the repose of which they appeared to stand so much in need. +But not one was there who felt inclined to court the solitude of his +pillow. No sooner were the footsteps of the governor heard dying away +in the distance, when fresh lights were ordered, and several logs of +wood heaped on the slackening fire. Around this the officers now +grouped, and throwing themselves back in their chairs, assumed the +attitudes of men seeking to indulge rather in private reflection than +in personal converse. + +The grief of the wretched Charles de Haldimar, hitherto restrained by +the presence of his father, and encouraged by the touching evidences of +interest afforded him by the ever-considerate Blessington, now burst +forth audibly. No attempt was made by the latter officer to check the +emotion of his young friend. Knowing his passionate fondness for his +sister, he was not without fear that the sudden shock produced by the +appearance of her miniature might destroy his reason, even if it +affected not his life; and as the moment was now come when tears might +be shed without exciting invidious remark in the only individual who +was likely to make it, he sought to promote them as much as possible. +Too much occupied in their own mournful reflections to bestow more than +a passing notice on the weakness of their friend, the group round the +fireplace scarcely seemed to have regarded his emotion. + +This violent paroxysm past, De Haldimar breathed more freely; and, +after listening to several earnest observations of Captain Blessington, +who still held out the possibility of something favourable turning up, +on a re-examination of the portrait by daylight, he was so far composed +as to be able to attend to the summons of the sergeant of the guard, +who came to say the relief were ready, and waiting to be inspected +before they were finally marched off. Clasping the extended hand of his +captain between his own, with a pressure indicative of his deep +gratitude, De Haldimar now proceeded to the discharge of his duty; and +having caught up the portrait, which still lay on the table, and thrust +it into the breast of his uniform, he repaired hurriedly to rejoin his +guard, from which circumstances alone had induced his unusually long +absence. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +The remainder of that night was passed by the unhappy De Haldimar in a +state of indescribable wretchedness. After inspecting the relief, he +had thrown himself on his rude guard-bed; and, drawing his cloak over +his eyes, given full rein to the wanderings of his excited imagination. +It was in vain the faithful old Morrison, who never suffered his master +to mount a guard without finding some one with whom to exchange his +tour of duty, when he happened not to be in orders himself, repeatedly +essayed, as he sat stirring the embers of the fire, to enter into +conversation with him. The soul of the young officer was sick, past the +endurance even of that kind voice; and, more than once, he impetuously +bade him be silent, if he wished to continue where he was; or, if not, +to join his comrades in the next guard-room. A sigh was the only +respectful but pained answer to these sharp remonstrances; and De +Haldimar, all absorbed even as he was in his own grief, felt it deeply; +for he knew the old man loved him, and he could not bear the idea of +appearing to repay with slight the well-intentioned efforts of one whom +he had always looked upon more as a dependant on his family than as the +mere rude soldier. Still he could not summon courage to disclose the +true nature of his grief, which the other merely ascribed to general +causes and vague apprehensions of a yet unaccomplished evil. Morrison +had ever loved his sister with an affection in no way inferior to that +which he bore towards himself. He had also nursed her in childhood; and +his memory was ever faithful to trace, as his tongue was to dwell on, +those gentle and amiable qualities, which, strongly marked at an +earlier period of her existence, had only undergone change, inasmuch as +they had become matured and more forcibly developed in womanhood. +Often, latterly, had the grey-haired veteran been in the habit of +alluding to her; for he saw the subject was one that imparted a +mournful satisfaction to the youth; and, with a tact that years, more +than deep reading of the human heart, had given him, he ever made a +point of adverting to their re-union as an event admitting not of doubt. + +Hitherto the affectionate De Haldimar had loved to listen to these +sounds of comfort; for, although they carried no conviction to his +mind, impressed as he was with the terrible curse of Ellen Halloway, +and the consequent belief that his family were devoted to some fearful +doom, still they came soothingly and unctuously to his sick soul; and, +all deceptive even as he felt them to be, he found they created a hope +which, while certain to be dispelled by calm after-reflection, carried +a momentary solace to his afflicted spirit. But, now that he had every +evidence his adored sister was no more, and that the illusion of hope +was past for ever, to have heard her name even mentioned by one who, +ignorant of the fearful truth the events of that night had elucidated, +was still ready to renew a strain every chord of which had lost its +power of harmony, was repugnant beyond bearing to his heart. At one +moment he resolved briefly to acquaint the old man with the dreadful +fact, but unwillingness to give pain prevented him; and, moreover, he +felt the grief the communication would draw from the faithful servitor +of his family must be of so unchecked a nature as to render his own +sufferings even more poignant than they were. Neither had he +(independently of all other considerations) resolution enough to forego +the existence of hope in another, even although it had passed entirely +away from himself. It was for these reasons he had so harshly and (for +him) unkindly checked, the attempt of the old man at a conversation +which he, at every moment, felt would be made to turn on the ill-fated +Clara. + +Miserable as he felt his position to be, it was not without +satisfaction he again heard the voice of his sergeant summoning him to +the inspection of another relief. This duty performed, and anxious to +avoid the paining presence of his servant, he determined, instead of +returning to his guard-room, to consume the hour that remained before +day in pacing the ramparts. Leaving word with his subordinate, that, in +the event of his being required, he might be found without difficulty, +he ascended to that quarter of the works where the Indian had been +first seen who had so mysteriously conveyed the sad token he still +retained in his breast. It was on the same side with that particular +point whence we have already stated a full view of the bridge with its +surrounding scenery, together with the waters of the Detroit, where +they were intersected by Hog Island, were distinctly commanded. At +either of those points was stationed a sentinel, whose duty it was to +extend his beat between the boxes used now rather as lines of +demarcation than as places of temporary shelter, until each gained that +of his next comrade, when they again returned to their own, crossing +each other about half way: a system of precaution pursued by the whole +of the sentinels in the circuit of the rampart. + +The ostensible motive of the officer in ascending the works, was to +visit his several posts; but no sooner had he found himself between the +points alluded to, which happened to be the first in his course, than +he seemed to be riveted there by a species of fascination. Not that +there was any external influence to produce this effect, for the utmost +stillness reigned both within and around the fort; and, but for the +howling of some Indian wolf-dog in the distance, or the low and +monotonous beat of their drums in the death-dance, there was nought +that gave evidence of the existence of the dreadful enemy by whom they +were beset. But the whole being of the acutely suffering De Haldimar +was absorbed in recollections connected with the spot on which he +stood. At one extremity was the point whence he had witnessed the +dreadful tragedy of Halloway's death; at the other, that on which had +been deposited the but too unerring record of the partial realisation +of the horrors threatened at the termination of that tragedy; and +whenever he attempted to pass each of these boundaries, he felt as if +his limbs repugned the effort. + +In the sentinels, his appearance among them excited but little +surprise; for it was no uncommon thing for the officers of the guard to +spend the greatest part of the night in visiting, in turn, the several +more exposed points of the ramparts; and that it was now confined to +one particular part, seemed not even to attract their notice. It was, +therefore, almost wholly unremarked by his men, that the heart-stricken +De Haldimar paced his quick and uncertain walk with an imagination +filled with the most fearful forebodings, and with a heart throbbing +with the most painful excitement. Hitherto, since the discovery of the +contents of the packet, his mind had been so exclusively absorbed in +stupifying grief for his sister, that his perception seemed utterly +incapable of outstepping the limited sphere drawn around it; but now, +other remembrances, connected with the localities, forced themselves +upon his attention; and although, in all these, there was nothing that +was not equally calculated to carry dismay and sorrow to his heart, +still, in dividing his thoughts with the one supreme agony that bowed +him down, they were rather welcomed than discarded. His mind was as a +wheel, embracing grief within grief, multiplied to infinitude; and the +wider and more diffusive the circle, the less powerful was the +concentration of sickening heart and brain on that which was the more +immediate axis of the whole. + +Reminded, for the first time, as he pursued his measured but aimless +walk, by the fatal portrait which he more than once pressed with +feverish energy to his lips, of the singular discovery he had made that +night in the apartments of his father, he was naturally led, by a chain +of consecutive thought, into a review of the whole of the extraordinary +scene. The fact of the existence of a second likeness of his mother was +one that did not now fail to reawaken all the unqualified surprise he +had experienced at the first discovery. So far from having ever heard +his father make the slightest allusion to this memorial of his departed +mother, he perfectly recollected his repeatedly recommending to Clara +the safe custody of a treasure, which, if lost, could never be +replaced. What could be the motive for this mystery?--and why had he +sought to impress him with the belief it was the identical portrait +worn by his sister which had so unintentionally been exposed to his +view? Why, too, had he evinced so much anxiety to remove from his mind +all unfavourable impressions in regard to his mother? Why have been so +energetic in his caution not to suffer a taint of impurity to attach to +her memory? Why should he have supposed the possibility of such +impression, unless there had been sufficient cause for it? In what, +moreover, originated his triumphant expression of feature, when, on +that occasion, he reminded him that HIS name was not Reginald? Who, +then, was this Reginald? Then came the recollection of what had been +repeated to him of the parting scene between Halloway and his wife. In +addressing her ill-fated husband, she had named him Reginald. Could it +be possible this was the same being alluded to by his father? But no; +his youth forbade the supposition, being but two years older than his +brother Frederick; yet might he not, in some way or other, be connected +with the Reginald of the letter? Why, too, had his father shown such +unrelenting severity in the case of this unfortunate victim?--a +severity which had induced more than one remark from his officers, that +it looked as if he entertained some personal feeling of enmity towards +a man who had done so much for his family, and stood so high in the +esteem of all who knew him. + +Then came another thought. At the moment of his execution, Halloway had +deposited a packet in the hands of Captain Blessington;--could these +letters--could that portrait be the same? Certain it was, by whatever +means obtained, his father could not have had them long in his +possession; for it was improbable letters of so old a date should have +occupied his attention NOW, when many years had rolled over the memory +of his mother. And then, again, what was the meaning of the language +used by the implacable enemy of his father, that uncouth and ferocious +warrior of the Fleur de lis, not only on the occasion of the execution +of Halloway, but afterwards to his brother, during his short captivity; +and, subsequently, when, disguised as a black, he penetrated, with the +band of Ponteac, into the fort, and aimed his murderous weapon at his +father's head. What had made him the enemy of his family? and where and +how had originated his father's connection with so extraordinary and so +savage a being? Could he, in any way, be implicated with his mother? +But no; there was something revolting, monstrous, in the thought: +besides, had not his father stood forward the champion of her +innocence?--had he not declared, with an energy carrying conviction +with every word, that she was untainted by guilt? And would he have +done this, had he had reason to believe in the existence of a criminal +love for him who evidently was his mortal foe? Impossible. + +Such were the questions and solutions that crowded on and distracted +the mind of the unhappy De Haldimar, who, after all, could arrive at no +satisfactory conclusion. It was evident there was a secret,--yet, +whatever its nature, it was one likely to go down with his father to +the grave; for, however humiliating the reflection to a haughty parent, +compelled to vindicate the honour of a mother to her son, and in direct +opposition to evidence that scarcely bore a shadow of +misinterpretation, it was clear he had motives for consigning the +circumstance to oblivion, which far outweighed any necessity he felt of +adducing other proofs of her innocence than those which rested on his +own simple yet impressive assertion. + +In the midst of these bewildering doubts, De Haldimar heard some one +approaching in his rear, whose footsteps he distinguished from the +heavy pace of the sentinels. He turned, stopped, and was presently +joined by Captain Blessington. + +"Why, dearest Charles," almost querulously asked the kind officer, as +he passed his arm through that of his subaltern,--"why will you persist +in feeding this love of solitude? What possible result can it produce, +but an utter prostration of every moral and physical energy? Come, +come, summon a little fortitude; all may not yet be so hopeless as you +apprehend. For my own part, I feel convinced the day will dawn upon +some satisfactory solution of the mystery of that packet." + +"Blessington, my dear Blessington!"--and De Haldimar spoke with +mournful energy,--"you have known me from my boyhood, and, I believe, +have ever loved me; seek not, therefore, to draw me from the present +temper of my mind; deprive me not of an indulgence which, melancholy as +it is, now constitutes the sole satisfaction I take in existence." + +"By Heaven! Charles, I will not listen to such language. You absolutely +put my patience to the rack." + +"Nay, then, I will urge no more," pursued the young officer. "To +revert, therefore, to a different subject. Answer me one question with +sincerity. What were the contents of the packet you received from poor +Halloway previous to his execution? and in whose possession are they +now?" + +Pleased to find the attention of his young friend diverted for the +moment from his sister, Captain Blessington quickly rejoiced, he +believed the packet contained letters which Halloway had stated to him +were of a nature to throw some light on his family connections. He had, +however, transferred it, with the seal unbroken, as desired by the +unhappy man, to Colonel de Haldimar. + +An exclamation of surprise burst involuntarily from the lips of the +youth. "Has my father ever made any allusion to that packet since?" he +asked. + +"Never," returned Captain Blessington; "and, I confess, his failing to +do so has often excited my astonishment. But why do you ask?" + +De Haldimar energetically pressed the arm of his captain, while a heavy +sigh burst from his oppressed heart "This very night, Blessington, on +entering my father's apartment to apprise him of what was going on +here, I saw,--I can scarcely tell you what, but certainly enough to +convince me, from what you have now stated, Halloway was, in some +degree or other, connected with our family. Tell me," he anxiously +pursued, "was there a portrait enclosed with the letters?" + +"I cannot state with confidence, Charles," replied his friend; "but if +I might judge from the peculiar form and weight of the packet, I should +be inclined to say not. Have you seen the letters, then?" + +"I have seen certain letters which, I have reason to believe, are the +same," returned De Haldimar. "They were addressed to 'Reginald;' and +Halloway, I think you have told me, was so called by his unhappy wife." + +"There can be little doubt they are the same," said Captain +Blessington; "but what were their contents, and by whom written, that +you deem they prove a connection between the unhappy soldier and your +family?" + +De Haldimar felt the blood rise into his cheek, at this natural but +unexpected demand. "I am sure, Blessington," he replied, after a pause, +"you will not think me capable of unworthy mystery towards yourself but +the contents of these letters are sacred, inasmuch as they relate only +to circumstances connected with my father's family." + +"This is singular indeed," exclaimed Captain Blessington, in a tone +that marked his utter and unqualified astonishment at what had now been +disclosed to him; "but surely, Charles," he pursued, "if the packet +handed me by Halloway were the same you allude to, he would have caused +the transfer to have been made before the period chosen by him for that +purpose." + +"But the name," pursued De Haldimar; "how are we to separate the +identity of the packets, when we recur to that name of 'Reginald?'" + +"True," rejoined the musing Blessington; "there is a mystery in this +that baffles all my powers of penetration. Were I in possession of the +contents of the letters, I might find some clue to solve the enigma: +but--" + +"You surely do not mean this as a reproach, Blessington?" fervently +interrupted the youth. "More I dare not, cannot say, for the secret is +not my own; and feelings, which it would be dishonour to outrage, alone +bind me to silence. What little I have revealed to you even now, has +been uttered in confidence. I hope you have so understood it." + +"Perfectly, Charles. What you have stated, goes no further; but we have +been too long absent from our guard, and I confess I have no particular +fancy for remaining in this chill night-air. Let us return." + +De Haldimar made no opposition, and they both prepared to quit the +rampart. As they passed the sentinel stationed at that point where the +Indian had been first seen, their attention was directed by him to a +fire that now suddenly rose, apparently at a great distance, and +rapidly increased in volume. The singularity of this occurrence riveted +the officers for a moment in silent observation; until Captain +Blessington at length ventured a remark, that, judging from the +direction, and the deceptive nature of the element at night, he should +incline to think it was the hut of the Canadian burning. + +"Which is another additional proof, were any such wanting, that every +thing is lost," mournfully urged the ever apprehensive De Haldimar. +"Francois has been detected in rendering aid to our friends; and the +Indians, in all probability, after having immolated their victim, are +sacrificing his property to their rage." + +During this exchange of opinions, the officers had again moved to the +opposite point of the limited walk of the younger. Scarcely had they +reached it, and before Captain Blessington could find time to reply to +the fears of his friend, when a loud and distant booming like that of a +cannon was heard in the direction of the fire. The alarm was given +hastily by the sentinels, and sounds of preparation and arming were +audible in the course of a minute or two every where throughout the +fort. Startled by the report, which they had half inclined to imagine +produced by the discharge of one of their own guns, the half slumbering +officers had quitted the chairs in which they had passed the night in +the mess-room, and were soon at the side of their more watchful +companions, then anxiously listening for a repetition of the sound. + +The day was just beginning to dawn, and as the atmosphere cleared +gradually away, it was perceived the fire rose not from the hut of the +Canadian, but at a point considerably beyond it. Unusual as it was to +see a large fire of this description, its appearance became an object +of minor consideration, since it might be attributed to some caprice or +desire on the part of the Indians to excite apprehension in their +enemies. But how was the report which had reached their ears to be +accounted for? It evidently could only have been produced by the +discharge of a cannon; and if so, where could the Indians have procured +it? No such arm had recently been in their possession; and if it were, +they were totally unacquainted with the manner of serving it. + +As the day became more developed, the mystery was resolved. Every +telescope in the fort had been called into requisition; and as they +were now levelled in the direction of the fire, sweeping the line of +horizon around, exclamations of surprise escaped the lips of several. + +"The fire is at the near extremity of the wood on Hog Island," +exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone. "I can distinctly see the forms of a +multitude of savages dancing round it with hideous gestures and +menacing attitudes." + +"They are dancing their infernal war dance," said Captain Wentworth. +"How I should like to be able to discharge a twenty-four pound battery, +loaded with grape, into the very heart of the devilish throng." + +"Do you see any prisoners?--Are any of our friends among them?" eagerly +and tremblingly enquired De Haldimar of the officer who had last spoken. + +Captain Wentworth made a sweep of his glass along the shores of the +island; but apparently without success. He announced that he could +discover nothing but a vast number of bark canoes lying dry and +upturned on the beach. + +"It is an unusual hour for their war dance," observed Captain +Blessington. "My experience furnishes me with no one instance in which +it has not been danced previous to their retiring to rest." + +"Unless," said Lieutenant Boyce, "they should have been thus engaged +all night; in which case the singularity may be explained." + +"Look, look," eagerly remarked Lieutenant Johnstone--"see how they are +flying to their canoes, bounding and leaping like so many devils broke +loose from their chains. The fire is nearly deserted already." + +"The schooner--the schooner!" shouted Captain Erskine. "By Heaven, our +own gallant schooner! see how beautifully she drives past the island. +It was her gun we heard, intended as a signal to prepare us for her +appearance." + +A thrill of wild and indescribable emotion passed through every heart. +Every eye was turned upon the point to which attention was now +directed. The graceful vessel, with every stitch of canvass set, was +shooting rapidly past the low bushes skirting the sands that still +concealed her hull; and in a moment or two she loomed largely and +proudly on the bosom of the Detroit, the surface of which was slightly +curled with a north-western breeze. + +"Safe, by Jupiter!" exclaimed the delighted Erskine, dropping the glass +upon the rampart, and rubbing his hands together with every +manifestation of joy. + +"The Indians are in chase," said Lieutenant Boyce; "upwards of fifty +canoes are following in the schooner's wake. But Danvers will soon give +us an account of their Lilliputian fleet." + +"Let the troops be held in readiness for a sortie, Mr. Lawson," said +the governor, who had joined his officers just as the schooner cleared +the island; "we must cover their landing, or, with this host of savages +in pursuit, they will never effect it alive." + +During the whole of this brief but exciting scene, the heart of Charles +de Haldimar beat audibly. A thousand hopes and fears rushed confusedly +on his mind, and he was as one bewildered by, and scarcely crediting +what he saw. Could Clara,--could his cousin--could his brother--could +his friend be on board? He scarcely dared to ask himself these +questions; still it was with a fluttering heart, in which hope, +however, predominated, that he hastened to execute an order of his +captain, that bore immediate reference to his duty as subaltern of the +guard. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Meanwhile the schooner dashed rapidly along, her hull occasionally hid +from the view of those assembled on the ramparts by some intervening +orchard or cluster of houses, but her tall spars glittering in their +covering of white canvass, and marking the direction of her course. At +length she came to a point in the river that offered no other +interruption to the eye than what arose from the presence of almost all +the inhabitants of the village, who, urged by curiosity and surprise, +were to be seen crowding the intervening bank. Here the schooner was +suddenly put about, and the English colours, hitherto concealed by the +folds of the canvass, were at length discovered proudly floating in the +breeze. + +Immediately over the gateway of the fort there was an elevated +platform, approached by the rampart, of which it formed a part, by some +half dozen rude steps on either side; and on this platform was placed a +long eighteen pounder, that commanded the whole extent of road leading +from the drawbridge to the river. Hither the officers had all repaired, +while the schooner was in the act of passing the town; and now that, +suddenly brought up in the wind's eye, she rode leisurely in the +offing, every movement on her decks was plainly discernible with the +telescope. + +"Where the devil can Danvers have hid all his crew?" first spoke +Captain Erskine; "I count but half a dozen hands altogether on deck, +and these are barely sufficient to work her." + +"Lying concealed, and ready, no doubt, to give the canoes a warm +reception," observed Lieutenant Johnstone; "but where can our friends +be? Surely, if there, they would show themselves to us." + +There was truth in this remark; and each felt discouraged and +disappointed that they did not appear. + +"There come the whooping hell fiends," said Major Blackwater. "By +Heaven! the very water is darkened with the shadows of their canoes." + +Scarcely had he spoken, when the vessel was suddenly surrounded by a +multitude of savages, whose fierce shouts rent the air, while their +dripping paddles, gleaming like silver in the rays of the rising sun, +were alternately waved aloft in triumph, and then plunged into the +troubled element, which they spurned in fury from their blades. + +"What can Danvers be about? Why does he not either open his fire, or +crowd sail and away from them?" exclaimed several voices. + +"The detachment is in readiness, sir," said Mr. Lawson, ascending the +platform, and addressing Major Blackwater. + +"The deck, the deck!" shouted Erskine. + +Already the eyes of several were bent in the direction alluded to by +the last speaker, while those whose attention had been diverted by the +approaching canoes glanced rapidly to the same point. To the surprise +and consternation of all, the tall and well-remembered form of the +warrior of the Fleur de lis was seen towering far above the bulwarks of +the schooner; and with an expression in the attitude he had assumed, +which no one could mistake for other than that of triumphant defiance. +Presently he drew from the bosom of his hunting coat a dark parcel, and +springing into the rigging of the main-mast, ascended with incredible +activity to the point where the English ensign was faintly floating in +the breeze. This he tore furiously away, and rending it into many +pieces, cast the fragments into the silver element beneath him, on +whose bosom they were seen to float among the canoes of the savages, +many of whom possessed themselves, with eagerness, of the gaudy +coloured trophies. The dark parcel was now unfolded by the active +warrior, who, after having waved it several times round his head, +commenced attaching it to the lines whence the English ensign had so +recently been torn. It was a large black flag, the purport of which was +too readily comprehended by the excited officers. + +"D--n the ruffian! can we not manage to make that, flag serve as his +own winding sheet?" exclaimed Captain Erskine. "Come, Wentworth, give +us a second edition of the sortie firing; I know no man who understands +pointing a gun better than yourself, and this eighteen pounder might do +some mischief." + +The idea was instantly caught at by the officer of artillery, who read +his consent in the eye of Colonel de Haldimar. His companions made way +on either side; and several gunners, who were already at their +stations, having advanced to work the piece at the command of their +captain, it was speedily brought to bear upon the schooner. + +"This will do, I think," said Wentworth, as, glancing his experienced +eye carefully along the gun, he found it pointed immediately on the +gigantic frame of the warrior. "If this chain-shot miss him, it will be +through no fault of mine." + +Every eye was now riveted on the main-mast of the schooner, where the +warrior was still engaged in attaching the portentous flag. The gunner, +who held the match, obeyed the silent signal of his captain; and the +massive iron was heard rushing past the officers, bound on its +murderous mission. A moment or two of intense anxiety elapsed; and when +at length the rolling volumes of smoke gradually floated away, to the +dismay and disappointment of all, the fierce warrior was seen standing +apparently unharmed on the same spot in the rigging. The shot had, +however, been well aimed, for a large rent in the outstretched canvass, +close at his side, and about mid-height of his person, marked the +direction it had taken. Again he tore away, and triumphantly waved the +black flag around his head, while from his capacious lungs there burst +yells of defiance and scorn, that could be distinguished for his own +even at that distance. This done, he again secured the death symbol to +its place; and gliding to the deck by a single rope, appeared to give +orders to the few men of the crew who were to be seen; for every stitch +of canvass was again made to fill, and the vessel, bounding forward +before the breeze then blowing upon her quarter, shot rapidly behind +the town, and was finally seen to cast anchor in the navigable channel +that divides Hog Island from the shores of Canada. + +At the discharge of the eighteen pounder, the river had been suddenly +cleared, as if by magic, of every canoe; while, warned by the same +danger, the groups of inhabitants, assembled on the bank, had rushed +for shelter to their respective homes; so that, when the schooner +disappeared, not a vestige of human life was to be seen along that +vista so recently peopled with human forms. An order from Colonel de +Haldimar to the adjutant, countermanding the sortie, was the first +interruption to the silence that had continued to pervade the little +band of officers; and two or three of these having hastened to the +western front of the rampart, in order to obtain a more distinct view +of the movements of the schooner, their example was speedily followed +by the remainder, all of whom now quitted the platform, and repaired to +the same point. + +Here, with the aid of their telescopes, they again distinctly commanded +a view of the vessel, which lay motionless close under the sandy beach +of the island, and exhibiting all the technicalities of skill in the +disposition of sails and yards peculiar to the profession. In vain, +however, was every eye strained to discover, among the multitude of +savages that kept momentarily leaping to her deck, the forms of those +in whom they were most interested. A group of some half dozen men, +apparently common sailors, and those, in all probability, whose +services had been compelled in the working of the vessel, were the only +evidences that civilised man formed a portion of that grotesque +assemblage. These, with their arms evidently bound behind their backs, +and placed on one of the gangways, were only visible at intervals, as +the band of savages that surrounded them, brandishing their tomahawks +around their heads, occasionally left an opening in their circle. The +formidable warrior of the Fleur de lis was no longer to be seen, +although the flag which he had hoisted still fluttered in the breeze. + +"All is lost, then," ejaculated the governor, with a mournfulness of +voice and manner that caused many of his officers to turn and regard +him with surprise. "That black flag announces the triumph of my foe in +the too certain destruction of my children. Now, indeed," he concluded +in a lower tone, "for the first time, does the curse of Ellen Halloway +sit heavily on my soul." + +A deep sigh burst from one immediately behind him. The governor turned +suddenly round, and beheld his son. Never did human countenance wear a +character of more poignant misery than that of the unhappy Charles at +the moment. Attracted by the report of the cannon, he had flown to the +rampart to ascertain the cause, and had reached his companions only to +learn the strong hope so recently kindled in his breast was fled for +ever. His cheek, over which hung his neglected hair, was now pale as +marble, and his lips bloodless and parted; yet, notwithstanding this +intensity of personal sorrow, a tear had started to his eye, apparently +wrung from him by this unusual expression of dismay in his father. + +"Charles--my son--my only now remaining child," murmured the governor +with emotion, as he remarked, and started at the death-like image of +the youth; "look not thus, or you will utterly unman me." + +A sudden and involuntary impulse caused him to extend his arms. The +young officer sprang forward into the proffered embrace, and sank his +head upon the cheek of his father. It was the first time he had enjoyed +that privilege since his childhood; and even overwhelmed as he was by +his affliction, he felt it deeply. + +This short but touching scene was witnessed by their companions, +without levity in any, and with emotion by several. None felt more +gratified at this demonstration of parental affection for the sensitive +boy, than Blessington and Erskine. + +"I cannot yet persuade myself," observed the former officer, as the +colonel again assumed that dignity of demeanour which had been +momentarily lost sight of in the ebullition of his feelings,--"I cannot +yet persuade myself things are altogether so bad as they appear. It is +true the schooner is in the possession of the enemy, but there is +nothing to prove our friends are on board." + +"If you had reason to know HIM into whose hands she has fallen, as I +do, you would think differently, Captain Blessington," returned the +governor. "That mysterious being," he pursued, after a short pause, +"would never have made this parade of his conquest, had it related +merely to a few lives, which to him are of utter insignificance. The +very substitution of yon black flag, in his insolent triumph, was the +pledge of redemption of a threat breathed in my ear within this very +fort: on what occasion I need not state, since the events connected +with that unhappy night are still fresh in the recollections of us all. +That he is my personal enemy, gentlemen, it would be vain to disguise +from you; although who he is, or of what nature his enmity, it imports +not now to enter upon Suffice it, I have little doubt my children are +in his power; but whether the black flag indicates they are no more, or +that the tragedy is only in preparation, I confess I am at a loss to +understand." + +Deeply affected by the evident despondency that had dictated these +unusual admissions on the part of their chief, the officers were +forward to combat the inferences he had drawn: several coinciding in +the opinion now expressed by Captain Wentworth, that the fact of the +schooner having fallen into the hands of the savages by no means +implied the capture of the fort whence she came; since it was not at +all unlikely she had been chased during a calm by the numerous canoes +into the Sinclair, where, owing to the extreme narrowness of the river, +she had fallen an easy prey. + +"Moreover," observed Captain Blessington, "it is highly improbable the +ferocious warrior could have succeeded in capturing any others than the +unfortunate crew of the schooner; for had this been the case, he would +not have lost the opportunity of crowning his triumph by exhibiting his +victims to our view in some conspicuous part of the vessel." + +"This, I grant you," rejoined the governor, "to be one solitary +circumstance in our favour; but may it not, after all, merely prove +that our worst apprehensions are already realised?" + +"He is not one, methinks, since vengeance seems his aim, to exercise it +in so summary, and therefore merciful, a manner. Depend upon it, +colonel, had any of those in whom we are more immediately interested, +fallen into his hands, he would not have failed to insult and agonize +us by an exhibition of his prisoners." + +"You are right, Blessington," exclaimed Charles de Haldimar, in a voice +that his choking feelings rendered almost sepulchral; "he is not one to +exercise his vengeance in a summary, and merciful manner. The deed is +yet unaccomplished, for even now the curse of Ellen Halloway rings +again in my ear, and tells me the atoning blood must be spilt on the +grave of her husband." + +The peculiar tone in which these words were uttered, caused every one +present to turn and regard the speaker, for they recalled the prophetic +language of the unhappy woman. There was now a wildness of expression +in his handsome features, marking the mind utterly dead to hope, yet +struggling to work itself up to passive endurance of the worst. Colonel +de Haldimar sighed painfully, as he bent his eye half reproachfully on +the dull and attenuated features of his son; and although he spoke not, +his look betrayed the anguish that allusion had called up to his heart. + +"Forgive me, my father," exclaimed the youth, grasping a hand that was +reluctantly extended. "I meant it not in unkindness; but indeed I have +ever had the conviction strongly impressed on my spirit. I know I +appear weak, childish, unsoldierlike; yet can it be wondered at, when I +have been so often latterly deceived by false hopes, that now my heart +has room for no other tenant than despair. I am very wretched," he +pursued, with affecting despondency; "in the presence of my companions +do I admit it, but they all know how I loved my sister. Can they then +feel surprise, that having lost not only her, but my brother and my +friend, I should be the miserable thing I am." + +Colonel de Haldimar turned away, much affected; and throwing his back +against the sentry box near him, passed his hand over his eyes, and +remained for a few moments motionless. + +"Charles, Charles, is this your promise to me?" whispered Captain +Blessington, as he approached and took the hand of his unhappy friend. +"Is this the self-command you pledged yourself to exercise? For +Heaven's sake, agitate not your father thus, by the indulgence of a +grief that can have no other tendency than to render him equally +wretched. Be advised by me, and quit the rampart. Return to your guard, +and endeavour to compose yourself." + +"Ha! what new movement is that on the part of the savages?" exclaimed +Captain Erskine, who had kept his glass to his eye mechanically, and +chiefly with a view of hiding the emotion produced in him by the almost +infantine despair of the younger De Haldimar: "surely it is--yet, no, +it cannot be--yes, see how they are dragging several prisoners from the +wood to the beach. I can distinctly see a man in a blanket coat, and +two others considerably taller, and apparently sailors. But look, +behind them are two females in European dress. Almighty Heaven! there +can be no doubt." + +A painful pause ensued. Every other glass and eye was levelled in the +same direction; and, even as Erskine had described it, a party of +Indians were seen, by those who had the telescopes, conducting five +prisoners towards a canoe that lay in the channel communicating from +the island with the main land on the Detroit shore. Into the bottom of +these they were presently huddled, so that only their heads and +shoulders were visible above the gunwale of the frail bark. Presently a +tall warrior was seen bounding from the wood towards the beach. The +crowd of gesticulating Indians made way, and the warrior was seen to +stoop and apply his shoulder to the canoe, one half of which was high +and dry upon the sands. The heavily laden vessel obeyed the impetus +with a rapidity that proved the muscular power of him who gave it. Like +some wild animal, instinct with life, it lashed the foaming waters from +its bows, and left a deep and gurgling furrow where it passed. As it +quitted the shore, the warrior sprang lightly in, taking his station at +the stern; and while his tall and remarkable figure bent nimbly to the +movement, he dashed his paddle from right to left alternately in the +stream, with a quickness that rendered it almost invisible to the eye. +Presently the canoe disappeared round an intervening headland, and the +officers lost sight of it altogether. + +"The portrait, Charles; what have you done with the portrait?" +exclaimed Captain Blessington, actuated by a sudden recollection, and +with a trepidation in his voice and manner that spoke volumes of +despair to the younger De Haldimar. "This is our only hope of solving +the mystery. Quick, give me the portrait, if you have it." + +The young officer hurriedly tore the miniature from the breast of his +uniform, and pitched it through the interval that separated him from +his captain, who stood a few feet off; but with so uncertain and +trembling an aim, it missed the hand extended to secure it, and fell +upon the very stone the youth had formerly pointed out to Blessington, +as marking the particular spot on which he stood during the execution +of Halloway. The violence of the fall separated the back of the frame +from the picture itself, when suddenly a piece of white and crumpled +paper, apparently part of the back of a letter, yet cut to the size and +shape of the miniature, was exhibited to the view of all. + +"Ha!" resumed the gratified Blessington, as he stooped to possess +himself of the prize; "I knew the miniature would be found to contain +some intelligence from our friends. It is only this moment it occurred +to me to take it to pieces, but accident has anticipated my purpose. +May the omen prove a good one! But what have we here?" + +With some difficulty, the anxious officer now succeeded in making out +the characters, which, in default of pen or pencil, had been formed by +the pricking of a fine pin on the paper. The broken sentences, on which +the whole of the group now hung with greedy ear, ran nearly as +follows:--"All is lost. Michilimackinac is taken. We are prisoners, and +doomed to die within eight and forty hours. Alas! Clara and Madeline +are of our number. Still there is a hope, if my father deem it prudent +to incur the risk. A surprise, well managed, may do much; but it must +be tomorrow night; forty-eight hours more, and it will be of no avail. +He who will deliver this is our friend, and the enemy of my father's +enemy. He will be in the same spot at the same hour to-morrow night, +and will conduct the detachment to wherever we may chance to be. If you +fail in your enterprise, receive our last prayers for a less disastrous +fate. God bless you all!" + +The blood ran coldly through every vein during the perusal of these +important sentences, but not one word of comment was offered by an +individual of the group. No explanation was necessary. The captives in +the canoe, the tall warrior in its stern, all sufficiently betrayed the +horrible truth. + +Colonel de Haldimar at length turned an enquiring look at his two +captains, and then addressing the adjutant, asked-- + +"What companies are off duty to-day, Mr. Lawson?" + +"Mine," said Blessington, with an energy that denoted how deeply +rejoiced he felt at the fact, and without giving the adjutant time to +reply. + +"And mine," impetuously added Captain Erskine; "and, by G--! I will +answer for them; they never embarked on a duty of the sort with greater +zeal than they will on this occasion." + +"Gentlemen, I thank you," said Colonel de Haldimar, with deep emotion, +as he stepped forward and grasped in turn the hands of the +generous-hearted officers. "To Heaven, and to your exertions, do I +commit my children." + +"Any artillery, colonel?" enquired the officer of that corps. + +"No, Wentworth, no artillery. Whatever remains to be done, must be +achieved by the bayonet alone, and under favour of the darkness. +Gentlemen, again I thank you for this generous interest in my +children--this forwardness in an enterprise on which depend the lives +of so many dear friends. I am not one given to express warm emotion, +but I do, indeed, appreciate this conduct deeply." He then moved away, +desiring Mr. Lawson, as he quitted the rampart, to cause the men for +this service to be got in instant readiness. + +Following the example of their colonel, Captains Blessington and +Erskine quitted the rampart also, hastening to satisfy themselves by +personal inspection of the efficiency in all respects of their several +companies; and in a few minutes, the only individual to be seen in that +quarter of the works was the sentinel, who had been a silent and pained +witness of all that had passed among his officers. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Doubtless, many of our readers are prepared to expect that the doom of +the unfortunate Frank Halloway was, as an officer of his regiment had +already hinted, the fruit of some personal pique and concealed motive +of vengeance; and that the denouement of our melancholy story will +afford evidence of the governor's knowledge of the true character of +him, who, under an assumed name, excited such general interest at his +trial and death, not only among his military superiors, but those with +whom his adverse destiny had more immediately associated him. It has +already been urged to us, by one or two of our critical friends to whom +we have submitted what has been thus far written in our tale, that, to +explain satisfactorily and consistently the extreme severity of the +governor, some secret and personally influencing motive must be +assigned; but to these we have intimated, what we now repeat,--namely, +that we hope to bear out our story, by natural explanation and simple +deduction. Who Frank Halloway really was, or what the connection +existing between him and the mysterious enemy of the family of De +Haldimar, the sequel of our narrative will show; but whatever its +nature, and however well founded the apprehension of the governor of +the formidable being hitherto known as the warrior of the Fleur de lis, +and however strong his conviction that the devoted Halloway and his +enemy were in secret correspondence, certain it is, that, to the very +hour of the death of the former, he knew him as no other than the +simple private soldier. + +To have ascribed to Colonel de Haldimar motives that would have induced +his eagerly seeking the condemnation of an innocent man, either to +gratify a thirst of vengeance, or to secure immunity against personal +danger, would have been to have painted him, not only as a villain, but +a coward. Colonel de Haldimar was neither; but, on the contrary, what +is understood in worldly parlance and the generally received +acceptation of the terms, a man of strict integrity and honour, as well +as of the most undisputed courage. Still, he was a severe and a haughty +man,--one whose military education had been based on the principles of +the old school--and to whom the command of a regiment afforded a field +for the exercise of an orthodox despotism, that could not be passed +over without the immolation of many a victim on its rugged surface. +Without ever having possessed any thing like acute feeling, his heart, +as nature had formed it, was moulded to receive the ordinary +impressions of humanity; and had he been doomed to move in the sphere +of private life, if he had not been distinguished by any remarkable +sensibilities, he would not, in all probability, have been conspicuous +for any extraordinary cruelties. Sent into the army, however, at an +early age, and with a blood not remarkable for its mercurial aptitudes, +he had calmly and deliberately imbibed all the starched theories and +standard prejudices which a mind by no means naturally gifted was but +too well predisposed to receive; and he was among the number of those +(many of whom are indigenous to our soil even at the present day) who +look down from a rank obtained, upon that which has been just quitted, +with a contempt, and coldness, and consciousness of elevation, +commensurate only with the respect paid to those still above them, and +which it belongs only to the little-minded to indulge in. + +As a subaltern, M. de Haldimar had ever been considered a pattern of +rigid propriety and decorum of conduct. Not the shadow of military +crime had ever been laid to his charge. He was punctual at all parades +and drills; kept the company to which he was attached in a perfect hot +water of discipline; never missed his distance in marching past, or +failed in a military manoeuvre; paid his mess-bill regularly to the +hour, nay, minute, of the settling day; and was never, on any one +occasion, known to enter the paymaster's office, except on the +well-remembered 24th of each month; and, to crown all, he had never +asked, consequently never obtained, a day's leave from his regiment, +although he had served in it so long, that there was now but one man +living who had entered it with him. With all these qualities, Ensign de +Haldimar promised to make an excellent soldier; and, as such, was +encouraged by the field-officers of the corps, who unhesitatingly +pronounced him a lad of discernment and talent, who would one day rival +them in all the glorious privileges of martinetism. It was even +remarked, as an evidence of his worth, that, when promoted to a +lieutenancy, he looked down upon the ensigns with that becoming +condescension which befitted his new rank; and up to the captains with +the deferential respect he felt to be due to that third step in the +five-barred gate of regimental promotion, on which his aspiring but +chained foot had not yet succeeded in reposing. What, therefore, he +became when he had succeeded in clambering to the top, and looked down +from the lordly height he had after many years of plodding service +obtained, we must leave it to the imaginations of our readers to +determine. We reserve it to a future page, to relate more interesting +particulars. + +Sufficient has been shown, however, from this outline of his character, +as well as from the conversations among his officers, elsewhere +transcribed, to account for the governor's conduct in the case of +Halloway. That the recommendation of his son, Captain de Haldimar, had +not been attended to, arose not from any particular ill-will towards +the unhappy man, but simply because he had always been in the habit of +making his own selections from the ranks, and that the present +recommendation had been warmly urged by one who he fancied pretended to +a discrimination superior to his own, in pointing out merits that had +escaped his observation. It might be, too, that there was a latent +pride about the manner of Halloway that displeased and dissatisfied one +who looked upon his subordinates as things that were amenable to the +haughtiness of his glance,--not enough of deference in his demeanour, +or of supplicating obsequiousness in his speech, to entitle him to the +promotion prayed for. Whatever the motive, there was nothing of +personality to influence him in the rejection of the appeal made in +favour of one who had never injured him; but who, on the contrary, as +the whole of the regiment could attest, had saved the life of his son. + +Rigid disciplinarian as he was, and holding himself responsible for the +safety of the garrison it was but natural, when the discovery had been +made of the unaccountable unfastening of the gate of the fort, +suspicion of no ordinary kind should attach to the sentinel posted +there; and that he should steadily refuse all credence to a story +wearing so much appearance of improbability. Proud, and inflexible, and +bigoted to first impressions, his mind was closed against those +palliating circumstances, which, adduced by Halloway in his defence, +had so mainly contributed to stamp the conviction of his moral +innocence on the minds of his judges and the attentive auditory; and +could he even have conquered his pride so far as to have admitted the +belief of that innocence, still the military crime of which he had been +guilty, in infringing a positive order of the garrison, was in itself +sufficient to call forth all the unrelenting severity of his nature. +Throughout the whole of the proceedings subsequently instituted, he had +acted and spoken from a perfect conviction of the treason of the +unfortunate soldier, and with the fullest impression of the falsehood +of all that had been offered in his defence. The considerations that +influenced the minds of his officers, found no entrance into his proud +breast, which was closed against every thing but his own dignified +sense of superior judgment. Could he, like them, have given credence to +the tale of Halloway, or really have believed that Captain de Haldimar, +educated under his own military eye, could have been so wanting in +subordination, as not merely to have infringed a positive order of the +garrison, but to have made a private soldier of that garrison accessary +to his delinquency, it is more than probable his stern habits of +military discipline would have caused him to overlook the offence of +the soldier, in deeper indignation at the conduct of the infinitely +more culpable officer; but not one word did he credit of a statement, +which he assumed to have been got up by the prisoner with the mere view +of shielding himself from punishment: and when to these suspicions of +his fidelity was attached the fact of the introduction of his alarming +visitor, it must be confessed his motives for indulging in this belief +were not without foundation. + +The impatience manifested during the trial of Halloway was not a result +of any desire of systematic persecution, but of a sense of wounded +dignity. It was a thing unheard of, and unpardonable in his eyes, for a +private soldier to assert, in his presence, his honour and his +respectability in extenuation, even while admitting the justice of a +specific charge; and when he remarked the Court listening with that +profound attention, which the peculiar history of the prisoner had +excited, he could not repress the manifestation of his anger. In +justice to him, however, it must be acknowledged that, in causing the +charge, to which the unfortunate man pleaded guilty, to be framed, he +had only acted from the conviction that, on the two first, there was +not sufficient evidence to condemn one whose crime was as clearly +established, to his judgment, as if he had been an eye-witness of the +treason. It is true, he availed himself of Halloway's voluntary +confession, to effect his condemnation; but estimating him as a +traitor, he felt little delicacy was necessary to be observed on that +score. + +Much of the despotic military character of Colonel de Haldimar had been +communicated to his private life; so much, indeed, that his sons,--both +of whom, it has been seen, were of natures that belied their origin +from so stern a stock,--were kept at nearly as great a distance from +him as any other subordinates of his regiment. But although he seldom +indulged in manifestations of parental regard towards those whom he +looked upon rather as inferiors in military rank, than as beings +connected with him by the ties of blood, Colonel de Haldimar was not +without that instinctive love for his children, which every animal in +the creation feels for its offspring. He, also, valued and took a pride +in, because they reflected a certain degree of lustre upon himself, the +talents and accomplishments of his eldest son, who, moreover, was a +brave, enterprising officer, and, only wanted, in his father's +estimation, that severity of carriage and hauteur of deportment, +befitting HIS son, to render him perfect. As for Charles,--the gentle, +bland, winning, universally conciliating Charles,--he looked upon him +as a mere weak boy, who could never hope to arrive at any post of +distinction, if only by reason of the extreme delicacy of his physical +organisation; and to have shown any thing like respect for his +character, or indulged in any expression of tenderness for one so far +below his estimate of what a soldier, a child of his, ought to be, +would have been a concession of which his proud nature was incapable. +In his daughter Clara, however, the gentleness of sex claimed that +warmer affection which was denied to him, who resembled her in almost +every attribute of mind and person. Colonel de Haldimar doated on his +daughter with a tenderness, for which few, who were familiar with his +harsh and unbending nature, ever gave him credit. She was the image of +one on whom all of love that he had ever known had been centered; and +he had continued in Clara an affection, that seemed in itself to form a +portion, distinct and apart, of his existence. + +We have already seen, as stated by Charles de Haldimar to the +unfortunate wife of Halloway, with what little success he had pleaded +in the interview he had requested of his father, for the preserver of +his gallant brother's life; and we have also seen how equally +inefficient was the lowly and supplicating anguish of that wretched +being, when, on quitting the apartment of his son, Colonel de Haldimar +had so unexpectedly found himself clasped in her despairing embrace. +There was little to be expected from an intercession on the part of one +claiming so little ascendancy over his father's heart, as the +universally esteemed young officer; still less from one who, in her +shriek of agony, had exposed the haughty chief to the observation both +of men and officers, and under circumstances that caused his position +to border on the ludicrous. But however these considerations might have +failed in effect, there was another which, as a soldier, he could not +wholly overlook. Although he had offered no comment on the +extraordinary recommendation to mercy annexed to the sentence of the +prisoner, it had had a certain weight with him; and he felt, all +absolute even as he was, he could not, without exciting strong +dissatisfaction among his troops, refuse attention to a document so +powerfully worded, and bearing the signature and approval of so old and +valued an officer as Captain Blessington. His determination, therefore, +had been formed, even before his visit to his son, to act as +circumstances might require; and, in the mean while, he commanded every +preparation for the execution to be made. + +In causing a strong detachment to be marched to the conspicuous point +chosen for his purpose, he had acted from a conviction of the necessity +of showing the enemy the treason of the soldier had been detected; +reserving to himself the determination of carrying the sentence into +full effect, or pardoning the condemned, as the event might warrant. +Not one moment, meanwhile, did he doubt the guilt of Halloway, whose +description of the person of his enemy was, in itself, to him, +confirmatory evidence of his treason. It is doubtful whether he would, +in any way, have been influenced by the recommendation of the Court, +had the first charges been substantiated; but as there was nothing but +conjecture to bear out these, and as the prisoner had been convicted +only on the ground of suffering Captain de Haldimar to quit the fort +contrary to orders, he felt he might possibly go too far in carrying +the capital punishment into effect, in decided opposition to the +general feeling of the garrison,--both of officers and men. + +When the shot was subsequently fired from the hut of the Canadian, and +the daring rifleman recognised as the same fearful individual who had +gained access to his apartment the preceding night, conviction of the +guilt of Halloway came even deeper home to the mind of the governor. It +was through Francois alone that a communication was kept up secretly +between the garrison and several of the Canadians without the fort; and +the very fact of the mysterious warrior having been there so recently +after his daring enterprise, bore evidence that whatever treason was in +operation, had been carried on through the instrumentality of mine host +of the Fleur de lis. In proof, moreover, there was the hat of Donellan, +and the very rope Halloway had stated to be that by which the +unfortunate officer had effected his exit. Colonel de Haldimar was not +one given to indulge in the mysterious or to believe in the romantic. +Every thing was plain matter of fact, as it now appeared before him; +and he thought it evident, as though it had been written in words of +fire, that if his son and his unfortunate servant had quitted the fort +in the manner represented, it was no less certain they had been forced +off by a party, at the head of whom was his vindictive enemy, and with +the connivance of Halloway. We have seen, that after the discovery of +the sex of the supposed drummer-boy when the prisoners were confronted +together, Colonel de Haldimar had closely watched the expression of +their countenances, but failed in discovering any thing that could be +traced into evidence of a guilty recognition. Still he conceived his +original impression to have been too forcibly borne out, even by the +events of the last half hour, to allow this to have much weight with +him; and his determination to carry the thing through all its fearful +preliminary stages became more and more confirmed. + +In adopting this resolution in the first instance, he was not without a +hope that Halloway, standing, as he must feel himself to be, on the +verge of the grave, might be induced to make confession of his guilt, +and communicate whatever particulars might prove essential not only to +the safety of the garrison generally, but to himself individually, as +far as his personal enemy was concerned. With this view, he had charged +Captain Blessington, in the course of their march from the hut to the +fatal bridge, to promise a full pardon, provided he should make such +confession of his crime as would lead to a just appreciation of the +evils likely to result from the treason that had in part been +accomplished. Even in making this provision, however, which was met by +the prisoner with solemn yet dignified reiteration of his innocence, +Colonel de Haldimar had not made the refusal of pardon altogether +conclusive in his own mind: still, in adopting this plan, there was a +chance of obtaining a confession; and not until there was no longer a +prospect of the unhappy man being led into that confession, did he feel +it imperative on him to stay the progress of the tragedy. + +What the result would have been, had not Halloway, in the strong +excitement of his feelings, sprung to his feet upon the coffin, +uttering the exclamation of triumph recorded in the last pages of our +first volume, is scarcely doubtful. However much the governor might +have contemned and slighted a credulity in which he in no way +participated himself, he had too much discrimination not to perceive, +that to have persevered in the capital punishment would have been to +have rendered himself personally obnoxious to the comrades of the +condemned, whose dispirited air and sullen mien, he clearly saw, +denounced the punishment as one of unnecessary rigour. The haughty +commander was not one to be intimidated by manifestations of +discontent; neither was he one to brook a spirit of insubordination, +however forcibly supported; but he had too much experience and military +judgment, not to determine that this was riot a moment, by foregoing an +act of compulsory clemency, to instil divisions in the garrison, when +the safety of all so much depended on the cheerfulness and unanimity +with which they lent themselves to the arduous duties of defence. + +However originating in policy, the lenity he might have been induced to +have shown, all idea of the kind was chased from his mind by the +unfortunate action of the prisoner. At the moment when the distant +heights resounded with the fierce yells of the savages, and leaping +forms came bounding down the slope, the remarkable warrior of the Fleur +de lis--the fearful enemy who had whispered the most demoniac vengeance +in his ears the preceding night--was the only one that met and riveted +the gaze of the governor. He paused not to observe or to think who the +flying man could be of whom the mysterious warrior was in +pursuit,--neither did it, indeed, occur to him that it was a pursuit at +all. But one idea suggested itself to his mind, and that was an attempt +at rescue of the condemned on the part of his accomplice; and when at +length Halloway, who had at once, as if by instinct, recognised his +captain in the fugitive, shouted forth his gratitude to Heaven that "he +at length approached who alone had the power to save him," every shadow +of mercy was banished from the mind of the governor, who, labouring +under a natural misconception of the causes of his exulting shout, felt +that justice imperatively demanded her victim, and no longer hesitated +in awarding the doom that became the supposed traitor. It was under +this impression that he sternly gave and repeated the fatal order to +fire; and by this misjudged and severe, although not absolutely cruel +act, not only destroyed one of the noblest beings that ever wore a +soldier's uniform, but entailed upon himself and family that terrific +curse of his maniac wife, which rang like a prophetic warning in the +ears of all, and was often heard in the fitful starlings of his own +ever-after troubled slumbers. + +What his feelings were, when subsequently he discovered, in the +wretched fugitive, the son whom he already believed to have been +numbered with the dead, and heard from his lips a confirmation of all +that had been advanced by the unhappy Halloway, we shall leave it to +our readers to imagine. Still, even amid his first regret, the rigid +disciplinarian was strong within him; and no sooner had the detachment +regained the fort, after performing the last offices of interment over +their ill-fated comrade, than Captain de Haldimar received an +intimation, through the adjutant, to consider himself under close +arrest for disobedience of orders. Finally, however, he succeeded in +procuring an interview with his father; in the course of which, +disclosing the plot of the Indians, and the short period allotted for +its being carried into execution, he painted in the most gloomy colours +the alarming, dangers which threatened them all, and finished by +urgently imploring his father to suffer him to make the attempt to +reach their unsuspecting friends at Michilimackinac. Fully impressed +with the difficulties attendant on a scheme that offered so few +feasible chances of success, Colonel de Haldimar for a period denied +his concurrence; but when at length the excited young man dwelt on the +horrors that would inevitably await his sister and betrothed cousin, +were they to fall into the hands of the savages, these considerations +were found to be effective. An after-arrangement included Sir Everard +Valletort, who had expressed a strong desire to share his danger in the +enterprise; and the services of the Canadian, who had been brought back +a prisoner to the fort, and on whom promises and threats were bestowed +in an equally lavish manner, were rendered available. In fact, without +the assistance of Francois, there was little chance of their effecting +in safety the navigation of the waters through which they were to pass +to arrive at the fort. He it was, who, when summoned to attend a +conference among the officers, bearing on the means to be adopted, +suggested the propriety of their disguising themselves as Canadian duck +hunters; in which character they might expect to pass unmolested, even +if encountered by any outlying parties of the savages. With the doubts +that had previously been entertained of the fidelity of Francois, there +was an air of forlorn hope given to the enterprise; still, as the man +expressed sincere earnestness of desire to repay the clemency accorded +him, by a faithful exercise of his services, and as the object sought +was one that justified the risk, there was, notwithstanding, a latent +hope cherished by all parties, that the event would prove successful. +We have already seen to what extent their anticipations were realised. + +Whether it was that he secretly acknowledged the too excessive +sternness of his justice in regard to Halloway (who still, in the true +acceptation of facts, had been guilty of a crime that entailed the +penalty he had paid), or that the apprehensions that arose to his heart +in regard to her on whom he yearned with all a father's fondness +governed his conduct, certain it is, that, from the hour of the +disclosure made by his son, Colonel de Haldimar became an altered man. +Without losing any thing of that dignity of manner, which had hitherto +been confounded with the most repellent haughtiness of bearing, his +demeanour towards his officers became more courteous; and although, as +heretofore, he kept himself entirely aloof, except when occasions of +duty brought them together, still, when they did meet, there was more +of conciliation in his manner, and less of austerity in his speech. +There was, moreover, a dejection in his eye, strongly in contrast with +his former imperious glance; and more than one officer remarked, that, +if his days were devoted to the customary practical arrangements for +defence, his pallid countenance betokened that his nights were nights +rather of vigil than of repose. + +However natural and deep the alarm entertained for the fate of the +sister fort, there could be no apprehension on the mind of Colonel de +Haldimar in regard to his own; since, furnished with the means of +foiling his enemies with their own weapons of cunning and deceit, a few +extraordinary precautions alone were necessary to secure all immunity +from danger. Whatever might be the stern peculiarities of his +character,--and these had originated chiefly in an education purely +military,--Colonel de Haldimar was an officer well calculated to the +important trust reposed in him; for, combining experience with judgment +in all matters relating to the diplomacy of war, and being fully +conversant with the character and habits of the enemy opposed to him, +he possessed singular aptitude to seize whatever advantages might +present themselves. + +The prudence and caution of his policy have already been made manifest +in the two several council scenes with the chiefs recorded in our +second volume. It may appear singular, that, with the opportunity thus +afforded him of retaining the formidable Ponteac,--the strength and +sinew of that long protracted and ferocious war,--in his power, he +should have waved his advantage; but here Colonel de Haldimar gave +evidence of the tact which so eminently distinguished his public +conduct throughout. He well knew the noble, fearless character of the +chief; and felt, if any hold was to be secured over him, it was by +grappling with his generosity, and not by the exercise of intimidation. +Even admitting that Ponteac continued his prisoner, and that the +troops, pouring their destructive fire upon the mass of enemies so +suddenly arrested on the drawbridge, had swept away the whole, still +they were but as a mite among the numerous nations that were leagued +against the English; and to these nations, it was evident, they must, +sooner or later, succumb. + +Colonel de Haldimar knew enough of the proud but generous nature of the +Ottawa, to deem that the policy he proposed to pursue in the last +council scene would not prove altogether without effect on that +warrior. It was well known to him, that much pains had been taken to +instil into the minds of the Indians the belief that the English were +resolved on their final extirpation; and as certain slights, offered to +them at various periods, had given a colouring of truth to this +assertion, the formidable league which had already accomplished the +downfall of so many of the forts had been the consequence of these +artful representations. Although well aware that the French had +numerous emissaries distributed among the fierce tribes, it was not +until after the disclosure made by the haughty Ponteac, at the close of +the first council scene, that he became apprised of the alarming +influence exercised over the mind of that warrior himself by his own +terrible and vindictive enemy. The necessity of counteracting that +influence was obvious; and he felt this was only to be done (if at all) +by some marked and extraordinary evidence of the peaceful disposition +of the English. Hence his determination to suffer the faithless chiefs +and their followers to depart unharmed from the fort, even at the +moment when the attitude assumed by the prepared garrison fully proved +to the assailants their designs had been penetrated and their schemes +rendered abortive. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +With the general position of the encampment of the investing Indians, +the reader has been made acquainted through the narrative of Captain de +Haldimar. It was, as has been shown, situate in a sort of oasis close +within the verge of the forest, and (girt by an intervening underwood +which Nature, in her caprice, had fashioned after the manner of a +defensive barrier) embraced a space sufficient to contain the tents of +the fighting men, together with their women and children. This, +however, included only the warriors and inferior chiefs. The tents of +the leaders were without the belt of underwood, and principally +distributed at long intervals on that side of the forest which skirted +the open country towards the river; forming, as it were, a chain of +external defences, and sweeping in a semicircular direction round the +more dense encampment of their followers. At its highest elevation the +forest shot out suddenly into a point, naturally enough rendered an +object of attraction from whatever part it was commanded. + +Darkness was already beginning to spread her mantle over the +intervening space, and the night fires of the Indians were kindling +into brightness, glimmering occasionally through the wood with that +pale and lambent light peculiar to the fire-fly, of which they offered +a not inapt representation, when suddenly a lofty tent, the brilliant +whiteness of which was thrown into strong relief by the dark field on +which it reposed, was seen to rise at a few paces from the abrupt point +in the forest just described, and on the extreme summit of a ridge, +beyond which lay only the western horizon in golden perspective. + +The opening of this tent looked eastward and towards the fort; and on +its extreme summit floated a dark flag, which at intervals spread +itself before the slight evening breeze, but oftener hung drooping and +heavily over the glittering canvass. One solitary pine, whose trunk +exceeded not the ordinary thickness of a man's waist, and standing out +as a landmark on the ridge, rose at the distance of a few feet from the +spot on which the tent had been erected; and to this was bound the tall +and elegant figure of one dressed in the coarse garb of a sailor. The +arms and legs of this individual were perfectly free; but a strong +rope, rendered doubly secure after the manner of what is termed +"whipping" among seamen, after having been tightly drawn several times +around his waist, and then firmly knotted behind, was again passed +round the tree, to which the back of the prisoner was closely lashed; +thus enabling, or rather compelling, him to be a spectator of every +object within the tent. + +Layers of bark, over which were spread the dressed skins of the bear +and the buffalo, formed the floor and carpet of the latter; and on +these, in various parts, and in characteristic attitudes, reposed the +forms of three human beings;--one, the formidable warrior of the Fleur +de lis. Attired in the garb in which we first introduced him to our +readers, and with the same weapons reposing at his side, the haughty +savage lay at his lazy length; his feet reaching beyond the opening of +the tent, and his head reposing on a rude pillow formed of a closely +compressed pack of skins of wild animals, over which was spread a sort +of mantle or blanket. One hand was introduced between the pillow and +his head, the other grasped the pipe tomahawk he was smoking; and while +the mechanical play of his right foot indicated pre-occupation of +thought, his quick and meaning eye glanced frequently and alternately +upon the furthest of his companions, the prisoner without, and the +distant fort. + +Within a few feet of the warrior lay, extended on a buffalo skin, the +delicate figure of a female, whose hair, complexion, and hands, denoted +her European extraction. Her dress was entirely Indian, however; +consisting of a machecoti with leggings, mocassins, and shirt of +printed cotton studded with silver brooches,--all of which were of a +quality and texture to mark the wearer as the wife of a chief; and her +fair hair, done up in a club behind, reposed on a neck of dazzling +whiteness. Her eyes were large, blue, but wild and unmeaning; her +countenance vacant; and her movements altogether mechanical. A wooden +bowl filled with hominy,--a preparation of Indian corn,--was at her +side; and from this she was now in the act of feeding herself with a +spoon of the same material, but with a negligence and slovenliness that +betrayed her almost utter unconsciousness of the action. + +At the further side of the tent there was another woman, even more +delicate in appearance than the one last mentioned. She, too, was +blue-eyed, and of surpassing fairness of skin. Her attitude denoted a +mind too powerfully absorbed in grief to be heedful of appearances; for +she sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, and rocking her body to +and fro with an undulating motion that seemed to have its origin in no +effort of volition of her own. Her long fair hair hung negligently over +her shoulders; and a blanket drawn over the top of her head like a +veil, and extending partly over the person, disclosed here and there +portions of an apparel which was strictly European, although rent, and +exhibiting in various places stains of blood. A bowl similar to that of +her companion, and filled with the same food, was at her side; but this +was untasted. + +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" asked the warrior of her next him, +as he fiercely rolled a volume of smoke from his lips. "Make her eat, +for I would speak to her afterwards." + +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" responded the woman in the same +tone, dropping her spoon as she spoke, and turning to the object of +remark with a vacant look. "It is good," she pursued, as she rudely +shook the arm of the heedless sufferer. "Come, girl, eat." + +A shriek burst from the lips of the unhappy girl, as, apparently roused +from her abstraction, she suffered the blanket to fall from her head, +and staring wildly at her questioner, faintly demanded,-- + +"Who, in the name of mercy, are you, who address me in this horrid +place in my own tongue? Speak; who are you? Surely I should know that +voice for that of Ellen, the wife of Frank Halloway!" + +A maniac laugh was uttered by the wretched woman. This continued +offensively for a moment; and she observed, in an infuriated tone and +with a searching eye,--"No, I am not the wife of Halloway. It is false. +I am the wife of Wacousta. This is my husband!" and as she spoke she +sprang nimbly to her feet, and was in the next instant lying prostrate +on the form of the warrior; her arms thrown wildly around him, and her +lips imprinting kisses on his cheek. + +But Wacousta was in no mood to suffer her endearments. He for the first +time seemed alive to the presence of her who lay beyond, and, to whose +whole appearance a character of animation had been imparted by the +temporary excitement of her feelings. He gazed at her a moment, with +the air of one endeavouring to recall the memory of days long gone by; +and as he continued to do so, his eye dilated, his chest heaved, and +his countenance alternately flushed and paled. At length he threw the +form that reposed upon his own, violently, and even savagely, from him; +sprang eagerly to his feet; and clearing the space that divided him +from the object of his attention at a single step, bore her from the +earth in his arms with as much ease as if she had been an infant, and +then returning to his own rude couch, placed his horror-stricken victim +at his side. + +"Nay, nay," he urged sarcastically, as she vainly struggled to free +herself; "let the De Haldimar portion of your blood rise up in anger if +it will; but that of Clara Beverley, at least--." + +"Gracious Providence! where am I, that I hear the name of my sainted +mother thus familiarly pronounced?" interrupted the startled girl; "and +who are you,"--turning her eyes wildly on the swarthy countenance of +the warrior,--"who are you, I ask, who, with the mien and in the garb +of a savage of these forests, appear thus acquainted with her name?" + +The warrior passed his hand across his brow for a moment, as if some +painful and intolerable reflection had been called up by the question; +but he speedily recovered his self-possession, and, with an expression +of feature that almost petrified his auditor, vehemently observed,-- + +"You ask who I am! One who knew your mother long before the accursed +name of De Haldimar had even been whispered in her ear; and whom love +for the one and hatred for the other has rendered the savage you now +behold! But," he continued, while a fierce and hideous smile lighted up +every feature, "I overlook my past sufferings in my present happiness. +The image of Clara Beverley, even such as my soul loved her in its +youth, is once more before me in her child; THAT child shall be my +wife!" + +"Your wife! monster;--never!" shrieked the unhappy girl, again vainly +attempting to disengage herself from the encircling arm of the savage. +"But," she pursued, in a tone of supplication, while the tears coursed +each other down her cheek, "if you ever loved my mother as you say you +have, restore her children to their home; and, if saints may be +permitted to look down from heaven in approval of the acts of men, she +whom you have loved will bless you for the deed." + +A deep groan burst from the vast chest of Wacousta; but, for a moment, +he answered not. At length he observed, pointing at the same time with +his finger towards the cloudless vault above their heads,--"Do you +behold yon blue sky, Clara de Haldimar?" + +"I do;--what mean you?" demanded the trembling girl, in whom a +momentary hope had been excited by the subdued manner of the savage. + +"Nothing," he coolly rejoined; "only that were your mother to appear +there at this moment, clad in all the attributes ascribed to angels, +her prayer would not alter the destiny that awaits you. Nay, nay; look +not thus sorrowfully," he pursued, as, in despite of her efforts to +prevent him, he imprinted a burning kiss upon her lips. "Even thus was +I once wont to linger on the lips of your mother; but hers ever pouted +to be pressed by mine; and not with tears, but with sunniest smiles, +did she court them." He paused; bent his head over the face of the +shuddering girl; and gazing fixedly for a few minutes on her +countenance, while he pressed her struggling form more closely to his +own, exultingly pursued, as if to himself,--"Even as her mother was, so +is she. Ye powers of hell! who would have ever thought a time would +come when both my vengeance and my love would be gratified to the +utmost? How strange it never should have occurred to me he had a +daughter!" + +"What mean you, fierce, unpitying man?" exclaimed the terrified Clara, +to whom a full sense of the horror of her position had lent unusual +energy of character. "Surely you will not detain a poor defenceless +woman in your hands,--the child of her you say you have loved. But it +is false!--you never knew her, or you would not now reject my prayer." + +"Never knew her!" fiercely repeated Wacousta. Again he paused. "Would I +had never known her! and I should not now be the outcast wretch I am," +he added, slowly and impressively. Then once more elevating his +voice,--"Clara de Haldimar, I have loved your mother as man never loved +woman; and I have hated your father" (grinding his teeth with fury as +he spoke) "as man never hated man. That love, that hatred are +unquenched--unquenchable. Before me I see at once the image of her who, +even in death, has lived enshrined in my heart, and the child of him +who is my bitterest foe. Clara de Haldimar, do you understand me now?" + +"Almighty Providence! is there no one to save me?--can nothing touch +your stubborn heart?" exclaimed the affrighted girl; and she turned her +swimming eyes on those of the warrior, in appeal; but his glance caused +her own to sink in confusion. "Ellen Halloway," she pursued, after a +moment's pause, and in the wild accents of despair, "if you are indeed +the wife of this man, as you say you are, oh! plead for me with him; +and in the name of that kindness, which I once extended to yourself, +prevail on him to restore me to my father!" + +"Ellen Halloway!--who calls Ellen Halloway?" said the wretched woman, +who had again resumed her slovenly meal on the rude couch, apparently +without consciousness of the scene enacting at her side. "I am not +Ellen Halloway: they said so; but it is not true. My husband was +Reginald Morton: but he went for a soldier, and was killed; and I never +saw him more." + +"Reginald Morton! What mean you, woman?--What know you of Reginald +Morton?" demanded Wacousta, with frightful energy, as, leaning over the +shrinking form of Clara, he violently grasped and shook the shoulder of +the unhappy maniac. + +"Stop; do not hurt me, and I will tell you all, sir," she almost +screamed. "Oh, sir, Reginald Morton was my husband once; but he was +kinder than you are. He did not look so fiercely at me; nor did he +pinch me so." + +"What of him?--who was he?" furiously repeated Wacousta, as he again +impatiently shook the arm of the wretched Ellen. "Where did you know +him?--Whence came he?" + +"Nay, you must not be jealous of poor Reginald:" and, as she uttered +these words in a softening and conciliating tone, her eye was turned +upon those of the warrior with a mingled expression of fear and +cunning. "But he was very good and very handsome, and generous; and we +lived near each other, and we loved each other at first sight. But his +family were very proud, and they quarrelled with him because he married +me; and then we became very poor, and Reginald went for a soldier, +and--; but I forget the rest, it is so long ago." She pressed her hand +to her brow, and sank her head upon her chest. + +"Ellen, woman, again I ask you where he came from? this Reginald Morton +that you have named. To what county did he belong?" + +"Oh, we were both Cornish," she answered, with a vivacity singularly in +contrast with her recent low and monotonous tone; "but, as I said +before, he was of a great family, and I only a poor clergyman's +daughter." + +"Cornish!--Cornish, did you say?" fiercely repeated the dark Wacousta, +while an expression of loathing and disgust seemed for a moment to +convulse his features; "then is it as I had feared. One word more. Was +the family seat called Morton Castle?" + +"It was," unhesitatingly returned the poor woman, yet with the air of +one wondering to hear a name repeated, long forgotten even by herself. +"It was a beautiful castle too, on a lovely ridge of hills; and it +commanded such a nice view of the sea, close to the little port of +----; and the parsonage stood in such a sweet valley, close under the +castle; and we were all so happy." She paused, again put her hand to +her brow, and pressed it with force, as if endeavouring to pursue the +chain of connection in her memory, but evidently without success. + +"And your father's name was Clayton?" said the warrior, enquiringly; +"Henry Clayton, if I recollect aright?" + +"Ha! who names my father?" shrieked the wretched woman. "Yes, sir, it +was Clayton--Henry Clayton--the kindest, the noblest of human beings. +But the affliction of his child, and the persecutions of the Morton +family, broke his heart. He is dead, sir, and Reginald is dead too; and +I am a poor lone widow in the world, and have no one to love me." Here +the tears coursed each other rapidly down her faded cheek, although her +eyes were staring and motionless. + +"It is false!" vociferated the warrior, who, now he had gained all that +was essential to the elucidation of his doubts, quitted the shoulder he +had continued to press with violence in his nervous hand, and once more +extended himself at his length; "in me you behold the uncle of your +husband. Yes, Ellen Clayton, you have been the wife of two Reginald +Mortons. Both," he pursued with unutterable bitterness, while he again +started up and shook his tomahawk menacingly in the direction of the +fort,--"both have been the victims of yon cold-blooded governor; but +the hour of our reckoning is at hand. Ellen," he fiercely added, "do +you recollect the curse you pronounced on the family of that haughty +man, when he slaughtered your Reginald. By Heaven! it shall be +fulfilled; but first shall the love I have so long borne the mother be +transferred to the child." + +Again he sought to encircle the waist of her whom, in the strong +excitement of his rage, he had momentarily quitted; but the unutterable +disgust and horror produced in the mind of the unhappy Clara lent an +almost supernatural activity to her despair. She dexterously eluded his +grasp, gained her feet, and with tottering steps and outstretched arms +darted through the opening of the tent, and piteously exclaiming, "Save +me! oh, for God's sake, save me!" sank exhausted, and apparently +lifeless, on the chest of the prisoner without. + +To such of our readers as, deceived by the romantic nature of the +attachment stated to have been originally entertained by Sir Everard +Valletort for the unseen sister of his friend, have been led to expect +a tale abounding in manifestations of its progress when the parties had +actually met, we at once announce disappointment. Neither the lover of +amorous adventure, nor the admirer of witty dialogue, should dive into +these pages. Room for the exercise of the invention might, it is true, +be found; but ours is a tale of sad reality, and our heroes and +heroines figure under circumstances that would render wit a satire upon +the understanding, and love a reflection upon the heart. Within the +bounds of probability have we, therefore, confined ourselves. + +What the feelings of the young Baronet must have been, from the first +moment when he received from the hands of the unfortunate Captain +Baynton (who, although an officer of his own corps, was personally a +stranger to him,) that cherished sister of his friend, on whose ideal +form his excited imagination had so often latterly loved to linger, up +to the present hour, we should vainly attempt to paint. There are +emotions of the heart, it would be mockery in the pen to trace. From +the instant of his first contributing to preserve her life, on that +dreadful day of blood, to that when the schooner fell into the hands of +the savages, few words had passed between them, and these had reference +merely to the position in which they found themselves, and whenever Sir +Everard felt he could, without indelicacy or intrusion, render himself +in the slightest way serviceable to her. The very circumstances under +which they had met, conduced to the suppression, if not utter +extinction, of all of passion attached to the sentiment with which he +had been inspired. A new feeling had quickened in his breast; and it +was with emotions more assimilated to friendship than to love that he +now regarded the beautiful but sorrow-stricken sister of his bosom +friend. Still there was a softness, a purity, a delicacy and tenderness +in this new feeling, in which the influence of sex secretly though +unacknowledgedly predominated; and even while sensible it would have +been a profanation of every thing most sacred and delicate in nature to +have admitted a thought of love within his breast at such a moment, he +also felt he could have entertained a voluptuous joy in making any +sacrifice, even to the surrender of life itself, provided the +tranquillity of that gentle and suffering being could be by it ensured. + +Clara, in her turn, had been in no condition to admit so exclusive a +power as that of love within her soul. She had, it is true, even amid +the desolation of her shattered spirit, recognised in the young officer +the original of a portrait so frequently drawn by her brother, and +dwelt on by herself. She acknowledged, moreover, the fidelity of the +painting: but however she might have felt and acted under different +circumstances, absorbed as was her heart, and paralysed her +imagination, by the harrowing scenes she had gone through, she, too, +had room but for one sentiment in her fainting soul, and that was +friendship for the friend of her brother; on whom, moreover, she +bestowed that woman's gratitude, which could not fail to be awakened by +a recollection of the risks he had encountered, conjointly with +Frederick, to save her from destruction. During their passage across +lake Huron, Sir Everard had usually taken his seat on the deck, at that +respectful distance which he conceived the delicacy of the position of +the unfortunate cousins demanded; but in such a manner that, while he +seemed wholly abstracted from them, his eye had more than once been +detected by Clara fixed on hers, with an affectionateness of interest +she could not avoid repaying with a glance of recognition and approval. +These, however, were the only indications of regard that had passed +between them. + +If, however, a momentary and irrepressible flashing of that sentiment, +which had, at an earlier period, formed a portion of their imaginings, +did occasionally steal over their hearts while there was a prospect of +reaching their friends in safety, all manifestation of its power was +again finally suppressed when the schooner fell into the hands of the +savages. Become the immediate prisoners of Wacousta, they had been +surrendered to that ferocious chief to be dealt with as he might think +proper; and, on disembarking from the canoe in which their transit to +the main land had been descried that morning from the fort, had been +separated from their equally unfortunate and suffering companions. +Captain de Haldimar, Madeline, and the Canadian, were delivered over to +the custody of several choice warriors of the tribe in which Wacousta +was adopted; and, bound hand and foot, were, at that moment, in the war +tent of the fierce savage, which, as Ponteac had once boasted to the +governor, was every where hung around with human scalps, both of men, +of women, and of children. The object of this mysterious man, in +removing Clara to the spot we have described, was one well worthy of +his ferocious nature. His vengeance had already devoted her to +destruction; and it was within view of the fort, which contained the +father whom he loathed, he had resolved his purpose should be +accomplished. A refinement of cruelty, such as could scarcely have been +supposed to enter the breast even of such a remorseless savage as +himself, had caused him to convey to the same spot, him whom he rather +suspected than knew to be the lover of the young girl. It was with the +view of harrowing up the soul of one whom he had recognised as the +officer who had disabled him on the night of the rencontre on the +bridge, that he had bound Sir Everard to the tree, whence, as we have +already stated, he was a compelled spectator of every thing that passed +within the tent; and yet with that free action of limb which only +tended to tantalize him the more amid his unavailable efforts to rid +himself of his bonds,--a fact that proved not only the dire extent to +which the revenge of Wacousta could be carried, but the actual and +gratuitous cruelty of his nature. + +One must have been similarly circumstanced, to understand all the agony +of the young man during this odious scene, and particularly at the +fierce and repeated declaration of the savage that Clara should be his +bride. More than once had he essayed to remove the ligatures which +confined his waist; but his unsuccessful attempts only drew an +occasional smile of derision from his enemy, as he glanced his eye +rapidly towards him. Conscious at length of the inutility of efforts, +which, without benefiting her for whom they were principally prompted, +rendered him in some degree ridiculous even in his own eyes, the +wretched Valletort desisted altogether, and with his head sunk upon his +chest, and his eyes closed, sought at least to shut out a scene which +blasted his sight, and harrowed up his very soul. + +But when Clara, uttering her wild cry for protection, and rushing forth +from the tent, sank almost unconsciously in his embrace, a thrill of +inexplicable joy ran through each awakened fibre of his frame. Bending +eagerly forward, he had extended his arms to receive her; and when he +felt her light and graceful form pressing upon his own as its last +refuge--when he felt her heart beating against his--when he saw her +head drooping on his shoulder, in the wild recklessness of +despair,--even amid that scene of desolation and grief he could not +help enfolding her in tumultuous ecstasy to his breast. Every horrible +danger was for an instant forgotten in the soothing consciousness that +he at length encircled the form of her, whom in many an hour of +solitude he had thus pictured, although under far different +circumstances, reposing confidingly on him. There was delight mingled +with agony in his sensation of the wild throb of her bosom against his +own; and even while his soul fainted within him, as he reflected on the +fate that awaited her, he felt as if he could himself now die more +happily. + +Momentary, however, was the duration of this scene. Furious with anger +at the evident disgust of his victim, Wacousta no sooner saw her sink +into the arms of her lover, than with that agility for which he was +remarkable he was again on his feet, and stood in the next instant at +her side. Uniting to the generous strength of his manhood all that was +wrung from his mingled love and despair, the officer clasped his hands +round the waist of the drooping Clara; and with clenched teeth, and +feet firmly set, seemed resolved to defy every effort of the warrior to +remove her. Not a word was uttered on either side; but in the fierce +smile that curled the lip of the savage, there spoke a language even +more terrible than the words that smile implied. Sir Everard could not +suppress an involuntary shudder; and when at length Wacousta, after a +short but violent struggle, succeeded in again securing and bearing off +his prize, the wretchedness of soul of the former was indescribable. + +"You see 'tis vain to struggle against your destiny, Clara de +Haldimar," sneered the warrior. "Ours is but a rude nuptial couch, it +is true; but the wife of an Indian chief must not expect the luxuries +of Europe in the heart of an American wilderness." + +"Almighty Heaven! where am I?" exclaimed the wretched girl, again +unclosing her eyes to all the horror of her position; for again she lay +at the side, and within the encircling arm, of her enemy. "Oh, Sir +Everard Valletort, I thought I was with you, and that you had saved me +from this monster. Where is my brother?--Where are Frederick and +Madeline?--Why have they deserted me?--Ah! my heart will break. I +cannot endure this longer, and live." + +"Clara, Miss de Haldimar," groaned Sir Everard, in a voice of searching +agony; "could I lay down my life for you, I would; but you see these +bonds. Oh God! oh God! have pity on the innocent; and for once incline +the heart of yon fierce monster to the whisperings of mercy." As he +uttered the last sentence, he attempted to sink on his knees in +supplication to Him he addressed, but the tension of the cord prevented +him; yet were his hands clasped, and his eyes upraised to heaven, while +his countenance beamed with an expression of fervent enthusiasm. + +"Peace, babbler! or, by Heaven! that prayer shall be your last," +vociferated Wacousta. "But no," he pursued to himself, dropping at the +same time the point of his upraised tomahawk; "these are but the +natural writhings of the crushed worm; and the longer protracted they +are, the more complete will be my vengeance." Then turning to the +terrified girl,--"You ask, Clara de Haldimar, where you are? In the +tent of your mother's lover, I reply,--at the side of him who once +pressed her to his heart, even as I now press you, and with a fondness +that was only equalled by her own. Come, dear Clara," and his voice +assumed a tone of tenderness that was even more revolting than his +natural ferocity, "let me woo you to the affection she once possessed. +It was a heart of fire in which her image stood enshrined,--it is a +heart of fire still, and well worthy of her child." + +"Never, never!" shrieked the agonised girl. "Kill me, murder me, if you +will; but oh! if you have pity, pollute not my ear with the avowal of +your detested love. But again I repeat, it is false that my mother ever +knew you. She never could have loved so fierce, so vindictive a being +as yourself." + +"Ha! do you doubt me still?" sternly demanded the savage. Then drawing +the shuddering girl still closer to his vast chest,--"Come hither, +Clara, while to convince you I unfold the sad history of my life, and +tell you more of your parents than you have ever known. When," he +pursued solemnly, "you have learnt the extent of my love for the one, +and of my hatred for the other, and the wrongs I have endured from +both, you will no longer wonder at the spirit of mingled love and +vengeance that dictates my conduct towards yourself. Listen, girl," he +continued fiercely, "and judge whether mine are injuries to be tamely +pardoned, when a whole life has been devoted to the pursuit of the +means of avenging them." + +Irresistibly led by a desire to know what possible connection could +have existed between her parents and this singular and ferocious man, +the wretched girl gave her passive assent. She even hoped that, in the +course of his narrative, some softening recollections would pass over +his mind, the effect of which might be to predispose him to mercy. +Wacousta buried his face for a few moments in his large hand, as if +endeavouring to collect and concentrate the remembrances of past years. +His countenance, meanwhile, had undergone a change; for there was now a +shade of melancholy mixed with the fierceness of expression usually +observable there. This, however, was dispelled in the course of his +narrative, and as various opposite passions were in turn powerfully and +severally developed. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"It is now four and twenty years," commenced Wacousta, "since your +father and myself first met as subalterns in the regiment he now +commands, when, unnatural to say, an intimacy suddenly sprang up +between us which, as it was then to our brother officers, has since +been a source of utter astonishment to myself. Unnatural, I repeat, for +fire and ice are not more opposite than were the elements of which our +natures were composed. He, all coldness, prudence, obsequiousness, and +forethought. I, all enthusiasm, carelessness, impetuosity, and +independence. Whether this incongruous friendship--friendship! no, I +will not so far sully the sacred name as thus to term the unnatural +union that subsisted between us;--whether this intimacy, then, sprang +from the adventitious circumstance of our being more frequently thrown +together as officers of the same company,--for we were both attached to +the grenadiers,--or that my wild spirit was soothed by the bland +amenity of his manners, I know not. The latter, however, is not +improbable; for proud, and haughty, and dignified, as the colonel NOW +is, such was not THEN the character of the ensign; who seemed thrown +out of one of Nature's supplest moulds, to fawn, and cringe, and worm +his way to favour by the wily speciousness of his manners. Oh God!" +pursued Wacousta, after a momentary pause, and striking his palm +against his forehead, "that I ever should have been the dupe of such a +cold-blooded hypocrite! + +"I have said our intimacy excited surprise among our brother officers. +It did; for all understood and read the character of your father, who +was as much disliked and distrusted for the speciousness of his false +nature, as I was generally esteemed for the frankness and warmth of +mine. No one openly censured the evident preference I gave him in my +friendship; but we were often sarcastically termed the Pylades and +Orestes of the regiment, until my heart was ready to leap into my +throat with impatience at the bitterness in which the taunt was +conceived; and frequently in my presence was allusion made to the blind +folly of him, who should take a cold and slimy serpent to his bosom +only to feel its fangs darted into it at the moment when most fostered +by its genial heat. All, however, was in vain. On a nature like mine, +innuendo was likely to produce an effect directly opposite to that +intended; and the more I found them inclined to be severe on him I +called my friend, the more marked became my preference. I even fancied +that because I was rich, generous, and heir to a title, their +observations were prompted by jealousy of the influence he possessed +over me, and a desire to supplant him only for their interests' sake. +Bitterly have I been punished for the illiberality of such an opinion. +Those to whom I principally allude were the subalterns of the regiment, +most of whom were nearly of our own age. One or two of the junior +captains were also of this number; but, by the elders (as we termed the +seniors of that rank) and field officers, Ensign de Haldimar was always +regarded as a most prudent and promising young officer. + +"What conduced, in a great degree, to the establishment of our intimacy +was the assistance I always received from my brother subaltern in +whatever related to my military duties. As the lieutenant of the +company, the more immediate responsibility attached to myself; but +being naturally of a careless habit, or perhaps considering all duty +irksome to my impatient nature that was not duty in the field, I was +but too often guilty of neglecting it. On these occasions my absence +was ever carefully supplied by your father, who, in all the minutiae of +regimental economy, was surpassed by no other officer in the corps; so +that credit was given to me, when, at the ordinary inspections, the +grenadiers were acknowledged to be the company the most perfect in +equipment and skilful in manoeuvre. Deeply, deeply," again mused +Wacousta, "have these services been repaid. + +"As you have just learnt, Cornwall is the country of my birth. I was +the eldest of the only two surviving children of a large family; and, +as heir to the baronetcy of the proud Mortons, was looked up to by lord +and vassal as the future perpetuator of the family name. My brother had +been designed for the army; but as this was a profession to which I had +attached my inclinations, the point was waved in my favour, and at the +age of eighteen I first joined the ---- regiment, then quartered in the +Highlands of Scotland. During my boyhood I had ever accustomed myself +to athletic exercises, and loved to excite myself by encountering +danger in its most terrific forms. Often had I passed whole days in +climbing the steep and precipitous crags which overhang the sea in the +neighbourhood of Morton Castle, ostensibly in the pursuit of the heron +or the seagull, but self-acknowledgedly for the mere pleasure of +grappling with the difficulties they opposed to me. Often, too, in the +most terrific tempests, when sea and sky have met in one black and +threatening mass, and when the startled fishermen have in vain +attempted to dissuade me from my purpose, have I ventured, in sheer +bravado, out of sight of land, and unaccompanied by a human soul. Then, +when wind and tide have been against me on my return, have I, with my +simple sculls alone, caused my faithful bark to leap through the +foaming brine as though a press of canvass had impelled her on. Oh, +that this spirit of adventure had never grown with my growth and +strengthened with my strength!" sorrowfully added the warrior, again +apostrophising himself: "then had I never been the wretch I am. + +"The wild daring by which my boyhood had been marked was again +powerfully awakened by the bold and romantic scenery of the Scottish +Highlands; and as the regiment was at that time quartered in a part of +these mountainous districts, where, from the disturbed nature of the +times, society was difficult of attainment, many of the officers were +driven from necessity, as I was from choice, to indulge in the sports +of the chase. On one occasion a party of four of us set out early in +the morning in pursuit of deer, numbers of which we knew were to be met +with in the mountainous tracts of Bute and Argyleshire. The course we +happened to take lay through a succession of dark deep glens, and over +frowning rocks; the difficulties of access to which only stirred up my +dormant spirit of enterprise the more. We had continued in this course +for many hours, overcoming one difficulty only to be encountered by +another, and yet without meeting a single deer; when, at length, the +faint blast of a horn was heard far above our heads in the distance, +and presently a noble stag was seen to ascend a ledge of rocks +immediately in front of us. To raise my gun to my shoulder and fire was +the work of a moment, after which we all followed in pursuit. On +reaching the spot where the deer had first been seen, we observed +traces of blood, satisfying us he had been wounded; but the course +taken in his flight was one that seemed to defy every human effort to +follow in. It was a narrow pointed ledge, ascending boldly towards a +huge cliff that projected frowningly from the extreme summit, and on +either side lay a dark, deep, and apparently fathomless ravine; to look +even on which was sufficient to appal the stoutest heart, and unnerve +the steadiest brain. For me, however, long accustomed to dangers of the +sort, it had no terror. This was a position in which I had often wished +once more to find myself placed, and I felt buoyant and free as the +deer itself I intended to pursue. In vain did my companions (and your +father was one) implore me to abandon a project so wild and hazardous. +I bounded forward, and they turned shuddering away, that their eyes +might not witness the destruction that awaited me. Meanwhile, balancing +my long gun in my upraised hands, I trod the dangerous path with a +buoyancy and elasticity of limb, a lightness of heart, and a +fearlessness of consequences, that surprised even myself. Perhaps it +was to the latter circumstance I owed my safety, for a single doubt of +my security might have impelled a movement that would not have failed +to have precipitated me into the yawning gulf below. I had proceeded in +this manner about five hundred yards, when I came to the termination of +the ledge, from the equally narrow transverse extremity of which +branched out three others; the whole contributing to form a figure +resembling that of a trident. Pausing here for a moment, I applied the +hunting horn, with which I was provided, to my lips. This signal, +announcing my safety, was speedily returned by my friends below in a +cheering and lively strain, that seemed to express at once surprise and +satisfaction; and inspirited by the sound, I prepared to follow up my +perilous chase. Along the ledge I had quitted I had remarked occasional +traces where the stricken deer had passed; and the same blood-spots now +directed me at a point where, but for these, I must have been utterly +at fault. The centre of these new ridges, and the narrowest, was that +taken by the animal, and on that I once more renewed my pursuit. As I +continued to advance I found the ascent became more precipitous, and +the difficulties opposed to my progress momentarily more multiplied. +Still, nothing daunted, I continued my course towards the main body of +rock that now rose within a hundred yards. How this was to be gained I +knew not; for it shelved out abruptly from the extreme summit, +overhanging the abyss, and presenting an appearance which I cannot more +properly render than by comparing it to the sounding-boards placed over +the pulpits of our English churches. Still I was resolved to persevere +to the close, and I but too unhappily succeeded." Again Wacousta +paused. A tear started to his eye, but this he impatiently brushed away +with his swarthy hand. + +"It was evident to me," he again resumed, "that there must be some +opening through which the deer had effected his escape to the +precipitous height above; and I felt a wild and fearful triumph in +following him to his cover, over passes which it was my pleasure to +think none of the hardy mountaineers themselves would have dared to +venture upon with impunity. I paused not to consider of the difficulty +of bearing away my prize, even if I succeeded in overtaking it. At +every step my excitement and determination became stronger, and I felt +every fibre of my frame to dilate, as when, in my more boyish days, I +used to brave, in my gallant skiff, the mingled fury of the warring +elements of sea and storm. Suddenly, while my mind was intent only on +the dangers I used then to hold in such light estimation, I found my +further progress intercepted by a fissure in the crag. It was not the +width of this opening that disconcerted me, for it exceeded not ten +feet; but I came upon it so unadvisedly, that, in attempting to check +my forward motion, I had nearly lost my equipoise, and fallen into the +abyss that now yawned before and on either side of me. To pause upon +the danger, would, I felt, be to ensure it. Summoning all my dexterity +into a single bound, I cleared the chasm; and with one buskined foot +(for my hunting costume was strictly Highland) clung firmly to the +ledge, while I secured my balance with the other. At this point the +rock became gradually broader, so that I now trod the remainder of the +rude path in perfect security, until I at length found myself close to +the vast mass of which these ledges were merely ramifications or veins: +but still I could discover no outlet by which the wounded deer could +have escaped. While I lingered, thoughtfully, for a moment, half in +disappointment, half in anger, and with my back leaning against the +rock, I fancied I heard a rustling, as of the leaves and branches of +underwood, on that part which projected like a canopy, far above the +abyss. I bent my eye eagerly and fixedly on the spot whence the sound +proceeded, and presently could distinguish the blue sky appearing +through an aperture, to which was, the instant afterwards, applied what +I conceived to be a human face. No sooner, however, was it seen than +withdrawn; and then the rustling of leaves was heard again, and all was +still as before. + +"Why did my evil genius so will it," resumed Wacousta, after another +pause, during which he manifested deep emotion, "that I should have +heard those sounds and seen that face? But for these I should have +returned to my companions, and my life might have been the life--the +plodding life--of the multitude; things that are born merely to crawl +through existence and die, knowing not at the moment of death why or +how they have lived at all. But who may resist the destiny that +presides over him from the cradle to the grave? for, although the mass +may be, and are, unworthy of the influencing agency of that Unseen +Power, who will presume to deny there are those on whom it stamps its +iron seal, even from the moment of their birth to that which sees all +that is mortal of them consigned to the tomb? What was it but destiny +that whispered to me what I had seen was the face of a woman? I had not +traced a feature, nor could I distinctly state that it was a human +countenance I had beheld; but mine was ever an imagination into which +the wildest improbability was scarce admitted that it did not grow into +conviction in the instant. + +"A new direction was now given to my feelings. I felt a presentiment +that my adventure, if prosecuted, would terminate in some extraordinary +and characteristic manner; and obeying, as I ever did, the first +impulse of my heart, I prepared to grapple once more with the +difficulties that yet remained to be surmounted. In order to do this, +it was necessary that my feet and hands should be utterly without +incumbrance; for it was only by dint of climbing that I could expect to +reach that part of the projecting rock to which my attention had been +directed. Securing my gun between some twisted roots that grew out of +and adhered to the main body of the rock, I commenced the difficult +ascent; and, after considerable effort, found myself at length +immediately under the aperture. My progress along the lower superficies +of this projection was like that of a crawling reptile. My back hung +suspended over the chasm, into which one false movement of hand or +foot, one yielding of the roots entwined in the rock, must inevitably +have precipitated me; and, while my toes wormed themselves into the +tortuous fibres of the latter, I passed hand over hand beyond my head, +until I had arrived within a foot or two of the point I desired to +reach. Here, however, a new difficulty occurred. A slight projection of +the rock, close to the aperture, impeded my further progress in the +manner hitherto pursued; and, to pass this, I was compelled to drop my +whole weight, suspended by one vigorous arm, while, with the other, I +separated the bushes that concealed the opening. A violent exertion of +every muscle now impelled me upward, until at length I had so far +succeeded as to introduce my head and shoulders through the aperture; +after which my final success was no longer doubtful. If I have been +thus minute in the detail of the dangerous nature of this passage," +continued Wacousta, gloomily, "it is not without reason. I would have +you to impress the whole of the localities upon your imagination, that +you may the better comprehend, from a knowledge of the risks I +incurred, how little I have merited the injuries under which I have +writhed for years." + +Again one of those painful pauses with which his narrative was so often +broken, occurred; and, with an energy that terrified her whom he +addressed, Wacousta pursued--"Clara de Haldimar, it was here--in this +garden--this paradise--this oasis of the rocks in which I now found +myself, that I first saw and loved your mother. Ha! you start: you +believe me now.--Loved her!" he continued, after another short +pause--"oh, what a feeble word is love to express the concentration of +mighty feelings that flowed like burning lava through my veins! Who +shall pretend to give a name to the emotion that ran thrillingly--madly +through my excited frame, when first I gazed on her, who, in every +attribute of womanly beauty, realised all my fondest fancy ever +painted?--Listen to me, Clara," he pursued, in a fiercer tone, and with +a convulsive pressure of the form he still encircled:--"If, in my +younger days, my mind was alive to enterprise, and loved to contemplate +danger in its most appalling forms, this was far from being the master +passion of my soul; nay, it was the strong necessity I felt of pouring +into some devoted bosom the overflowing fulness of my heart, that made +me court in solitude those positions of danger with which the image of +woman was ever associated. How often, while tossed by the raging +elements, now into the blue vault of heaven, now into the lowest gulfs +of the sea, have I madly wished to press to my bounding bosom the being +of my fancy's creation, who, all enamoured and given to her love, +should, even amid the danger that environed her, be alive but to one +consciousness,--that of being with him on whom her life's hope alone +reposed! How often, too, while bending over some dark and threatening +precipice, or standing on the utmost verge of some tall projecting +cliff, my aching head (aching with the intenseness of its own +conceptions) bared to the angry storm, and my eye fixed unshrinkingly +on the boiling ocean far beneath my feet, has my whole soul--my every +faculty, been bent on that ideal beauty which controlled every sense! +Oh, imagination, how tyrannical is thy sway--how exclusive thy +power--how insatiable thy thirst! Surrounded by living beauty, I was +insensible to its influence; for, with all the perfection that reality +can attain on earth, there was ever to be found some deficiency, either +physical or moral, that defaced the symmetry and destroyed the +loveliness of the whole; but, no sooner didst thou, with magic wand, +conjure up one of thy embodiments, than my heart became a sea of flame, +and was consumed in the vastness of its own fires. + +"It was in vain that my family sought to awaken me to a sense of the +acknowledged loveliness of the daughters of more than one ancient house +in the county, with one of whom an alliance was, in many respects, +considered desirable. Their beauty, or rather their whole, was +insufficient to stir up into madness the dormant passions of my nature; +and although my breast was like a glowing furnace, in which fancy cast +all the more exciting images of her coinage to secure the last impress +of the heart's approval, my outward deportment to some of the fairest +and loveliest of earth's realities was that of one on whom the +influence of woman's beauty could have no power. From my earliest +boyhood I had loved to give the rein to these feelings, until they at +length rendered me their slave. Woman was the idol that lay enshrined +within my inmost heart; but it was woman such as I had not yet met +with, yet felt must somewhere exist in the creation. For her I could +have resigned title, fortune, family, every thing that is dear to man, +save the life, through which alone the reward of such sacrifice could +have been tasted, and to this phantom I had already yielded up all the +manlier energies of my nature; but, deeply as I felt the necessity of +loving something less unreal, up to the moment of my joining the +regiment, my heart had never once throbbed for created woman. + +"I have already said that, on gaining the summit of the rock, I found +myself in a sort of oasis of the mountains. It was so. Belted on every +hand by bold and precipitous crags, that seemed to defy the approach +even of the wildest animals, and putting utterly at fault the +penetration and curiosity of man, was spread a carpet of verdure, a +luxuriance of vegetation, that might have put to shame the fertility of +the soft breeze-nourished valleys of Italy and Southern France. Time, +however, is not given me to dwell on the mingled beauty and wildness of +a scene, so consonant with my ideas of the romantic and the +picturesque. Let me rather recur to her (although my heart be lacerated +once more in the recollection) who was the presiding deity of the +whole,--the being after whom, had I had the fabled power of Prometheus, +I should have formed and animated the sharer of that sweet wild +solitude, nor once felt that fancy, to whom I was so largely a debtor, +had in aught been cheated of what she had, for a series of years, so +rigidly claimed. + +"At about twenty yards from the aperture, and on a bank, formed of +turf, covered with moss, and interspersed with roses and honeysuckles, +sat this divinity of the oasis. She, too, was clad in the Highland +dress, which gave an air of wildness and elegance to her figure that +was in classic harmony with the surrounding scenery. At the moment of +my appearance she was in the act of dressing the wounded shoulder of a +stag, that had recently been shot; and from the broad tartan riband I +perceived attached to its neck, added to the fact of the tameness of +the animal, I presumed that this stag, evidently a favourite of its +mistress, was the same I had fired at and wounded. The rustling I made +among the bushes had attracted her attention; she raised her eyes from +the deer, and, beholding me, started to her feet, uttering a cry of +terror and surprise. Fearing to speak, as if the sound of my own voice +were sufficient to dispel the illusion that fascinated both eye and +heart into delicious tension on her form, yet with my soul kindled into +all that wild uncontrollable love which had been the accumulation of +years of passionate imagining, I stood for some moments as motionless +as the rock out of which I appeared to grow. It seemed as though I had +not the power to think or act, so fully was every faculty of my being +filled with the consciousness that I at length gazed upon her I was +destined to love for ever. + +"It was this utter immobility on my own part, that ensured me a +continuance of the exquisite happiness I then enjoyed. The first +movement of the startled girl had been to fly towards her dwelling, +which stood at a short distance, half imbedded in the same clustering +roses and honey-suckles that adorned her bank of moss; but when she +remarked my utter stillness, and apparent absence of purpose, she +checked the impulse that would have directed her departure, and +stopped, half in curiosity, half in fear, to examine me once more. At +that moment all my energies appeared to be restored; I threw myself +into an attitude expressive of deep contrition for the intrusion of +which I had been unconsciously guilty, and dropping on one knee, and +raising my clasped hands, inclined them towards her in token of mingled +deprecation of her anger, and respectful homage to herself. At first +she hesitated,--then gradually and timidly retrod her way to the seat +she had so abruptly quitted in her alarm. Emboldened by this movement, +I made a step or two in advance, but no sooner had I done so than she +again took to flight. Once more, however, she turned to behold me, and +again I had dropped on my knee, and was conjuring her, with the same +signs, to remain and bless me with her presence. Again she returned to +her seat, and again I advanced. Scarcely less timid, however, than the +deer, which followed her every movement, she fled a third time,--a +third time looked back, and was again induced, by my supplicating +manner, to return. Frequently was this repeated, before I finally found +myself at the feet, and pressing the hand--(oh God! what torture in the +recollection!)--yes, pressing the hand of her for whose smile I would, +even at that moment, have sacrificed my soul; and every time she fled, +the classic disposition of her graceful limbs, and her whole natural +attitude of alarm, could only be compared with those of one of the +huntresses of Diana, intruded on in her woodland privacy by the +unhallowed presence of some daring mortal. Such was your mother, Clara +de Haldimar; yes, even such as I have described her was Clara Beverley." + +Again Wacousta paused, and his pause was longer than usual, as, with +his large hand again covering his face, he seemed endeavouring to +master the feelings which these recollections had called up. Clara +scarcely breathed. Unmindful of her own desolate position, her soul was +intent only on a history that related so immediately to her beloved +mother, of whom all that she had hitherto known was, that she was a +native of Scotland, and that her father had married her while quartered +in that country. The deep emotion of the terrible being before her, so +often manifested in the course of what he had already given of his +recital, added to her knowledge of the facts just named, scarcely left +a doubt of the truth of his statement on her mind. Her ear was now bent +achingly towards him, in expectation of a continuance of his history, +but he still remained in the same attitude of absorption. An +irresistible impulse caused her to extend her hand, and remove his own +from his eyes: they were filled with tears; and even while her mind +rapidly embraced the hope that this manifestation of tenderness was but +the dawning of mercy towards the children of her he had once loved, her +kind nature could not avoid sympathizing with him, whose uncouthness of +appearance and savageness of nature was, in some measure, lost sight of +in the fact of the powerful love he yet apparently acknowledged. + +But no sooner did Wacousta feel the soft pressure of her hand, and meet +her eyes turned on his with an expression of interest, than the most +rapid transition was effected in his feelings. He drew the form of the +weakly resisting girl closer to his heart; again imprinted a kiss upon +her lips; and then, while every muscle in his iron frame seemed +quivering with emotion, exclaimed,--"By Heaven! that touch, that +glance, were Clara Beverley's all over! Oh, let me linger on the +recollection, even such as they were, when her arms first opened to +receive me in that sweet oasis of the Highlands. Yes, Clara," he +proceeded more deliberately, as he scanned her form with an eye that +made her shudder, "such as your mother was, so are you; the same +delicacy of proportion; the same graceful curvature of limb, only less +rounded, less womanly. But you must be younger by about two years than +she then was. Your age cannot exceed seventeen; and time will supply +what your mere girlhood renders you deficient in." + +There was a cool licence of speech--a startling freedom of manner--in +the latter part of this address, that disappointed not less than it +pained and offended the unhappy Clara. It seemed to her as if the +illusion she had just created, were already dispelled by his language, +even as her own momentary interest in the fierce man had also been +destroyed from the same cause. She shuddered; and sighing bitterly, +suffered her tears to force themselves through her closed lids upon her +pallid cheek. This change in her appearance seemed to act as a check on +the temporary excitement of Wacousta. Again obeying one of these rapid +transitions of feeling, for which he was remarkable, he once more +assumed an expression of seriousness, and thus continued his narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"It boots not now, Clara, to enter upon all that succeeded to my first +introduction to your mother. It would take long to relate, not the +gradations of our passion, for that was like the whirlwind of the +desert, sudden and devastating from the first; but the burning vow, the +plighted faith, the reposing confidence, the unchecked abandonment that +flew from the lips, and filled the heart of each, sealed, as they were, +with kisses, long, deep, enervating, even such as I had ever pictured +that divine pledge of human affection should be. Yes, Clara de +Haldimar, your mother was the child of nature THEN. Unspoiled by the +forms, unvitiated by the sophistries of a world with which she had +never mixed, her intelligent innocence made the most artless avowals to +my enraptured ear,--avowals that the more profligate minded woman of +society would have blushed to whisper even to herself. And for these I +loved her to my own undoing. + +"Blind vanity, inconceivable folly!" continued Wacousta, again pressing +his forehead with force; "how could I be so infatuated as not to +perceive, that although her heart was filled with a new and delicious +passion, it was less the individual than the man she loved. And how +could it be otherwise, since I was the first, beside her father, she +had ever seen or recollected to have seen? Still, Clara de Haldimar," +he pursued, with haughty energy, "I was not always the rugged being I +now appear. Of surpassing strength I had ever been, and fleet of foot, +but not then had I attained to my present gigantic stature; neither was +my form endowed with the same Herculean rudeness; nor did my complexion +wear the swarthy hue of the savage; nor had my features been rendered +repulsive, from the perpetual action of those fierce passions which +have since assailed my soul. My physical faculties had not yet been +developed to their present grossness of maturity, neither had my moral +energies acquired that tone of ferocity which often renders me hideous, +even in my own eyes. In a word, the milk of my nature (for, with all my +impetuosity of character, I was generous-hearted and kind) had not yet +been turned to gall by villainy and deceit. My form had then all that +might attract--my manners all that might win--my enthusiasm of speech +all that might persuade--and my heart all that might interest a girl +fashioned after nature's manner, and tutored in nature's school. In the +regiment, I was called the handsome grenadier; but there was another +handsomer than I,--a sly, insidious, wheedling, false, remorseless +villain. That villain, Clara de Haldimar, was your father. + +"But wherefore," continued Wacousta, chafing with the recollection, +"wherefore do I, like a vain and puling schoolboy, enter into this +abasing contrast of personal advantages? The proud eagle soars not more +above the craven kite, than did my soul, in all that was manly and +generous, above that of yon false governor; and who should have prized +those qualities, if it were not the woman who, bred in solitude, and +taught by fancy to love all that was generous and noble in the heart of +man, should have considered mere beauty of feature as dust in the +scale, when opposed to sentiments which can invest even deformity with +loveliness? In all this I may appear vain; I am only just. + +"I have said that your mother had been brought up in solitude, and +without having seen the face of another man than her father. Such was +the case;--Colonel Beverley, of English name, but Scottish connections, +was an old gentleman of considerable eccentricity of character. He had +taken a part in the rebellion of 1715; but sick and disgusted with an +issue by which his fortunes had been affected, and heart-broken by the +loss of a beloved wife, whose death had been accelerated by +circumstances connected with the disturbed nature of the times, he had +resolved to bury himself and child in some wild, where the face of man, +whom he loathed, might no more offend his sight. This oasis of the +mountains was the spot selected for his purpose; for he had discovered +it some years previously, on an occasion, when, closely pursued by some +of the English troops, and separated from his followers, he had only +effected his escape by venturing on the ledges of rock I have already +described. After minute subsequent search, at the opposite extremity of +the oblong belt of rocks that shut it in on every hand, he had +discovered an opening, through which the transport of such necessaries +as were essential to his object might be effected; and, causing one of +his dwelling houses to be pulled down, he had the materials carried +across the rocks on the shoulders of the men employed to re-erect them +in his chosen solitude. A few months served to complete these +arrangements, which included a garden abounding in every fruit and +flower that could possibly live in so elevated a region; and; this, in +time, under his own culture, and that of his daughter, became the Eden +it first appeared to me. + +"Previous to their entering on this employment, the workmen had been +severally sworn to secrecy; and when all was declared ready for his +reception, the colonel summoned them a second time to his presence; +when, after making a handsome present to each, in addition to his hire, +he found no difficulty in prevailing on them to renew their oath that +they would preserve the most scrupulous silence in regard to the place +of his retreat. He then took advantage of a dark and tempestuous night +to execute his project; and, attended only by an old woman and her +daughter, faithful dependants of the family, set out in quest of his +new abode, leaving all his neighbours to discuss and marvel at the +singularity of his disappearance. True to his text, however, not even a +boy was admitted into his household: and here they had continued to +live, unseeing and unseen by man, except when a solitary and distant +mountaineer occasionally flitted among the rocks below in pursuit of +his game. Fruits and vegetables composed their principal diet; but once +a fortnight the old woman was dispatched through the opening already +mentioned, which was at other times so secured by her master, that no +hand but his own could remove the intricate fastenings. This expedition +had for its object the purchase of bread and animal food at the nearest +market; and every time she sallied forth an oath was administered to +the crone, the purport of which was, not only that she would return, +unless prevented by violence or death, but that she would not answer +any questions put to her, as to who she was, whence she came, or for +whom the fruits of her marketing were intended. + +"Meanwhile, wrapped up in his books, which were chiefly classic +authors, or writers on abstruse sciences, the misanthropical colonel +paid little or no attention to the cultivation of the intellect of his +daughter, whom he had merely instructed in the elementary branches of +education; in all which, however, she evinced an aptitude and +perfectability that indicated quickness of genius and a capability of +far higher attainments. Books he principally withheld from her, because +they brought the image of man, whom he hated, and wished she should +also hate, too often in flattering colours before her; and had any work +treating of love been found to have crept accidentally into his own +collection, it would instantly and indignantly have been committed to +the flames. + +"Thus left to the action of her own heart--the guidance of her own +feelings--it was but natural your mother should have suffered her +imagination to repose on an ideal happiness, which, although in some +degree destitute of shape and character, was still powerfully felt. +Nature is too imperious a law-giver to be thwarted in her dictates; and +however we may seek to stifle it, her inextinguishable voice will make +itself heard, whether it be in the lonely desert or in the crowded +capital. Possessed of a glowing heart and warm sensibilities, Clara +Beverley felt the energies of her being had not been given to her to be +wasted on herself. In her dreams by night, and her thoughts by day, she +had pictured a being endowed with those attributes which were the fruit +of her own fertility of conception. If she plucked a flower, (and all +this she admitted at our first interview," groaned Wacousta,) "she was +sensible of the absence of one to whom that flower might be given. If +she gazed at the star-studded canopy of heaven, or bent her head over +the frowning precipices by which she was every where surrounded, she +felt the absence of him with whom she could share the enthusiasm +excited by the contemplation of the one, and to whom she could impart +the mingled terror and admiration produced by the dizzying depths of +the other. What dear acknowledgments (alas! too deceitful,) flowed from +her guileless lips, even during that first interview. With a candour +and unreservedness that spring alone from unsophisticated manners and +an untainted heart, she admitted, that the instant she beheld me, she +felt she had found the being her fancy had been so long tutored to +linger on, and her heart to love. She was sure I was come to be her +husband (for she had understood from her aged attendant that a man who +loved a woman wished to be her husband); and she was glad her pet stag +had been wounded, since it had been the means of procuring her such +happiness. She was not cruel enough to take pleasure in the sufferings +of the poor animal; for she would nurse it, and it would soon be well +again; but she could not help rejoicing in its disaster, since that +circumstance had been the cause of my finding her out, and loving her +even as she loved me. And all this was said with her head reclining on +my chest, and her beautiful countenance irradiated with a glow that had +something divine in the simplicity of purpose it expressed. + +"On my demanding to know whether it was not her face I had seen at the +opening in the cliff, she replied that it was. Her stag often played +the truant, and passed whole hours away from her, rambling beyond the +precincts of the solitude that contained its mistress; but no sooner +was the small silver bugle, which she wore across her shoulder, applied +to her lips, than 'Fidelity' (thus she had named him) was certain to +obey the call, and to come bounding up the line of cliff to the main +rock, into which it effected its entrance at a point that had escaped +my notice. It was her bugle I had heard in the course of my pursuit of +the animal; and, from the aperture through which I had effected my +entrance, she had looked out to see who was the audacious hunter she +had previously observed threading a passage, along which her stag +itself never appeared without exciting terror in her bosom. The first +glimpse she had caught of my form was at the moment when, after having +sounded my own bugle, I cleared the chasm; and this was a leap she had +so often trembled to see taken by 'Fidelity,' that she turned away and +shuddered when she saw it fearlessly adventured on by a human being. A +feeling of curiosity had afterwards induced her to return and see if +the bold hunter had cleared the gulf, or perished in his mad attempt; +but when she looked outward from the highest pinnacle of her rocky +prison, she could discover no traces of him whatever. It then occurred +to her, that, if successful in his leap, his progress must have been +finally arrested by the impassable rock that terminated the ridge; in +which case she might perchance obtain a nearer sight of his person. +With this view she had removed the bushes enshrouding the aperture; +and, bending low to the earth, thrust her head partially through it. +Scarcely had she done so, however, when she beheld me immediately, +though far beneath her, with my back reposing against the rock, and my +eyes apparently fixed on hers. + +"Filled with a variety of opposite sentiments, among which unfeigned +alarm was predominant, she had instantaneously removed her head; and, +closing the aperture as noiselessly as possible, returned to the +moss-covered seat on which I had first surprised her; where, while she +applied dressings of herbs to the wound of her favourite, she suffered +her mind to ruminate on the singularity of the appearance of a man so +immediately in the vicinity of their retreat. The supposed +impracticability of the ascent I had accomplished, satisfied, even +while (as she admitted) it disappointed her. I must of necessity +retrace my way over the dangerous ridge. Great, therefore, was her +surprise, when, after having been attracted by the rustling noise of +the bushes over the aperture, she presently saw the figure of the same +hunter emerge from the abyss it overhung. Terror had winged her flight; +but it was terror mingled with a delicious emotion entirely new to her. +It was that emotion, momentarily increasing in power, that induced her +to pause, look back, hesitate in her course, and finally be won, by my +supplicating manner, to return and bless me with her presence. + +"Two long and delicious hours," pursued Wacousta, after another painful +pause of some moments, "did we pass in this manner; exchanging thought, +and speech, and heart, as if the term of our acquaintance had been +coeval with the first dawn of our intellectual life; when suddenly a +small silver toned bell was heard from the direction of the house, hid +from the spot--on which we sat by the luxuriant foliage of an +intervening laburnum. This sound seemed to dissipate the dreamy calm +that had wrapped the soul of your mother into forgetfulness. She +started suddenly up, and bade me, if I loved her, begone; as that bell +announced her required attendance on her father, who, now awakened from +the mid-day slumber in which he ever indulged, was about to take his +accustomed walk around the grounds; which was little else, in fact, +than a close inspection of the walls of his natural castle. I rose to +obey her; our eyes met, and she threw herself into my extended arms. We +whispered anew our vows of eternal love. She called me her husband, and +I pronounced the endearing name of wife. A burning kiss sealed the +compact; and, on her archly observing that the sleep of her father +continued about two hours at noon, and that the old woman and her +daughter were always occupied within doors, I promised to repeat my +visit every second day until she finally quitted her retreat to be my +own for life. Again the bell was rung; and this time with a violence +that indicated impatience of delay. I tore myself from her arms, darted +to the aperture, and kissing my hand in reply to the graceful waving of +her scarf as she half turned in her own flight, sunk finally from her +view; and at length, after making the same efforts, and mastering the +same obstacles that had marked and opposed my advance, once more found +myself at the point whence I had set out in pursuit of the wounded deer. + +"Many were the congratulations I received from my companions, whom I +found waiting my return. They had endured the three hours of my absence +with intolerable anxiety and alarm; until, almost despairing of +beholding me again, they had resolved on going back without me. They +said they had repeatedly sounded their horns; but meeting with no +answer from mine, had been compelled to infer either that I had strayed +to a point whence return to them was impracticable, or that I must have +perished in the abyss. I readily gave in to the former idea; stating I +had been led by the traces of the wounded deer to a considerable +distance, and over passes which it had proved a work of time and +difficulty to surmount, yet without securing my spoil. All this time +there was a glow of animation on my cheek, and a buoyancy of spirit in +my speech, that accorded ill, the first, with the fatigue one might +have been supposed to experience in so perilous a chase; the second, +with the disappointment attending its result. Your father, ever cool +and quick of penetration, was the first to observe this; and when he +significantly remarked, that, to judge from my satisfied countenance, +my time had been devoted to the pursuit of more interesting game, I +felt for a moment as if he was actually master of my secret, and was +sensible my features underwent a change. I, however, parried the +attack, by replying indifferently, that if he should have the hardihood +to encounter the same dangers, he would, if successful, require no +other prompter than the joy of self-preservation to lend the same glow +of satisfaction to his own features. Nothing further was said on the +subject; but conversing on indifferent topics, we again threaded the +mazes of rock and underwood we had passed at an early hour, and finally +gained the town in which we were quartered. + +"During dinner, as on our way home, although my voice occasionally +mixed with the voices of my companions, my heart was far away, and full +of the wild but innocent happiness in which it had luxuriated. At +length, the more freely to indulge in the recollection, I stole at an +early hour from the mess-room, and repaired to my own apartments. In +the course of the morning, I had hastily sketched an outline of your +mother's features in pencil, with a view to assist me in the design of +a miniature I purposed painting from memory. This was an amusement of +which I was extremely and in which I had attained considerable +excellence; being enabled, from memory alone, to give a most correct +representation of any object that particularly fixed my attention. She +had declared utter ignorance of the art herself, her father having +studiously avoided instructing her in it from some unexplained motive; +yet as she expressed the most unbounded admiration of those who +possessed it, it was my intention to surprise her with a highly +finished likeness of herself at my next visit. With this view I now set +to work; and made such progress, that before I retired to rest I had +completed all but the finishing touches, to which I purposed devoting a +leisure hour or two by daylight on the morrow. + +"While occupied the second day in its completion, it occurred to me I +was in orders for duty on the following, which was that of my promised +visit to the oasis; and I despatched my servant with my compliments to +your father, and a request that he would be so obliging as to take my +guard for me on the morrow, and I would perform his duty when next his +name appeared on the roster. Some time afterwards I heard the door of +the room in which I sat open, and some one enter. Presuming it to be my +servant, returned from the execution of the message with which he had +just been charged, I paid no attention to the circumstance; but +finding, presently, he did not speak, I turned round with a view of +demanding what answer he had brought. To my surprise, however, I beheld +not my servant, but your father. He was standing looking over my +shoulder at the work on which I was engaged; and notwithstanding in the +instant he resumed the cold, quiet, smirking look that usually +distinguished him, I thought I could trace the evidence of some deep +emotion which my action had suddenly dispelled. He apologised for his +intrusion, although we were on those terms that rendered apology +unnecessary, but said he had just received my message, and preferred +coming in person to assure me how happy he should feel to take my duty, +or to render me any other service in his power. I thought he laid +unusual emphasis on the last sentence; yet I thanked him warmly, +stating that the only service I should now exact of him would be to +take my guard, as I was compelled to be absent nearly the whole of the +following morning. He observed, with a smile, he hoped I was not going +to venture my neck on those dangerous precipices a second time, after +the narrow escape I had had on the preceding day. As he spoke, I +thought his eye met mine with a sly yet scrutinizing glance; and, not +wishing to reply immediately to his question, I asked him what he +thought of the work with which I was endeavouring to beguile an idle +hour. He took it up, and I watched the expression of his handsome +countenance with the anxiety of a lover who wishes that all should +think his mistress beautiful as he does himself. It betrayed a very +indefinite sort of admiration; and yet it struck me there was an +eagerness in his dilating eye that contrasted strongly with the calm +and unconcern of his other features. At length I asked him, laughingly, +what he thought of my Cornish cousin. He replied, cautiously enough, +that since it was the likeness of a cousin, and he dwelt emphatically +on the word, he could not fail to admire it. Candour, however, +compelled him to admit, that had I not declared the original to be one +so closely connected with me, he should have said the talent of so +perfect an artist might have been better employed. Whatever, however, +his opinion of the lady might be, there could be no question that the +painting was exquisite; yet, he confessed, he could not but be struck +with the singularity of the fact of a Cornish girl appearing in the +full costume of a female Highlander. This, I replied, was mere matter +of fancy and association, arising from my having been so much latterly +in the habit of seeing that dress principally worn. He smiled one of +his then damnable soft smiles of assent, and here the conversation +terminated, and he left me. + +"The next day saw me again at the side of your mother, who received me +with the same artless demonstrations of affection. There was a mellowed +softness in her countenance, and a tender languor in her eye, I had not +remarked the preceding day. Then there was more of the vivacity and +playfulness of the young girl; now, more of the deep fervour and the +composed serenity of the thoughtful woman. This change was too +consonant to my taste--too flattering to my self-love--not to be +rejoiced in; and as I pressed her yielding form in silent rapture to my +own, I more than ever felt she was indeed the being for whom my glowing +heart had so long yearned. After the first full and unreserved +interchange of our souls' best feelings, our conversation turned upon +lighter topics; and I took an opportunity to produce the fruit of my +application since we had parted. Never shall I forget the surprise and +delight that animated her beautiful countenance when first she gazed +upon the miniature. The likeness was perfect, even to the minutest +shading of her costume; and so forcibly and even childishly did this +strike her, that it was with difficulty I could persuade her she was +not gazing on some peculiar description of mirror that reflected back +her living image. She expressed a strong desire to retain it; and to +this I readily assented: stipulating only to retain it until my next +visit, in order that I might take an exact copy for myself. With a look +of the fondest love, accompanied by a pressure on mine of lips that +distilled dewy fragrance where they rested, she thanked me for a gift +which she said would remind her, in absence, of the fidelity with which +her features had been engraven on my heart. She admitted, moreover, +with a sweet blush, that she herself had not been idle. Although her +pencil could not call up my image in the same manner, her pen had +better repaid her exertions; and, in return for the portrait, she would +give me a letter she had written to beguile her loneliness on the +preceding day. As she spoke she drew a sealed packet from the bosom of +her dress, and placing it in my hand, desired me not to read it until I +had returned to my home. But there was an expression of sweet confusion +in her lovely countenance, and a trepidation in her manner, that, half +disclosing the truth, rendered me utterly impatient of the delay +imposed; and eagerly breaking the seal, I devoured rather than read its +contents. + +"Accursed madness of recollection!" pursued Wacousta, again striking +his brow violently with his hand,--"why is it that I ever feel thus +unmanned while recurring to those letters? Oh! Clara de Haldimar, never +did woman pen to man such declarations of tenderness and attachment as +that too dear but faithless letter of your mother contained. Words of +fire, emanating from the guilelessness of innocence, glowed in every +line; and yet every sentence breathed an utter unconsciousness of the +effect those words were likely to produce. Mad, wild, intoxicated, I +read the letter but half through; and, as it fell from my trembling +hand, my eye turned, beaming with the fires of a thousand emotions, +upon that of the worshipped writer. That glance was more than her own +could meet. A new consciousness seemed to be stirred up in her soul. +Her eye dropped beneath its long and silken fringe--her cheek became +crimson--her bosom heaved--and, all confidingness, she sank her head +upon my chest, which heaved scarcely less wildly than her own. + +"Had I been a cold-blooded villain--a selfish and remorseless seducer," +continued Wacousta with vehemence--"what was to have prevented my +triumph at that moment? But I came not to blight the flower that had +long been nurtured, though unseen, with the life-blood of my own being. +Whatever I may be NOW, I was THEN the soul of disinterestedness and +honour; and had she reposed on the bosom of her own father, that +devoted and unresisting girl could not have been pressed there with +holier tenderness. But even to this there was too soon a term. The hour +of parting at length arrived, announced, as before, by the small bell +of her father, and I again tore myself from her arms; not, however, +without first securing the treasured letter, and obtaining a promise +from your mother that I should receive another at each succeeding +visit." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +"Nearly a month passed away in this manner; and at each interview our +affection seemed to increase. The days of our meeting were ever days of +pure and unalloyed happiness; while the alternate ones of absence were, +on my part, occupied chiefly with reading the glowing letters given me +at each parting by your mother. Of all these, however, there was not +one so impassioned, so natural, so every way devoted, as the first. Not +that she who wrote them felt less, but that the emotion excited in her +bosom by the manifestation of mine on that occasion, had imparted a +diffidence to her style of expression, plainly indicating the source +whence it sprung. + +"One day, while preparing to set out on my customary excursion, a +report suddenly reached me that the route had arrived for the regiment, +who were to march from ---- within three days. This intelligence I +received with inconceivable delight; for it had been settled between +your mother and myself, that this should be the moment chosen for her +departure. It was not to be supposed (and I should have been both +pained and disappointed had it been otherwise,) that she would consent +to abandon her parent without some degree of regret; but, having +foreseen this objection from the first, I had gradually prepared her +for the sacrifice. This was the less difficult, as he appeared never to +have treated her with affection,--seldom with the marked favour that +might have been presumed to distinguish the manner of a father towards +a lovely and only daughter. Living for himself and the indulgence of +his misanthropy alone, he cared little for the immolation of his +child's happiness on its unhallowed shrine; and this was an act of +injustice I had particularly dwelt upon; upheld in truth, as it was, by +the knowledge she herself possessed, that no consideration could induce +him to bestow her hand on any one individual of a race he so cordially +detested; and this was not without considerable weight in her decision. + +"With a glowing cheek, and a countenance radiant with happiness, did +your mother receive my proposal to prepare for her departure on the +following day. She was sufficiently aware, even through what I had +stated myself, that there were certain ceremonies of the Church to be +performed, in order to give sanctity to our union, and ensure her own +personal respectability in the world; and these, I told her, would be +solemnised by the chaplain of the regiment. She implicitly confided in +me; and she was right; for I loved her too well to make her my +mistress, while no barrier existed to her claim to a dearer title. And +had she been the daughter of a peasant, instead of a high-born +gentleman, finding her as I had found her, and loving her as I did love +her, I should have acted precisely in the same way. + +"The only difficulty that now occurred was the manner of her flight. +The opening before alluded to as being the point whence the old woman +made her weekly sally to the market town, was of so intricate and +labyrinthian a character that none but the colonel understood the +secret of its fastenings; and the bare thought of my venturing with her +on the route by which I had hitherto made my entry into the oasis, was +one that curdled my blood with fear. I could absolutely feel my flesh +to contract whenever I painted the terrible risk that would be incurred +in adopting a plan I had once conceived,--namely, that of lashing your +mother to my back, while I again effected my descent to the ledge +beneath, in the manner I had hitherto done. I felt that, once on the +ridge, I might, without much effort, attain the passage of the fissure +already described; for the habit of accomplishing this leap had +rendered it so perfectly familiar to me, that I now performed it with +the utmost security and ease; but to imagine our united weight +suspended over the abyss, as it necessarily must be in the first stage +of our flight, when even the dislodgment of a single root or fragment +of the rock was sufficient to ensure the horrible destruction of her +whom I loved better than my own life, had something too appalling in it +to suffer me to dwell on the idea for more than a moment. I had +proposed, as the most feasible and rational plan, that the colonel +should be compelled to give us egress through the secret passage, when +we might command the services of the old woman to guide us through the +passes that led to the town; but to this your mother most urgently +objected, declaring that she would rather encounter any personal peril +that might attend her escape, in a different manner, than appear to be +a participator in an act of violence against her parent whose obstinacy +of character she moreover knew too well to leave a hope of his being +intimidated into the accomplishment of our object, even by a threat of +death itself. This plan I was therefore compelled to abandon; and as +neither of us were able to discover the passage by which the deer +always effected its entrance, I was obliged to fix upon one, which it +was agreed should be put in practice on the following day. + +"On my return, I occupied myself with preparations for the reception of +her who was so speedily to become my wife. Unwilling that she should be +seen by any of my companions, until the ceremony was finally performed, +I engaged apartments in a small retired cottage, distant about half a +mile from the furthest extremity of the town, where I purposed she +should remain until the regiment finally quitted the station. This +point secured, I hastened to the quarters of the chaplain, to engage +his services for the following evening; but he was from home at the +time, and I repaired to my own rooms, to prepare the means of escape +for your mother. These occupied me until a very late hour; and when at +length I retired to rest, it was only to indulge in the fondest +imaginings that ever filled the heart of a devoted lover. Alas! (and +the dark warrior again sighed heavily) the day-dream of my happiness +was already fast drawing to a close. + +"At half an hour before noon, I was again in the oasis; your mother was +at the wonted spot; and although she received me with her sunniest +smiles, there were traces of tears upon her cheek. I kissed them +eagerly away, and sought to dissipate the partial gloom that was again +clouding her brow. She observed it pained me to see her thus, and she +made a greater effort to rally. She implored me to forgive her +weakness; but it was the first time she was to be separated from her +parent; and conscious as she was that it was to be for ever, she could +not repress the feeling that rose, despite of herself, to her heart. +She had, however, prepared a letter, at my suggestion, to be left on +her favourite moss seat, where it was likely she would first be sought +by her father, to assure him of her safety, and of her prospects of +future happiness; and the consciousness that he would labour under no +harrowing uncertainty in regard to her fate, seemed, at length, to +soothe and satisfy her heart. + +"I now led her to the aperture, where I had left the apparatus provided +for my purpose: this consisted of a close netting, about four feet in +depth, with a board for a footstool at the bottom, and furnished at +intervals with hoops, so as to keep it full and open. The top of this +netting was provided with two handles, to which were attached the ends +of a cord many fathoms in length; the whole of such durability, as to +have borne weights equal to those of three ordinary sized men, with +which I had proved it prior to my setting out. My first care was to +bandage the eyes of your mother, (who willingly and fearlessly +submitted to all I proposed,) that she might not see, and become faint +with seeing, the terrible chasm over which she was about to be +suspended. I then placed her within the netting, which, fitting closely +to her person, and reaching under her arms, completely secured her; and +my next urgent request was, that she would not, on any account, remove +the bandage, or make the slightest movement, when she found herself +stationary below, until I had joined her. I then dropped her gently +through the aperture, lowering fathom after fathom of the rope, the +ends of which I had firmly secured round the trunk of a tree, as an +additional safeguard, until she finally came on a level with that part +of the cliff on which I had reposed when first she beheld me. As she +still hung immediately over the abyss, it was necessary to give a +gradual impetus to her weight, to enable her to gain the landing-place. +I now, therefore, commenced swinging her to and fro, until she at +length came so near the point desired, that I clearly saw the principal +difficulty was surmounted. The necessary motion having been given to +the balance, with one vigorous and final impulsion I dexterously +contrived to deposit her several feet from the edge of the lower rock, +when, slackening the rope on the instant, I had the inexpressible +satisfaction to see that she remained firm and stationary. The waving +of her scarf immediately afterwards (a signal previously agreed upon), +announced she had sustained no injury in this rather rude collision +with the rock, and I in turn commenced my descent. + +"Fearing to cast away the ends of the rope, lest their weight should by +any chance effect the balance of the footing your mother had obtained, +I now secured them around my loins, and accomplishing my descent in the +customary manner, speedily found myself once more at the side of my +heart's dearest treasure. Here the transport of my joy was too great to +be controlled; I felt that NOW my prize was indeed secured to me for +ever; and I burst forth into the most passionate exclamations of +tenderness, and falling on my knees, raised my hands to Heaven in +fervent gratitude for the success with which my enterprise had been +crowned. Another would have been discouraged at the difficulties still +remaining; but with these I was become too familiar, not to feel the +utmost confidence in encountering them, even with the treasure that was +equally perilled with myself. For a moment I removed the bandage from +the eyes of your mother, that she might behold not only the far distant +point whence she had descended, but the frowning precipice I had daily +been in the habit of climbing to be blest with her presence. She did +so,--and her cheek paled, for the first time, with a sense of the +danger I had incurred; then turning her soft and beautiful eyes on +mine, she smiled a smile that seemed to express how much her love would +repay me. Again our lips met, and we were happy even in that lonely +spot, beyond all language to describe. Once more, at length, I prepared +to execute the remainder of my task; and I again applied the bandage to +her eyes, saying that, although the principal danger was over, still +there was another I could not bear she should look upon. Again she +smiled, and with a touching sweetness of expression that fired my +blood, observing at the same time she feared no danger while she was +with me, but that if my object was to prevent her from looking at me, +the most efficient way certainly was to apply a bandage to her eyes. +Oh! woman, woman!" groaned Wacousta, in fierce anguish of spirit, "who +shall expound the complex riddle of thy versatile nature? + +"Disengaging the rope from the handles of the netting, I now applied to +these a broad leathern belt taken from the pouches of two of my men, +and stooping with my back to the cherished burden with which I was +about to charge myself, passed the centre of the belt across my chest, +much in the manner in which, as you are aware, Indian women carry their +infant children. As an additional precaution, I had secured the netting +round my waist by a strong lacing of cord, and then raising myself to +my full height, and satisfying myself of the perfect freedom of action +of my limbs, seized a long balancing pole I had left suspended against +the rock at my last visit, and commenced my descent of the sloping +ridge. On approaching the horrible chasm, a feeling of faintness came +over me, despite of the confidence with which I had previously armed +myself. This, however, was but momentary. Sensible that every thing +depended on rapidity of movement, I paused not in my course; but, +quickening my pace as I gradually drew nearer, gave the necessary +impetus to my motion, and cleared the gap with a facility far exceeding +what had distinguished my first passage, and which was the fruit of +constant practice alone. Here my balance was sustained by the pole; and +at length I had the inexpressible satisfaction to find myself at the +very extremity of the ridge, and immediately at the point where I had +left my companions in my first memorable pursuit. Alas!" continued the +warrior, again interrupting himself with one of those fierce +exclamations of impatient anguish that so frequently occurred in his +narrative, "what subject for rejoicing was there in this? Better far we +had been dashed to pieces in the abyss, than I should have lived to +curse the hour when first my spirit of adventure led me to traverse +it." Again he resumed:-- + +"In the deep transport of my joy, I once more threw myself on my knees +in speechless thanksgiving to Providence for the complete success of my +undertaking. Your mother, whom I had previously released from her +confinement, did the same; and at that moment the union of our hearts +seemed to be cemented by a divine influence, manifested in the fulness +of the gratitude of each. I then raised her from the earth, imprinting +a kiss upon her fair brow, that was hallowed by the purity of the +feeling I had so recently indulged in; and throwing over her shoulders +the mantle of a youth, which I had secreted near the spot, enjoined her +to follow me closely in the path I was about to pursue. As she had +hitherto encountered no fatigue, and was, moreover, well provided with +strong buskins I had brought for the purpose, I thought it advisable to +discontinue the use of the netting, which must attract notice, and +cause us, perhaps, to be followed, in the event of our being met by any +of the hunters that usually traversed these parts. To carry her in my +arms, as I should have preferred, might have excited the same +curiosity, and I was therefore compelled to decide upon her walking; +reserving to myself, however, the sweet task of bearing her in my +embrace over the more difficult parts of our course. + +"I have not hitherto found it necessary to state," continued Wacousta, +his brow lowering with fierce and gloomy thought, "that more than once, +latterly, on my return from the oasis, which was usually at a stated +hour, I had observed a hunter hovering near the end of the ledge, yet +quickly retreating as I advanced. There was something in the figure of +this man that recalled to my recollection the form of your father; but +ever, on my return to quarters, I found him in uniform, and exhibiting +any thing but the appearance of one who had recently been threading his +weary way among rocks and fastnesses. Besides, the improbability of +this fact was so great, that it occupied not my attention beyond the +passing moment. On the present occasion, however, I saw the same +hunter, and was more forcibly than ever struck by the resemblance to my +friend. Prior to my quitting the point where I had liberated your +mother from the netting, I had, in addition to the disguise of the +cloak, found it necessary to make some alteration in the arrangement of +her hair; the redundancy of which, as it floated gracefully over her +polished neck, was in itself sufficient to betray her sex. With this +view I had removed her plumed bonnet. It was the first time I had seen +her without it; and so deeply impressed was I by the angel-like +character of the extreme feminine beauty she, more than ever, then +exhibited, that I knelt in silent adoration for some moments at her +feet, my eyes and countenance alone expressing the fervent and almost +holy emotion of my enraptured soul. Had she been a divinity, I could +not have worshipped her with a purer feeling. While I yet knelt, I +fancied I heard a sound behind me; and, turning quickly, beheld the +head of a man peering above a point of rock at some little distance. He +immediately, on witnessing my action, sank again beneath it, but not in +sufficient time to prevent my almost assuring myself that it was the +face of your father I had beheld. My first impulse was to bound +forward, and satisfy myself who it really was who seemed thus ever on +the watch to intercept my movements; but a second rapid reflection +convinced me, that, having been discovered, it was most likely the +intruder had already effected his retreat, and that any attempt at +pursuit might not only alarm your mother, but compromise her safety. I +determined, however, to tax your father with the fact on my return to +quarters; and, from the manner in which he met the charge, to form my +own conclusion. + +"Meanwhile we pursued our course; and after an hour's rather laborious +exertion, at length emerged from the succession of glens and rocks that +lay in our way; when, skirting the valley in which the town was +situated, we finally reached the cottage where I had secured my +lodging. Previous to entering it, I had told your mother, that for the +few hours that would intervene before the marriage ceremony could be +performed, I should, by way of lulling the curiosity of her hostess, +introduce her as a near relative of my own. This I did accordingly; +and, having seen that every thing was comfortably arranged for her +convenience, and recommending her strongly to the care of the old +woman, I set off once more in search of the chaplain of the regiment +Before I could reach his residence, however, I was met by a sergeant of +my company, who came running towards me, evidently with some +intelligence of moment. He stated, that my presence was required +without delay. The grenadiers, with the senior subaltern, were in +orders for detachment for an important service; and considerable +displeasure had been manifested by the colonel at my absence, +especially as of late I had greatly neglected my military duties. He +had been looking for me every where, he said, but without success, when +Ensign de Haldimar had pointed out to him in what direction it was +likely I might be found. + +"At a calmer moment, I should have been startled at the last +observation; but my mind was too much engrossed with the principal +subject of my regret, to pay any attention to the circumstance. It was +said the detachment would be occupied in this duty a week or ten days, +at least; and how was I to absent myself from her whom I so fondly +loved for this period, without even being permitted first to see and +account to her for my absence? There was torture in the very thought; +and in the height of my impatience, I told the sergeant he might give +my compliments to the colonel, and say I would see the service d--d +rather than inconvenience myself by going out on this duty at so short +a notice; that I had private business of the highest importance to +myself to transact, and could not absent myself. As the man, however, +prepared coolly to depart, it suddenly occurred to me, that I might +prevail on your father to take my duty now, as on former occasions he +had willingly done, and I countermanded my message to the colonel; +desiring him, however, to find out Ensign de Haldimar, and say that I +requested to see him immediately at my quarters, whither I was now +proceeding to change my dress. + +"With a beating heart did I assume an uniform that appeared, at that +moment, hideous in my eyes; yet I was not without a hope I might yet +get off this ill-timed duty. Before I had completed my equipment, your +father entered; and when I first glanced my eye full upon his, I +thought his countenance exhibited evidences of confusion. This +immediately reminded me of the unknown hunter, and I asked him if he +was not the person I described. His answer was not a positive denial, +but a mixture of raillery and surprise that lulled my doubts, enfeebled +as they were by the restored calm of his features. I then told him that +I had a particular favour to ask of him, which, in consideration of our +friendship, I trusted he would not refuse; and that was, to take my +duty in the expedition about to set forth. His manner implied concern; +and he asked, with a look that had much deliberate expression in it, +'if I was aware that it was a duty in which blood was expected to be +shed? He could not suppose that any consideration would induce me to +resign my duty to another officer, when apprised of this fact.' All +this was said with the air of one really interested in my honour; but +in my increasing impatience, I told him I wanted none of his cant; I +simply asked him a favour, which he would grant or decline as he +thought proper. This was a harshness of language I had never indulged +in; but my mind was sore under the existing causes of my annoyance, and +I could not bear to have my motives reflected on at a moment when my +heart was torn with all the agonies attendant on the position in which +I found myself placed. His cheek paled and flushed more than once, +before he replied, 'that in spite of my unkindness his friendship might +induce him to do much for me, even as he had hitherto done, but that on +the present occasion it rested not with him. In order to justify +himself he would no longer disguise the fact from me, that the colonel +had declared, in the presence of the whole regiment, I should take my +duty regularly in future, and not be suffered to make a convenience of +the service any longer. If, however, he could do any thing for me +during my absence, I had but to command him. + +"While I was yet giving vent, in no very measured terms, to the +indignation I felt at being made the subject of public censure by the +colonel, the same sergeant came into the room, announcing that the +company were only waiting for me to march, and that the colonel desired +my instant presence. In the agitation of my feelings, I scarcely knew +what I did, putting several portions of my regimental equipment on so +completely awry, that your father noticed and rectified the errors I +had committed; while again, in the presence of the sergeant, I +expressed the deepest regret he could not relieve me from a duty that +was hateful to the last degree. + +"Torn with agony at the thought of the uncertainty in which I was +compelled to leave her, whom I so fondly adored, I had now no other +alternative than to make a partial confidant of your father. I told him +that in the cottage which I pointed out he would find the original of +the portrait he had seen me painting on a former occasion,--the Cornish +cousin, whose beauty he professed to hold so cheaply. More he should +know of her on my return; but at present I confided her to his honour, +and begged he would prove his friendship for me by rendering her +whatever attention she might require in her humble abode. With these +hurried injunctions he promised to comply; and it has often occurred to +me since, although I did not remark it at the time, that while his +voice and manner were calm, there was a burning glow upon his handsome +cheek, and a suppressed exultation in his eye, that I had never +observed on either before. I then quitted the room; and hastening to my +company with a gloom on--my brow that indicated the wretchedness of my +inward spirit, was soon afterwards on the march from ----." + +Again the warrior seemed agitated with the most violent emotion; he +buried his face in his hands; and the silence that ensued was longer +than any he had previously indulged in. At length he made an effort to +arouse himself; and again exhibiting his swarthy features, disclosed a +brow, not clouded, as before, by grief, but animated with the fiercest +and most appalling passions, while he thus impetuously resumed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"If, hitherto, Clara de Haldimar, I have been minute in the detail of +all that attended my connection with your mother, it has been with a +view to prove to you how deeply I have been injured; but I have now +arrived at a part of my history, when to linger on the past would goad +me into madness, and render me unfit for the purpose to which I have +devoted myself. Brief must be the probing of wounds, that nearly five +lustres have been insufficient to heal; brief the tale that reveals the +infamy of those who have given you birth, and the utter blighting of +the fairest hopes of one whose only fault was that of loving, "not too +wisely, but too well." + +"Will you credit the monstrous truth," he added, in a fierce but +composed whisper, while he bent eagerly over the form of the trembling +yet attentive girl, "when I tell you that, on my return from that fatal +expedition, during my continuance on which her image had never once +been absent from my mind, I found Clara Beverley the wife of De +Haldimar? Yes," continued Wacousta, his wounded feeling and mortified +pride chafing, by the bitter recollection, into increasing fury, while +his countenance paled in its swarthiness, "the wife, the wedded wife of +yon false and traitorous governor! Well may you look surprised, Clara +de Haldimar: such damnable treachery as this may startle his own blood +in the veins of another, nor find its justification even in the +devotedness of woman's filial piety. To what satanic arts so +calculating a villain could have had recourse to effect his object I +know not; but it is not the less true, that she, from whom my previous +history must have taught you to expect the purity of intention and +conduct of an angel, became his wife,--and I a being accursed among +men. Even as our common mother is said to have fallen in the garden of +Eden, tempted by the wily beauty of the devil, so did your mother fall, +seduced by that of the cold, false, traitorous De Haldimar." Here the +agitation of Wacousta became terrific. The labouring of his chest was +like that of one convulsed with some racking agony and the swollen +veins and arteries of his head seemed to threaten the extinction of +life in some fearful paroxysm. At length he burst into a violent fit of +tears, more appalling, in one of his iron nature, than the fury which +had preceded it,--and it was many minutes before he could so far +compose himself as to resume. + +"Think not, Clara de Haldimar, I speak without the proof. Her own words +confessed, her own lips avowed it, and yet I neither slew her, nor her +paramour, nor myself. On my return to the regiment I had flown to the +cottage, on the wings of the most impatient and tender love that ever +filled the bosom of man for woman. To my enquiries the landlady +replied, that my cousin had been married two days previously, by the +military chaplain, to a handsome young officer, who had visited her +soon after my departure, and was constantly with her from that moment; +and that immediately after the ceremony they had left, but she knew not +whither. Wild, desperate, almost bereft of reason, and with a heart +bounding against my bosom, as if each agonising throb were to be its +last, I ran like a maniac back into the town, nor paused till I found +myself in the presence of your father. My mind was a volcano, but still +I attempted to be calm, even while I charged him, in the most +outrageous terms, with his villainy. Deny it he could not; but, far +from excusing it, he boldly avowed and justified the step he had taken, +intimating, with a smile full of meaning, there was nothing in a +connection with the family of De Haldimar to reflect disgrace on the +cousin of Sir Reginald Morton; and that; the highest compliment he +could pay his friend was to attach himself to one whom that friend had +declared to be so near a relative of his own. There was a coldness of +taunt in these remarks, that implied his sense of the deception I had +practised on him, in regard to the true nature of the relationship; and +for a moment, while my hand firmly grasped the hilt of my sword, I +hesitated whether I should not cut him down at my feet: I had +self-command, however, to abstain from the outrage, and I have often +since regretted I had. My own blood could have been but spilt in +atonement for my just revenge; and as for the obloquy attached to the +memory of the assassin, it could not have been more bitter than that +which has followed me through life. But what do I say?" fiercely +continued the warrior, an exulting ferocity sparkling in his eye, and +animating his countenance; "had he fallen, then my vengeance were but +half complete. No; it is now he shall feel the deadly venom in his +heart, that has so long banqueted on mine. + +"Determined to know from her own lips," he pursued, to the shuddering +Clara, whose hopes, hitherto strongly excited, now, began again to fade +beneath the new aspect given to the strange history of this terrible +man;--"determined to satisfy myself from her own acknowledgment, +whether all I had heard was not an imposition, I summoned calmness +enough to desire that your mother might confirm in person the +alienation of her affection, as nothing short of that could convince me +of the truth. He left the room, and presently re-appeared, conducting +her in from another: I thought she looked more beautiful than ever, +but, alas! I had the inexpressible horror to discover, before a word +was uttered, that all the fondness of her nature was indeed transferred +to your father. How I endured the humiliation of that scene has often +been a source of utter astonishment to myself; but I did endure it. To +my wild demand, how she could so soon have forgotten her vows, and +falsified her plighted engagements, she replied, timidly and +confusedly, she had not yet known her own heart; but if she had pained +me by her conduct, she was sorry for it, and hoped I would forgive her. +She would always be happy to esteem me as a friend, but she loved her +Charles far, far better than she had ever loved me. This damning +admission, couched in the same language of simplicity that had first +touched and won my affection, was like boiling lead upon my brain. In a +transport of madness I sprang towards her, caught her in my arms, and +swore she should accompany me back to the oasis--when I had taken her +there, to be regained by my detested rival, if he could; but that he +should not eat the fruit I had plucked at so much peril to myself. She +struggled to disengage herself, calling on your father by the most +endearing epithets to free her from my embrace. He attempted it, and I +struck him senseless to the floor at a single blow with the flat of my +sabre, which in my extreme fury I had unsheathed. Instead, however, of +profiting by the opportunity thus afforded to execute my threat, a +feeling of disgust and contempt came over me, for the woman, whose +inconstancy had been the cause of my committing myself in this +ungentlemanly manner; and bestowing deep but silent curses on her head, +I rushed from the house in a state of frenzy. How often since have I +regretted that I had not pursued my first impulse, and borne her to +some wild, where, forgetting one by whose beauty of person her eye +alone had been seduced, her heart might have returned to its allegiance +to him who had first awakened the sympathies of her soul, and would +have loved her with a love blending the fiercest fires of the eagle +with the gentlest devotedness of the dove. But destiny had differently +ordained. + +"Did my injuries end here?" pursued the dark warrior, as his eye +kindled with rage. "No: for weeks I was insensible to any thing but the +dreadful shock my soul had sustained. A heavy stupor weighed me down, +and for a period it was supposed my reason was overthrown: no such +mercy was reserved for me. The regiment had quitted the Highlands, and +were now stationary in ----, whither I had accompanied it in arrest. +The restoration of my faculties was the signal for new persecutions. +Scarcely had the medical officers reported me fit to sustain the +ordeal, when a court-martial was assembled to try me on a variety of +charges. Who was my prosecutor? Listen, Clara," and he shook her +violently by the arm. "He who had robbed me of all that gave value to +life, and incentive to honour,--he who, under the guise of friendship, +had stolen into the Eden of my love, and left it barren of affection. +In a word, yon detested governor, to whose inhuman cruelty even the son +of my brother has, by some strange fatality of coincidence, so recently +fallen a second sacrifice. Curses, curses on him," he pursued, with +frightful vehemence, half rising as he spoke, and holding forth his +right arm in a menacing attitude; "but the hour of retribution is at +hand, and revenge, the exclusive passion of the gods, shall at length +be mine. In no other country in the world--under no other circumstances +than the present--could I have so secured it. + +"What were the charges preferred against me?" he continued, with a +violence that almost petrified the unhappy girl. "Hear them, and judge +whether I have not cause for the inextinguishable hate that rankles at +my heart. Every trifling disobedience of orders--every partial neglect +of duty that could be raked up--was tortured into a specific charge; +and, as I have already admitted I had latterly transgressed not a +little in this respect, these were numerous enough. Yet they were but +preparatory to others of greater magnitude. Next succeeded one that +referred to the message I had given, and countermanded, to the sergeant +of my company, when in the impatience of my disappointment I had +desired him to tell the colonel I would see the service d--d rather +than inconvenience myself at that moment for it. This was unsupported +by other evidence, however, and therefore failed in the proof. But the +web was too closely woven around to admit of my escaping.--Will you, +can you believe any thing half so atrocious, as that your father should +have called on this same man not only to prove the violent and +insubordinate language I had used in reference to the commanding +officer in my own rooms, but also to substantiate a charge of +cowardice, grounded on the unwillingness I had expressed to accompany +the expedition, and the extraordinary trepidation I had evinced, while +preparing for the duty, manifested, as it was stated to be, by the +various errors he had rectified in my equipment with his own hand? Yes, +even this pitiful charge was one of the many preferred; but the +severest was that which he had the unblushing effrontery to make the +subject of public investigation, rather than of private redress--the +blow I had struck him in his own apartments. And who was his witness in +this monstrous charge?--your mother, Clara. Yea, I stood as a criminal +in her presence; and yet she came forward to tender an evidence that +was to consign me to a disgraceful sentence. My vile prosecutor had, +moreover, the encouragement, the sanction of his colonel throughout, +and by him he was upheld in every contemptible charge his ingenuity +could devise. Do you not anticipate the result?--I was found guilty, +and dismissed the service. + +"How acted my brother officers, when, previously to the trial, I +alluded to the damnable treachery of your father? Did they condemn his +conduct, or sympathise with me in my misfortune?--No; they shrugged +their shoulders, and coldly observed, I ought to have known better than +to trust one against whom they had so often cautioned me; but that as I +had selected him for my friend, I should have bestowed a whole, and not +a half confidence upon him. He had had the hypocrisy to pretend to them +he had violated no trust, since he had honourably espoused a lady whom +I had introduced to him as a cousin, and in whom I appeared to have no +other interest than that of relationship. Not, they said, that they +believed he actually did entertain that impression; but still the +excuse was too plausible, and had been too well studied by my cunning +rival, to be openly refuted. As for the mere fact of his supplanting +me, they thought it an excellent thing,--a ruse d'amour for which they +never would have given him credit; and although they admitted it was +provoking enough to be ousted out of one's mistress in that cool sort +of way, still I should not so far have forgotten myself as to have +struck him while he was unarmed, when it was so easy to have otherwise +fastened an insult on him. Such," bitterly pursued Wacousta, "was the +consolation I received from men, who, a few short weeks before, had +been sedulous to gain and cultivate my friendship,--but even this was +only vouchsafed antecedent to my trial. When the sentence was +promulgated, announcing my dismissal from the service, every back was +turned upon me, as though I had been found guilty of some dishonourable +action or some disgraceful crime; and, on the evening of the same day, +when I threw from me for ever an uniform that I now loathed from my +inmost soul, there was not one among those who had often banqueted at +my expense, who had the humanity to come to me and say, 'Sir Reginald +Morton, farewell.' + +"What agonies of mind I endured,--what burning tears I nightly shed +upon a pillow I was destined to press in freezing loneliness,--what +hours of solitude I passed, far from the haunts of my fellow-men, and +forming plans of vengeance,--it would take much longer time to relate +than I have actually bestowed on my unhappy history. To comprehend +their extent and force, you must understand the heart of fire in which +the deep sense of injury had taken root; but the night wears away, and +briefly told must be the remainder of my tale. The rebellion of +forty-five saw me in arms in the Scottish ranks; and, in one instance, +opposed to the regiment from which I had been so ignominiously +expelled. Never did revenge glow like a living fire in the heart of man +as it did in mine; for the effect of my long brooding in solitude had +been to inspire me with a detestation, not merely for those who had +been most rancorous in their enmity, but for every thing that wore the +uniform, from the commanding officer down to the meanest private. Every +blow that I dealt, every life that I sacrificed, was an insult washed +away from my attainted honour; but him whom I most sought in the melee +I never could reach. At length the corps to which I had attached myself +was repulsed; and I saw, with rage in my heart, that my enemy still +lived to triumph in the fruit of his villainy. + +"Although I was grown considerably in stature at this period, and was +otherwise greatly altered in appearance, I had been recognised in the +action by numbers of the regiment; and, indeed, more than once I had, +in the intoxication of my rage, accompanied the blow that slew or +maimed one of my former associates with a declaration of the name of +him who inflicted it. The consequence was, I was denounced as a rebel +and an outlaw, and a price was put upon my head. Accustomed, however, +as I had ever been, to rocks and fastnesses, I had no difficulty in +eluding the vigilance of those who were sent in pursuit of me; and thus +compelled to live wholly apart from my species, I at length learned to +hate them, and to know that man is the only enemy of man upon earth. + +"A change now came ever the spirit of my vengeance; for about this +period your mother died. I had never ceased to love, even while I +despised her; and notwithstanding, had she, after her flagrant +inconstancy, thrown herself into my arms, I should have rejected her +with scorn, still I was sensible no other woman could ever supply her +place in my affection. She was, in truth, the only being I had ever +looked upon with fondness; and deeply even as I had been injured by +her, I wept her memory with many a scalding tear. This, however, only +increased my hatred for him who had rioted in her beauty, and +supplanted me in her devotedness. I had the means of learning, +occasionally, all that passed in the regiment; and the same account +that brought me the news of your mother's death also gave me the +intelligence that three children had been the fruit of her union with +De Haldimar. How," pursued Wacousta, with bitter energy, "shall I +express the deep loathing I felt for those children? It seemed to me as +if their existence had stamped a seal of infamy on my own brow; and I +hated them, even in their childhood, as the offspring of an abhorred, +and, as it appeared to me, an unnatural union. I heard, moreover (and +this gave me pleasure), that their father doated on them; and from that +moment I resolved to turn his cup of joy into bitterness, even as he +had turned mine. I no longer sought his life; for the jealousy that had +half impelled that thirst existed no longer: but, deeming his cold +nature at least accessible through his parental affection, I was +resolved that in his children he should suffer a portion of the agonies +he had inflicted on me. I waited, however, until they should be grown +up to an age when the heart of the parent would be more likely to mourn +their loss; and then I was determined my vengeance should be complete. + +"Circumstances singularly favoured my design. Many years afterwards, +the regiment formed one of the expedition against Quebec under General +Wolfe. They were commanded by your father, who, in the course of +promotion, had obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy; and I observed by the +army list, that a subaltern of the same name, whom I presumed to be his +eldest son, was in the corps. Here was a field for my vengeance beyond +any I could have hoped for. I contrived to pass over into Cornwall, the +ban of outlawry being still unrepealed; and having procured from my +brother a sum sufficient for my necessities, and bade him an eternal +farewell, embarked in a fishing-boat for the coast of France, whence I +subsequently took a passage to this country. At Montreal I found the +French general, who gladly received my allegiance as a subject of +France, and gave me a commission in one of the provincial corps that +usually served in concert with our Indian allies. With the general I +soon became a favourite; and, as a mark of his confidence at the attack +on Quebec, he entrusted me with the command of a detached irregular +force, consisting partly of Canadians and partly of Indians, intended +to harass the flanks of the British army. This gave me an opportunity +of being at whatever point of the field I might think most favourable +to my design; and I was too familiar with the detested uniform of the +regiment not to be able to distinguish it from afar. In a word, Clara, +for I am weary of my own tale, in that engagement I had an opportunity +of recognising your brother. He struck me by his martial appearance as +he encouraged his grenadiers to the attack of the French columns; and, +as I turned my eye upon him in admiration, I was stung to the soul by +his resemblance to his father. Vengeance thrilled throughout every +fibre of my frame at that moment. The opportunity I had long sought was +at length arrived; and already, in anticipation, I enjoyed the conquest +his fall would occasion to my enemy. I rushed within a few feet of my +victim; but the bullet aimed at his heart was received in the breast of +a faithful soldier, who had flown to intercept it. How I cursed the +meddler for his officiousness!" + +"Oh, that soldier was your nephew," eagerly interrupted Clara, pointing +towards her companion, who had fallen into a profound slumber, "the +husband of this unfortunate woman. Frank Halloway (for by that name was +he alone known in the regiment) loved my brother as though he had been +of the same blood. He it was who flew to receive the ball that was +destined for another. But I nursed him on his couch of suffering, and +with my own hands prepared his food and dressed his wound. Oh, if pity +can touch your heart (and I will not believe that a heart that once +felt as you say yours has felt can be inaccessible to pity), let the +recollection of your nephew's devotedness to my mother's child disarm +you of vengeance, and induce you to restore us!" + +"Never!" thundered Wacousta,--"never! The very circumstance you have +now named is an additional incentive to my vengeance. My nephew saved +the life of your brother at the hazard of his own; and how has he been +rewarded for the generous deed? By an ignominious death, inflicted, +perhaps, for some offence not more dishonouring than those which have +thrown me an outcast upon these wilds; and that at the command and in +the presence of the father of him whose life he was fool enough to +preserve. Yet, what but ingratitude of the grossest nature could a +Morton expect at the hands of the false family of De Haldimar! They +were destined to be our bane, and well have they fulfilled the end for +which they were created." + +"Almighty Providence!" aspirated the sinking Clara, as she turned her +streaming eyes to heaven; "can it be that the human heart can undergo +such change? Can this be the being who once loved my mother with a +purity and tenderness of affection that angels themselves might hallow +with approval; or is all that I have heard but a bewildering dream?" + +"No, Clara," calmly and even solemnly returned the warrior; "it is no +dream, but a reality--a sad, dreadful, heart-rending reality; yet, if I +am that altered being, to whom is the change to be ascribed? Who turned +the generous current of my blood into a river of overflowing gall? Who, +when my cup was mantling with the only bliss I coveted upon earth, +traitorously emptied it, and substituted a heart-corroding poison in +its stead? Who blighted my fair name, and cast me forth an alien in the +land of my forefathers? Who, in a word, cut me off from every joy that +existence can impart to man? Who did all this? Your father! But these +are idle words. What I have been, you know; what I now am, and through +what agency I have been rendered what I now am, you know also. Not more +fixed is fate than my purpose. Your brother dies even on the spot on +which my nephew died; and you, Clara, shall be my bride; and the first +thing your children shall be taught to lisp shall be curses on the vile +name of De Haldimar!" + +"Once more, in the name of my sainted mother, I implore you to have +mercy," shrieked the unhappy Clara. "Oh!" she continued, with vehement +supplication, "let the days of your early love be brought back to' your +memory, that your heart may be softened; and cut yourself not wholly +off from your God, by the commission of such dreadful outrages. Again I +conjure you, restore us to my father." + +"Never!" savagely repeated Wacousta. "I have passed years of torture in +the hope of such an hour as this; and now that fruition is within my +grasp, may I perish if I forego it! Ha, sir!" turning from the almost +fainting Clara to Sir Everard, who had listened with deep attention to +the history of this extraordinary man;--"for this," and he thrust aside +the breast of his hunting coat, exhibiting the scar of a long but +superficial wound,--"for this do you owe me a severe reckoning. I would +recommend you, however,"--and he spoke in mockery,--"when next you +drive a weapon into the chest of an unresisting enemy, to be more +certain of your aim. Had that been as true as the blow from the butt of +your rifle, I should not have lived to triumph in this hour. I little +deemed," he pursued, still addressing the nearly heart-broken officer +in the same insolent strain, "that my intrigue with that dark-eyed +daughter of the old Canadian would have been the means of throwing your +companion so speedily into my power, after his first narrow escape. +Your disguise was well managed, I confess; and but that there is an +instinct about me, enabling me to discover a De Haldimar, as a hound +does the deer, by scent, you might have succeeded in passing for what +you appeared. But" (and his tone suddenly changed its irony for +fierceness) "to the point, sir. That you are the lover of this girl I +clearly perceive, and death were preferable to a life embittered by the +recollection that she whom we love reposes in the arms of another. No +such kindness is meant you, however. To-morrow you shall return to the +fort; and, when there, you may tell your colonel, that, in exchange for +a certain miniature and letters, which, in the hurry of departure, I +dropped in his apartment, some ten days since, Sir Reginald Morton, the +outlaw, has taken his daughter Clara to wife, but without the +solemnisation of those tedious forms that bound himself in accursed +union with her mother. Oh! what would I not give," he continued, +bitterly, "to witness the pang inflicted on his false heart, when first +the damning truth arrests his ear. Never did I know the triumph of my +power until now; for what revenge can be half so sweet as that which +attains a loathed enemy through the dishonour of his child? But, hark! +what mean those sounds?" + +A loud yelling was now heard at some distance in rear of the tent. +Presently the bounding of many feet on the turf was distinguishable; +and then, at intervals, the peculiar cry that announces the escape of a +prisoner. Wacousta started to his feet, and fiercely grasping his +tomahawk, advanced to the front of the tent, where he seemed to listen +for a moment attentively, as if endeavouring to catch the direction of +the pursuit. + +"Ha! by Heaven!" he exclaimed, "there must be treachery in this, or yon +slippery captain would not so soon be at his flight again, bound as I +had bound him." Then uttering a deafening yell, and rushing past Sir +Everard, near whom he paused an instant, as if undecided whether he +should not first dispose of him, as a precautionary measure, he flew +with the speed of an antelope in the direction in which he was guided +by the gradually receding sounds. + +"The knife, Miss de Haldimar," exclaimed Sir Everard, after a few +moments of breathless and intense anxiety. "See, there is one in the +belt that Ellen Halloway has girt around her loins. Quick, for Heaven's +sake, quick; our only chance of safety is in this." + +With an activity arising from her despair, the unhappy Clara sprang +from the rude couch on which she had been left by Wacousta, and, +stooping over the form of the maniac, extended her hand to remove the +weapon from her side; but Ellen, who had been awakened from her long +slumber by the yells just uttered, seemed resolute to prevent it. A +struggle for its possession now ensued between these frail and delicate +beings; in which Clara, however, had the advantage, not only from the +recumbent position of her opponent, but from the greater security of +her grasp. At length, with a violent effort, she contrived to disengage +it from the sheath, around which Ellen had closely clasped both her +hands; but, with the quickness of thought, the latter were again +clenched round the naked blade, and without any other evident motive +than what originated in the obstinacy of her madness, the unfortunate +woman fiercely attempted to wrest it away. In the act of doing so, her +hands were dreadfully cut; and Clara, shocked at the sight of the blood +she had been the means of shedding, lost all the energy she had +summoned, and sunk senseless at the feet of the maniac, who now began +to utter the most piteous cries. + +"Oh, God! we are lost," exclaimed Sir Everard; "the voice of that +wretched woman has alarmed our enemy, and even now I hear him +approaching. Quick, Clara, give me the knife. But no, it is now too +late; he is here." + +At that instant, the dark form of a warrior rushed noiselessly to the +spot on which he stood. The officer turned his eyes in desperation on +his enemy, but a single glance was sufficient to assure him it was not +Wacousta. The Indian paused not in his course, but passing close round +the tree to which the baronet was attached, made a circular movement, +that brought him in a line with the direction that had been taken by +his enemy; and again they were left alone. + +A new fear now oppressed the heart of the unfortunate Valletort, even +to agony: Clara still lay senseless, speechless, before him; and his +impression was, that, in the struggle, Ellen Halloway had murdered her. +The latter yet continued her cries; and, as she held up her hands, he +could see by the fire-light they were covered with blood. An +instinctive impulse caused him to bound forward to the assistance of +the motionless Clara; when, to his infinite surprise and joy, he +discovered the cord, which had bound him to the tree, to be severed. +The Indian who had just passed had evidently been his deliverer; and a +sudden flash of recollection recalled the figure of the young warrior +that had escaped from the schooner and was supposed to have leaped into +the canoe of Oucanasta at the moment when Madeline de Haldimar was +removed into that of the Canadian. + +In a transport of conflicting feelings, Sir Everard now raised the +insensible Clara from the ground; and, having satisfied himself she had +sustained no serious injury, prepared for a flight which he felt to be +desperate, if not altogether hopeless. There was not a moment to be +lost, for the cries of the wretched Ellen increased in violence, as she +seemed sensible she was about to be left utterly alone; and ever and +anon, although afar off, yet evidently drawing nearer, was to be heard +the fierce denouncing yell of Wacousta. The spot on which the officer +stood, was not far from that whence his unfortunate friend had +commenced his flight on the first memorable occasion; and as the moon +shone brightly in the cloudless heavens, there could be no mistake in +the course he was to pursue. Dashing down the steep, therefore, with +all the speed his beloved burden would enable him to attain, he made +immediately for the bridge, over which his only chance of safety lay. + +It unfortunately happened, however, that, induced either by the malice +of her insanity, or really terrified at the loneliness of her position, +the wretched Ellen Halloway had likewise quitted the tent, and now +followed close in the rear of the fugitives, still uttering the same +piercing cries of anguish. The voice of Wacousta was also again heard +in the distance; and Sir Everard had the inexpressible horror to find +that, guided by the shrieks of the maniac woman, he was now shaping his +course, not to the tent where he had left his prisoners, but in an +oblique direction towards the bridge; where he evidently hoped to +intercept them. Aware of the extreme disadvantages under which he +laboured in a competition of speed with his active enemy, the unhappy +officer would have here terminated the struggle, had he not been +partially sustained by the hope that the detachment prayed for by De +Haldimar, through the friendly young chief, to whom he owed his own +liberation, might be about this time on its way to attempt their +rescue. This thought supported his faltering resolution, although +nearly exhausted with his efforts--compelled, as he was, to sustain the +motionless form of the slowly reviving Clara; and he again braced +himself to the unequal flight The moon still shone beautifully bright, +and he could now distinctly see the bridge over which he was to pass; +but notwithstanding he strained his eyes as he advanced, no vestige of +a British uniform was to be seen in the open space that lay beyond. +Once he turned to regard his pursuers. Ellen was a few yards only in +his rear; and considerably beyond her rose, in tall relief against the +heavens, the gigantic form of the warrior. The pursuit of the latter +was now conducted with a silence that terrified even more than the +yells he had previously uttered; and he gained so rapidly on his +victims, that the tread of his large feet was now distinctly audible. +Again the officer, with despair in his heart, made the most incredible +exertions to reach the bridge, without seeming to reflect that, even +when there, no security was offered him against his enemy. Once, as he +drew nearer, he fancied he saw the dark heads of human beings peering +from under that part of the arch which had afforded cover to De +Haldimar and himself oh the memorable occasion of their departure with +the Canadian; and, convinced that the warriors of Wacousta had been +sent there to lie in ambuscade and intercept his retreat, his hopes +were utterly paralysed; and although he stopped not, his flight was +rather mechanical than the fruit of any systematic plan of escape. + +He had now gained the extremity of the bridge, with Ellen Halloway and +Wacousta close in his rear, when suddenly the heads of many men were +once more distinguishable, even in the shadow of the arch that overhung +the sands of the river. Three individuals detached themselves from the +group and leaping upon the further extremity of the bridge, moved +rapidly to meet him. Meanwhile the baronet had stopped suddenly, as if +in doubt whether to advance or to recede. His suspense was but +momentary. Although the persons of these men were disguised as Indian +warriors, the broad moonlight that beamed full on their countenances, +disclosed the well-remembered features of Blessington, Erskine, and +Charles de Haldimar. The latter sprang before his companions, and, +uttering a cry of joy, sank in speechless agony on the neck of his +still unconscious sister. + +"For God's sake, free me, De Haldimar!" exclaimed the excited baronet, +disengaging his charge from the embrace of his friend. "This is no +moment for congratulation. Erskine, Blessington, see you not who is +behind me? Be upon your guard; defend your lives!" And as he spoke, he +rushed forward with feint and tottering steps to place his companions +between the unhappy girl and the danger that threatened her. + +The swords of the officers were drawn; but instead of advancing upon +the formidable being, who stood as if paralysed at this unexpected +rencontre, the two seniors contented themselves with assuming a +defensive attitude,--retiring slowly and gradually towards the other +extremity of the bridge. + +Overcome by his emotion, Charles de Haldimar had not noticed this +action of his companions, and stood apparently riveted to the spot. The +voice of Blessington calling on him by name to retire, seemed to arouse +the dormant consciousness of the unhappy maniac. She uttered a piercing +shriek, and, springing forward, sank on her knees at his feet, +exclaiming, as she forcibly detained him by his dress,-- + +"Almighty Heaven! where am I? surely that was Captain Blessington's +kind voice I heard; and you--you are Charles de Haldimar. Oh! save my +husband; plead for him with your father!----but no," she continued +wildly,--"he is dead--he is murdered! Behold these hands all covered +with his blood! Oh!----" + +"Ha! another De Haldimar!" exclaimed Wacousta, recovering his +slumbering energies, "this spot seems indeed fated for our meeting. +More than thrice have I been balked of my just revenge, but now will I +secure it. Thus, Ellen, do I avenge your husband's and my nephew's +death. My own wrongs demand another sacrifice. But, ha! where is she? +where is Clara? where is my bride?" + +Bounding over the ill-fated De Haldimar, who lay, even in death, firmly +clasped in the embrace of the wretched Ellen, the fierce man dashed +furiously forward to renew his pursuit of the fugitives. But suddenly +the extremity of the bridge was filled with a column of armed men, that +kept issuing from the arch beneath. Sensible of his danger, he sought +to make good his retreat; but when he turned for the purpose, the same +formidable array met his view at the opposite extremity; and both +parties now rapidly advanced in double quick time, evidently with a +view of closing upon and taking him prisoner. In this dilemma, his only +hope was in the assistance that might be rendered him by his warriors. +A yell, so terrific as to be distinctly heard in the fort itself, burst +from his vast chest, and rolled in prolonged echoes through the forest. +It was faintly answered from the encampment, and met by deep but +noiseless curses from the exasperated soldiery, whom the sight of their +murdered officer was momentarily working into frenzy. + +"Kill him not, for your lives!--I command you, men, kill him not!" +muttered Captain Blessington with suppressed passion, as his troops +were preparing to immolate him on their clustering bayonets. "Such a +death were, indeed, mercy to such a villain." + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Wacousta in bitter scorn; "who is there of all your +accursed regiment who will dare to take him alive?" Then brandishing +his tomahawk around him, to prevent their finally closing, he dealt his +blows with such astonishing velocity, that no unguarded point was left +about his person; and more than one soldier was brought to the earth in +the course of the unequal struggle. + +"By G--d!" said Captain Erskine, "are the two best companies of the +regiment to be kept at bay by a single desperado? Shame on ye, fellows! +If his hands are too many for you, lay him by the heels." + +This ruse was practised with success. In attempting to defend himself +from the attack of those who sought to throw him down, the warrior +necessarily left his upper person exposed; when advantage was taken to +close with him and deprive him of the play of his arms. It was not, +however, without considerable difficulty, that they succeeded in +disarming and binding his hands; after which a strong cord being +fastened round his waist, he was tightly lashed to a gun, which, +contrary to the original intention of the governor, had been sent out +with the expedition. The retreat of the detachment then commenced +rapidly; but it was not without being hotly pursued by the band of +warriors the yell of Wacousta had summoned in pursuit, that they +finally gained the fort: under what feelings of sorrow for the fate of +an officer so beloved, we leave it to our readers to imagine. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The morning of the next day dawned on few who had pressed their +customary couches--on none, whose feverish pulse and bloodshot eye +failed to attest the utter sleeplessness in which the night had been +passed. Numerous groups of men were to be seep assembling after the +reveille, in various parts of the barrack square--those who had borne a +part in the recent expedition commingling with those who had not, and +recounting to the latter, with mournful look and voice, the +circumstances connected with the bereavement of their universally +lamented officer. As none, however, had seen the blow struck that +deprived him of life, although each had heard the frantic exclamations +of a voice that had been recognised for Ellen Halloway's, much of the +marvellous was necessarily mixed up with truth in their +narrative,--some positively affirming Mr. de Haldimar had not once +quitted his party, and declaring that nothing short of a supernatural +agency could have transported him unnoticed to the fatal spot, where, +in their advance, they had beheld him murdered. The singular appearance +of Ellen Halloway also, at that moment, on the very bridge on which she +had pronounced her curse on the family of De Haldimar, and in company +with the terrible and mysterious being who had borne her off in triumph +on that occasion to the forest, and under circumstances calculated to +excite the most superstitious impressions, was not without its weight +in determining their rude speculations; and all concurred in opinion, +that the death of the unfortunate young officer was a judgment on their +colonel for the little mercy he had extended to the noble-hearted +Halloway. + +Then followed allusion to their captive, whose gigantic stature and +efforts at escape, tremendous even as the latter were, were duly +exaggerated by each, with the very laudable view of claiming a +proportionate share of credit for his own individual exertions; and +many and various were the opinions expressed as to the manner of death +he should be made to suffer. Among the most conspicuous of the orators +were those with whom our readers have already made slight acquaintance +in our account of the sortie by Captain Erskine's company for the +recovery of the supposed body of Frederick de Haldimar. One was for +impaling him alive, and setting him up to rot on the platform above the +gate. Another for blowing him from the muzzle of a twenty-four pounder, +into the centre of the first band of Indians that approached the fort, +that thus perceiving they had lost the strength and sinew of their +cunning war, they might be the more easily induced to propose terms of +peace. A third was of opinion he ought to be chained to the top of the +flag-staff, as a target, to be shot at with arrows only, contriving +never to touch a mortal part. A fourth would have had him tied naked +over the sharp spikes that constituted the chevaux-de-frize garnishing +the sides of the drawbridge. Each devised some new death--proposed some +new torture; but all were of opinion, that simply to be shot, or even +to be hanged, was too merciful a punishment for the wretch who had so +wantonly and inhumanly butchered the kind-hearted, gentle-mannered +officer, whom they had almost all known and loved from his very +boyhood; and they looked forward, with mingled anxiety and vengeance, +to the moment when, summoned as it was expected he shortly would be, +before the assembled garrison, he would be made to expiate the atrocity +with his blood. + +While the men thus gave indulgence to their indignation and their +grief, their officers were even mere painfully affected. The body of +the ill-fated Charles had been borne to his apartment, where, divested +of its disguise, it had again been inducted in such apparel as was +deemed suited to the purpose. Extended on the very bed on which he lay +at the moment when she, whose maniac raving, and forcible detention, +had been the immediate cause of his destruction, had preferred her wild +but fruitless supplication for mercy, he exhibited, even in death, the +same delicate beauty that had characterised him on that occasion; yet, +with a mildness and serenity of expression on his still, pale features, +strongly in contrast with the agitation and glow of excitement that +then distinguished him. Never was human loveliness in death so marked +as in Charles de Haldimar; and but for the deep wound that, dividing +his clustering locks, had entered from the very crown of the head to +the opening of his marble brow, one ignorant of his fate might have +believed he but profoundly slept. Several women of the regiment were +occupied in those offices about the corpse, which women alone are +capable of performing at such moments, and as they did so, suffered +their tears to flow silently yet abundantly over him, who was no longer +sensible either of human grief or of human joy. Close at the head of +the bed stood an old man, with his face buried in his hands; the latter +reposing against the wainscoting of the room. He, too, wept, but his +weeping was more audible, more painful, and accompanied by suffocating +sobs. It was the humble, yet almost paternally attached servant of the +defunct--the veteran Morrison. + +Around the bed were grouped nearly all the officers, standing in +attitudes indicative of anxiety and interest, and gazing mournfully on +the placid features of their ill-fated friend. All, on entering, moved +noiselessly over the rude floor, as though fearful of disturbing the +repose of one who merely slumbered; and the same precaution was +extended to the brief but heartfelt expressions of sorrow that passed, +from one to the other, as they gazed on all that remained of the gentle +De Haldimar. At length the preparations of the women having been +completed, they retired from the room, leaving one of their number +only, rather out of respect than necessity, to remain by the corpse. +When they were departed, this woman, the wife of one of Blessington's +sergeants, and the same who had been present at the scene between Ellen +Halloway and the deceased, cut off a large lock of his beautiful hair, +and separating it into small tresses, handed one to each of the +officers. This considerate action, although unsolicited on the part of +the latter, deeply touched them, as indicating a sense of the high +estimation in which the youth bad been held. It was a tribute to the +memory of him they mourned, of the purest kind; and each, as he +received his portion, acknowledged with a mournful but approving look, +or nod, or word, the motive that bad prompted the offering. Nor was it +a source of less satisfaction, melancholy even as that satisfaction +was, to perceive that, after having set aside another lock, probably +for the sister of the deceased, she selected and consigned to the bosom +of her dress a third, evidently intended for herself. The whole scene +was in striking contrast with the almost utter absence of all +preparation or concern that had preceded the interment of Murphy, on a +former occasion. In one, the rude soldier was mourned,--in the other, +the gentle friend was lamented; nor the latter alone by the companions +to whom intimacy had endeared him, but by those humbler dependants, who +knew him only through those amiable attributes of character, which were +ever equally extended to all. Gradually the officers now moved away in +the same noiseless manner in which they had approached, either in +pursuance of their several duties, or to make their toilet of the +morning. Two only of their number remained near the couch of death. + +"Poor unfortunate De Haldimar!" observed one of these, in a low tone, +as if speaking to himself; "too fatally, indeed, have your forebodings +been realised; and what I considered as the mere despondency of a mind +crashed into feebleness by an accumulation of suffering, was, after +all, but the first presentiment of a death no human power might avert. +By Heaven! I would give up half my own being to be able to reanimate +that form once more,--but the wish is vain." + +"Who shall announce the intelligence to his sister?" sighed his +companion. "Never will that already nearly heart-broken girl be able to +survive the shock of her brother's death. Blessington, you alone are +fitted to such a task; and, painful as it is, you must undertake it. Is +the colonel apprised of the dreadful truth, do you know?" + +"He is. It was told him at the moment of our arrival last night; but +from the little outward emotion displayed by him, I should be tempted +to infer he had almost anticipated some such catastrophe." + +"Poor, poor Charles!" bitterly exclaimed Sir Everard Valletort--for it +was he. "What would I not give to recall the rude manner in which I +spurned you from me last night. But, alas! what could I do, laden with +such a trust, and pursued, without the power of defence, by such an +enemy? Little, indeed, did I imagine what was so speedily to be your +doom! Blessington," he pursued, with increased emotion, "it grieves me +to wretchedness to think that he, whom I loved as though he had been my +twin brother, should have perished with his last thoughts, perhaps, +lingering on the seeming unkindness with which I had greeted him after +so anxious an absence." + +"Nay, if there be blame, it must attach to me," sorrowfully observed +Captain Blessington. "Had Erskine and myself not retired before the +savage, as we did, our unfortunate friend would in all probability have +been alive at this very hour. But in our anxiety to draw the former +into the ambuscade we had prepared for him, we utterly overlooked that +Charles was not retreating with us." + +"How happened it," demanded Sir Everard, his attention naturally +directed to the subject by the preceding remarks, "that you lay thus in +ambuscade, when the object of the expedition, as solicited by Frederick +de Haldimar, was an attempt to reach us in the encampment of the +Indians?" + +"It certainly was under that impression we left the fort; but, on +coming to the spot where the friendly Indian lay waiting to conduct us, +he proposed the plan we subsequently adopted as the most likely, not +only to secure the escape of the prisoners, whom he pledged himself to +liberate, but to defend ourselves with advantage against Wacousta and +the immediate guard set over them, should they follow in pursuit. +Erskine approving, as well as myself, of the plan, we halted at the +bridge, and disposed of our men under each extremity; so that, if +attacked by the Indians in front, we might be enabled to throw them +into confusion by taking them in rear, as they flung themselves upon +the bridge. The event seemed to answer our expectations. The alarm +raised in the encampment satisfied us the young Indian had contrived to +fulfil his promise; and we momentarily looked for the appearance of +those whose flight we naturally supposed would be directed towards the +bridge. To our great surprise, however, we remarked that the sounds of +pursuit, instead of approaching us, seemed to take an opposite +direction, apparently towards the point whence we had seen the +prisoners disembarked in the morning. At length, when almost tempted to +regret we had not pushed boldly on, in conformity with our first +intention, we heard the shrill cries of a woman; and, not long +afterwards, the sounds of human feet rushing down the slope. What our +sensations were, you may imagine; for we all believed it to be either +Clara or Madeline de Haldimar fleeing alone, and pursued by our +ferocious enemies. To show ourselves would, we were sensible, be to +ensure the death of the pursued, before we could possibly come up; and, +although it was with difficulty we repressed the desire to rush forward +to the rescue, our better judgment prevailed. Finally we saw you +approach, followed closely by what appeared to be a mere boy of an +Indian, and, at a considerable distance, by the tall warrior of the +Fleur de lis. We imagined there was time enough for you to gain the +bridge; and finding your more formidable pursuer was only accompanied +by the youth already alluded to, conceived at that moment the design of +making him our prisoner. Still there were half a dozen muskets ready to +be levelled on him should he approach too near to his fugitives, or +manifest any other design than that of simply recapturing them. How +well our plan succeeded you are aware; but, alas!" and he glanced +sorrowfully at the corpse, "why was our success to be embittered by so +great a sacrifice?" + +"Ah, would to Heaven that he at least had been spared," sighed Sir +Everard, as he took the wan white hand of his friend in his own; "and +yet I know not: he looks so calm, so happy in death, it is almost +selfish to repine he has escaped the horrors that still await us in +this dreadful warfare. But what of Frederick and Madeline de Haldimar? +From the statement you have given, they must have been liberated by the +young Ottawa before he came to me; yet, what could have induced them to +have taken a course of flight so opposite to that which promised their +only chance of safety?" + +"Heaven only knows," returned Captain Blessington. "I fear they have +again been recaptured by the savages; in which case their doom is +scarcely doubtful; unless, indeed, our prisoner of last night be given +up in exchange for them." + +"Then will their liberty be purchased at a terrible price," remarked +the baronet. "Will you believe, Blessington, that that man, whose +enmity to our colonel seems almost devilish, was once an officer in +this very regiment?" + +"You astonish me, Valletort.--Impossible! and yet it has always been +apparent to me they were once associates." + +"I heard him relate his history only last night to Clara, whom he had +the audacity to sully with proposals to become his bride," pursued the +baronet. "His tale was a most extraordinary one. He narrated it, +however, only up to the period when the life of De Haldimar was +attempted by him at Quebec. But with his subsequent history we are all +acquainted, through the fame of his bloody atrocities in all the posts +that have fallen into the hands of Ponteac. That man, savage and even +fiendish as he now is, was once possessed of the noblest qualities. I +am sorry to say it; but Colonel de Haldimar has brought this present +affliction upon himself. At some future period I will tell you all." + +"Alas!" said Captain Blessington, "poor Charles, then, has been made to +pay the penalty of his father's errors; and, certainly, the greatest of +these was his dooming the unfortunate Halloway to death in the manner +he did." + +"What think you of the fact of Halloway being the nephew of this +extraordinary man, and both of high family?" demanded Sir Everard. + +"Indeed! and was the latter, then, aware of the connection?" + +"Not until last night," replied Sir Everard. "Some observations made by +the wretched wife of Halloway, in the course of which she named his +true name, (which was that of the warrior also,) first indicated the +fact to the latter. But, what became of that unfortunate creature?--was +she brought in?" + +"I understand not," said Captain Blessington. "In the confusion and +hurry of securing our prisoner, and the apprehension of immediate +attack from his warriors, Ellen was entirely overlooked. Some of my men +say they left her lying, insensible, on the spot whence they had raised +the body of our unfortunate friend, which they had some difficulty in +releasing from her convulsive embrace. But, hark! there is the first +drum for parade, and I have not yet exchanged my Indian garb." + +Captain Blessington now quitted the room, and Sir Everard, relieved +from the restraining presence of his companions, gave free vent to his +emotion, throwing himself upon the body of his friend, and giving +utterance to the feelings of anguish that oppressed his heart. + +He had continued some minutes in this position, when he fancied he felt +the warm tears of a human being bedewing a hand that reposed on the +neck of his unfortunate friend. He looked up, and, to his infinite +surprise, beheld Clara de Haldimar standing before him at the opposite +side of the bed. Her likeness to her brother, at that moment, was so +striking, that, for a second or two, the irrepressible thought passed +through the mind of the officer, it was not a living being he gazed +upon, but the immaterial spirit of his friend. The whole attitude and +appearance of the wretched girl, independently of the fact of her +noiseless entrance, tended to favour the delusion. Her features, of an +ashy paleness, seemed fixed, even as those of the corpse beneath him; +and, but for the tears that coursed silently down her cheek, there was +scarcely an outward evidence of emotion. Her dress was a simple white +robe, fastened round her waist with a pale blue riband; and over her +shoulders hung her redundant hair, resembling in colour, and disposed +much in the manner of that of her brother, which had been drawn +negligently down to conceal the wound on his brow. For some moments the +baronet gazed at her in speechless agony. Her tranquil exterior was +torture to him; for he, feared it betokened some alienation of reason. +He would have preferred to witness the most hysteric convulsion of +grief, rather than that traitorous calm; and yet he had not the power +to seek to remove it. + +"You are surprised to see me here, mingling my grief with yours, Sir +Everard," she at length observed, with the same calm mien, and in tones +of touching sweetness. "I came, with my father's permission, to take a +last farewell of him whose death has broken my heart. I expected to be +alone; but--Nay, do not go," she added, perceiving that the officer was +about to depart. "Had you not been here, I should have sent for you; +for we have both a sacred duty to perform. May I not ask your hand?" + +More and more dismayed at her collected manner, the young officer gazed +at her with the deepest sorrow depicted in every line of his own +countenance. He extended his hand, and Clara, to his surprise, grasped +and pressed it firmly. + +"It was the wish of this poor boy that his Clara should be the wife of +his friend, Sir Everard. Did he ever express such to you?" + +"It was the fondest desire of his heart," returned the baronet, unable +to restrain the emotion of joy that mingled, despite of himself, with +his worst apprehensions. + +"I need not ask how you received his proposal," continued Clara, with +the same calmness of manner. "Last night," she pursued solemnly, "I was +the bride of the murderer of my brother, of the lover of my +mother,--tomorrow night I may be the bride of death; but to-night I am +the bride of my brother's friend. Yes, here am I come to pledge myself +to the fulfilment of his wish. If you deem a heart-broken girl not +unworthy of you, I am your wife, Sir Everard; and, recollect, it is a +solemn pledge, that which a sister gives over the lifeless body of a +brother, beloved as this has been." + +"Oh, Clara--dearest Clara," passionately exclaimed the excited young +man, "if a life devoted to your happiness can repay you for this, count +upon it as you would upon your eternal salvation. In you will I love +both my friend and the sister he has bequeathed to me. Clara, my +betrothed wife, summon all the energies of your nature to sustain this +cruel shock; and exert yourself for him who will be to you both a +brother and a husband." + +As he spoke he drew the unresisting girl towards him, and, locking her +in his embrace, pressed, for the first time, the lips, which it had +maddened him the preceding night to see polluted by the forcible kisses +of Wacousta. But Clara shared not, but merely suffered his momentary +happiness. Her cheek wore not the crimson of excitement, neither were +her tears discontinued. She seemed as one who mechanically submitted to +what she had no power of resistance to oppose; and even in the embrace +of her affianced husband, she exhibited the same deathlike calm that +had startled him at her first appearance. Religion could not hallow a +purer feeling than that which had impelled the action of the young +officer. The very consciousness of the sacred pledge having been +exchanged over the corpse of his friend, imparted a holiness of fervour +to his mind; and even while he pressed her, whom he secretly swore to +love with all the affection of a fond brother and a husband united, he +felt that if the spirit of him, who slept unconscious of the scene, +were suffered to linger near, it would be to hallow it with approval. + +"And now," said Clara at length, yet without attempting to disengage +herself,--"now that we are united, I would be alone with my brother. My +husband, leave me." + +Deeply touched at the name of husband, Sir Everard could not refrain +from imprinting another kiss on the lips that uttered it. He then +gently disengaged himself from his lovely but suffering charge, whom he +deposited with her head resting on the bed; and making a significant +motion of his hand to the woman, who, as well as old Morrison, had been +spectators of the whole scene, stole gently from the apartment, under +what mingled emotions of joy and grief it would be difficult to +describe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +It was the eighth hour of morning, and both officers and men, quitting +their ill-relished meal, were to be seen issuing to the parade, where +the monotonous roll of the assemblee now summoned them. Presently the +garrison was formed in the order we have described in our first volume; +that is to say, presenting three equal sides of a square. The vacant +space fronted the guard-house, near one extremity of which was to be +seen a flight of steps communicating with the rampart, where the +flag-staff was erected. Several men were employed at this staff, +passing strong ropes through iron pulleys that were suspended from the +extreme top, while in the basement of the staff itself, to a height of +about twenty feet, were stuck at intervals strong wooden pegs, serving +as steps to the artillerymen for greater facility in clearing, when +foul, the lines to which the colours were attached. The latter had been +removed; and, from the substitution of a cord considerably stronger +than that which usually appeared there, it seemed as if some far +heavier weight was about to be appended to it. Gradually the men, +having completed their unusual preparations, quitted the rampart, and +the flagstaff, which was of tapering pine, was left totally unguarded. + +The "Attention!" of Major Blackwater to the troops, who had been +hitherto standing in attitudes of expectancy that rendered the +injunction almost superfluous, announced the approach of the governor. +Soon afterwards that officer entered the area, wearing his +characteristic dignity of manner, yet exhibiting every evidence of one +who had suffered deeply. Preparation for a drum-head court-martial, as +in the first case of Halloway, had already been made within the square, +and the only actor wanting in the drama was he who was to be tried. + +Once Colonel de Haldimar made an effort to command his appearance, but +the huskiness of his voice choked his utterance, and he was compelled +to pause. After the lapse of a few moments, he again ordered, but in a +voice that was remarked to falter,-- + +"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be brought forth." + +The feeling of suspense that ensued between the delivery and execution +of this command was painful throughout the ranks. All were penetrated +with curiosity to behold a man who had several times appeared to them +under the most appalling circumstances, and against whom the strongest +feeling of indignation had been excited for his barbarous murder of +Charles de Haldimar. It was with mingled awe and anger they now awaited +his approach. At length the captive was seen advancing from the cell in +which he had been confined, his gigantic form towering far above those +of the guard of grenadiers by whom he was surrounded; and with a +haughtiness in his air, and insolence in his manner, that told he came +to confront his enemy with a spirit unsubdued by the fate that too +probably awaited him. + +Many an eye was turned upon the governor at that moment. He was +evidently struggling for composure to meet the scene he felt it to be +impossible to avoid; and he turned pale and paler as his enemy drew +near. + +At length the prisoner stood nearly in the same spot where his +unfortunate nephew had lingered on a former occasion. He was unchained; +but his hands were firmly secured behind his back. He threw himself +into an attitude of carelessness, resting on one foot, and tapping the +earth with the other; riveting his eye, at the same time, with an +expression of the most daring insolence, on the governor, while his +swarthy cheek was moreover lighted up with a smile of the deepest scorn. + +"You are Reginald Morton the outlaw, I believe," at length observed the +governor in an uncertain tone, that, however, acquired greater firmness +as he proceeded,--"one whose life has already been forfeited through +his treasonable practices in Europe, and who has, moreover, incurred +the penalty of an ignominious death, by acting in this country as a spy +of the enemies of England. What say you, Reginald Morton, that you +should not be convicted in the death that awaits the traitor?" + +"Ha! ha! by Heaven, such cold, pompous insolence amuses me," +vociferated Wacousta. "It reminds me of Ensign de Haldimar of nearly +five and twenty years back, who was then as cunning a dissembler as he +is now." Suddenly changing his ribald tone to one of scorn and +rage:--"You BELIEVE me, you say, to be Reginald Morton the outlaw. Well +do you know it. I am that Sir Reginald Morton, who became an outlaw, +not through his own crimes, but through your villainy. Ay, frown as you +may, I heed it not. You may award me death, but shall not chain my +tongue. To your whole regiment do I proclaim you for a false, +remorseless villain." Then turning his flashing eye along the +ranks:--"I was once an officer in this corps, and long before any of +you wore the accursed uniform. That man, that fiend, affected to be my +friend; and under the guise of friendship, stole into the heart I loved +better than my own life. Yes," fervently pursued the excited prisoner, +stamping violently with his foot upon the earth, "he robbed me of my +affianced wife; and for that I resented an outrage that should have +banished him to some lone region, where he might never again pollute +human nature with his presence--he caused me to be tried by a +court-martial, and dismissed the service. Then, indeed, I became the +outlaw he has described, but not until then. Now, Colonel de Haldimar, +that I have proclaimed your infamy, poor and inefficient as the triumph +be, do your worst--I ask no mercy. Yesterday I thought that years of +toilsome pursuit of the means of vengeance were about to be crowned +with success; but fate has turned the tables on me and I yield." + +To all but the baronet and Captain Blessington this declaration was +productive of the utmost surprise. Every eye was turned upon the +colonel. He grew impatient under the scrutiny, and demanded if the +court, who meanwhile had been deliberating, satisfied of the guilt of +the prisoner, had come to a decision in regard to his punishment. An +affirmative answer was given, and Colonel de Haldimar proceeded. + +"Reginald Morton, with the private misfortunes of your former life we +have nothing to do. It is the decision of this court, who are merely +met out of form, that you suffer immediate death by hanging, as a just +recompense for your double treason to your country. There," and he +pointed to the flag-staff, "will you be exhibited to the misguided +people whom your wicked artifices have stirred up into hostility +against us. When they behold your fate, they will take warning from +your example; and, finding we have heads and arms not to suffer offence +with impunity, be more readily brought to obedience." + +"I understand your allusion," coolly rejoined Wacousta, glancing +earnestly at, and apparently measuring with his eye, the dimensions of +the conspicuous scaffold on which he was to suffer. "You had ever a +calculating head, De Haldimar, where any secret villainy, any thing to +promote your own selfish ends, was to be gained by it; but your +calculation seems now, methinks, at fault." + +Colonel de Haldimar looked at him enquiringly. + +"You have STILL a son left," pursued the prisoner with the same +recklessness of manner, and in a tone denoting allusion to him who was +no more, that caused an universal shudder throughout the ranks. "He is +in the hands of the Ottawa Indians, and I am the friend of their great +chief, inferior only in power among the tribe to himself. Think you +that he will see me hanged up like a dog, and fail to avenge my +disgraceful death?" + +"Ha! presumptuous renegade, is this the deep game you have in view? +Hope you then to stipulate for the preservation of a life every way +forfeited to the offended justice of your country? Dare you to cherish +the belief, that, after the horrible threats so often denounced by you, +you will again be let loose upon a career of crime and blood?" + +"None of your cant, de Haldimar, as I once observed to you before," +coolly retorted Wacousta, with bitter sarcasm. "Consult your own heart, +and ask if its catalogue of crime be not far greater than my own: yet I +ask not my life. I would but have the manner of my fate altered, and +fain would die the death of the soldier I WAS before you rendered me +the wretch I AM. Methinks the boon is not so great, if the restoration +of your son be the price." + +"Do you mean, then," eagerly returned the governor, "that if the mere +mode of your death be changed, my son shall be restored?" + +"I do," was the calm reply. + +"What pledge have we of the fact? What faith can we repose in the word +of a fiend, whose brutal vengeance has already sacrificed the gentlest +life that ever animated human clay?" Here the emotion of the governor +almost choked, his utterance, and considerable agitation and murmuring +were manifested in the ranks. + +"Gentle, said you?" replied the prisoner, musingly; "then did he +resemble his mother, whom I loved, even as his brother resembles you +whom I have had so much reason to hate. Had I known the boy to be what +you describe, I might have felt some touch of pity even while I delayed +not to strike his death blow; but the false moonlight deceived me, and +the detested name of De Haldimar, pronounced by the lips of my nephew's +wife--that wife whom your cold-blooded severity had widowed and driven +mad--was in itself sufficient to ensure his doom." + +"Inhuman ruffian!" exclaimed the governor, with increasing indignation; +"to the point. What pledge have you to offer that my son will be +restored?" + +"Nay, the pledge is easily given, and without much risk. You have only +to defer my death until your messenger return from his interview with +Ponteac. If Captain de Haldimar accompany him back, shoot me as I have +requested; if he come not, then it is but to hang me after all." + +"Ha! I understand you; this is but a pretext to gain time, a device to +enable your subtle brain to plan some mode of escape." + +"As you will, Colonel de Haldimar," calmly retorted Wacousta; and again +he sank into silence, with the air of one utterly indifferent to +results. + +"Do you mean," resumed the colonel, "that a request from yourself to +the Ottawa chief will obtain the liberation of my son?" + +"Unless the Indian be false as yourself, I do." + +"And of the lady who is with him?" continued the colonel, colouring +with anger. + +"Of both." + +"How is the message to be conveyed?" + +"Ha, sir!" returned the prisoner, drawing himself up to his full +height, "now are you arrived at a point that is pertinent. My wampum +belt will be the passport, and the safeguard of him you send; then for +the communication. There are certain figures, as you are aware, that, +traced on bark, answer the same purpose among the Indians with the +European language of letters. Let my hands be cast loose," he pursued, +but in a tone in which agitation and excitement might be detected, "and +if bark be brought me, and a burnt stick or coal, I will give you not +only a sample of Indian ingenuity, but a specimen of my own progress in +Indian acquirements." + +"What, free your hands, and thus afford you a chance of escape?" +observed the governor, doubtingly. + +Wacousta bent his stedfast gaze on him for a few moments, as if he +questioned he had heard aright. Then bursting into a wild and scornful +laugh,--"By Heaven!" he exclaimed, "this is, indeed, a high compliment +you pay me at the expense of these fine fellows. What, Colonel de +Haldimar afraid to liberate an unarmed prisoner, hemmed in by a forest +of bayonets? This is good; gentlemen," and he bent himself in sarcastic +reverence to the astonished troops, "I beg to offer you my very best +congratulations on the high estimation in which you are held by your +colonel." + +"Peace, sirrah!" exclaimed the governor, enraged beyond measure at the +insolence of him who thus held him up to contempt before his men, "or, +by Heaven, I will have your tongue cut out!--Mr. Lawson, let what this +fellow requires be procured immediately." Then addressing Lieutenant +Boyce, who commanded the immediate guard over the prisoner,--"Let his +hands be liberated, sir, and enjoin your men to be watchful of the +movements of this supple traitor. His activity I know of old to be +great, and he seems to have doubled it since he assumed that garb." + +The command was executed, and the prisoner stood, once more, free and +unfettered in every muscular limb. A deep and unbroken silence ensued; +and the return of the adjutant was momentarily expected. Suddenly a +loud scream was heard, and the slight figure of a female, clad in +white, came rushing from the piazza in which the apartment of the +deceased De Haldimar was situated. It was Clara. The guard of Wacousta +formed the fourth front of the square; but they were drawn up somewhat +in the distance, so as to leave an open space of several feet at the +angles. Through one of these the excited girl now passed into the area, +with a wildness in her air and appearance that riveted every eye in +painful interest upon her. She paused not until she had gained the side +of the captive, at whose feet she now sank in an attitude expressive of +the most profound despair. + +"Tiger!--monster!" she raved, "restore my brother!--give me back the +gentle life you have taken, or destroy my own! See, I am a weak +defenceless girl: can you not strike?--you who have no pity for the +innocent. But come," she pursued, mournfully, regaining her feet and +grasping his iron hand,--"come and see the sweet calm face of him you +have slain:--come with me, and behold the image of Clara Beverley; and, +if you ever loved her as you say you did, let your soul be touched with +remorse for your crime." + +The excitement and confusion produced by this unexpected interruption +was great. Murmurs of compassion for the unhappy Clara, and of +indignation against the prisoner, were no longer sought to be repressed +by the men; while the officers, quitting their places in the ranks, +grouped themselves indiscriminately in the foreground. One, more +impatient than his companions, sprang forward, and forcibly drew away +the delicate, hand that still grasped that of the captive. It was Sir +Everard Valletort. + +"Clara, my beloved wife!" he exclaimed, to the astonishment of all who +heard him, "pollute not your lips by further communion with such a +wretch; his heart is as inaccessible to pity as the rugged rocks on +which his spring-life was passed. For Heaven's sake,--for my +sake,--linger not within his reach. There is death in his very +presence." + +"Your wife, sir!" haughtily observed the governor, with irrepressible +astonishment and indignation in his voice; "what mean you?--Gentlemen, +resume your places in the ranks.--Clara--Miss de Haldimar, I command +you to retire instantly to your apartment.--We will discourse of this +later, Sir Everard Valletort. I trust you have not dared to offer an +indignity to my child." + +While he was yet turned to that officer, who had taken his post, as +commanded, in the inner angle of the square, and with a countenance +that denoted the conflicting emotions of his soul, he was suddenly +startled by the confused shout and rushing forward of the whole body, +both of officers and men. Before he had time to turn, a loud and +well-remembered yell burst upon his ear. The next moment, to his +infinite surprise and horror, he beheld the bold warrior rapidly +ascending the very staff that had been destined for his scaffold, and +with Clara in his arms. + +Great was the confusion that ensued. To rush forward and surround the +flag-staff, was the immediate action of the troops. Many of the men +raised their muskets, and in the excitement of the moment, would have +fired, had they not been restrained by their officers, who pointed out +the certain destruction it would entail on the unfortunate Clara. With +the rapidity of thought, Wacousta had snatched up his victim, while the +attention of the troops was directed to the singular conversation +passing between the governor and Sir Everard Valletort, and darting +through one of the open angles already alluded to, had gained the +rampart before they had recovered from the stupor produced by his +daring action. Stepping lightly upon the pegs, he had rapidly ascended +to the utmost height of these, before any one thought of following him; +and then grasping in his teeth the cord which was to have served for +his execution, and holding Clara firmly against his chest, while he +embraced the smooth staff with knees and feet closely compressed around +it, accomplished the difficult ascent with an ease that astonished all +who beheld him. Gradually, as he approached the top, the tapering pine +waved to and fro; and at each moment it was expected, that, yielding to +their united weight, it would snap asunder, and precipitate both Clara +and himself, either upon the rampart, or into the ditch beyond. + +More than one officer now attempted to follow the fugitive in his +adventurous course; but even Lieutenant Johnstone, the most active and +experienced in climbing of the party, was unable to rise more than a +few yards above the pegs that afforded a footing, add the enterprise +was abandoned as an impossibility. At length Wacousta was seen to gain +the extreme summit. For a moment he turned his gaze anxiously beyond +the town, in the direction of the bridge; and, after pealing forth one +of his terrific yells, exclaimed, exultingly, as he turned his eye upon +his enemy:-- + +"Well, colonel, what think you of this sample of Indian ingenuity? Did +I not tell you," he continued, in mockery, "that, if my hands were but +free, I would give you a specimen of my progress in Indian +acquirements?" + +"If you would avoid a death even more terrible than that of hanging," +shouted the governor, in a voice of mingled rage and terror, "restore +my daughter." + +"Ha! ha! ha!--excellent!" vociferated the savage. "You threaten +largely, my good governor; but your threats are harmless as those of a +weak besieging army before an impregnable fortress. It is for the +strongest, however, to propose his terms.--If I restore this girl to +life, will you pledge yourself to mine?" + +"Never!" thundered Colonel de Haldimar, with unusual energy.--"Men, +procure axes; cut the flag-staff down, since this is the only means +left of securing yon insolent traitor! Quick to your work: and mark, +who first seizes him shall have promotion on the spot." + +Axes were instantly procured, and two of the men now lent themselves +vigorously to the task. Wacousta seemed to watch these preparations +with evident anxiety; and to all it appeared as if his courage had been +paralysed by this unexpected action. No sooner, however, had the axemen +reached the heart of the staff, than, holding Clara forth over the edge +of the rampart, he shouted,-- + +"One stroke more, and she perishes!" + +Instantaneously the work was discontinued. A silence of a few moments +ensued. Every eye was turned upward,--every heart beat with terror to +see the delicate girl, held by a single arm, and apparently about to be +precipitated from that dizzying height. Again Wacousta shouted,-- + +"Life for life, De Haldimar! If I yield her shall I live?" + +"No terms shall be dictated to me by a rebel, in the heart of my own +fort," returned the governor. "Restore my child, and we will then +consider what mercy may be extended to you." + +"Well do I know what mercy dwells in such a heart as yours," gloomily +remarked the prisoner; "but I come." + +"Surround the staff, men," ordered the governor, in a low tone. "The +instant he descends, secure him: lash him in every limb, nor suffer +even his insolent tongue to be longer at liberty." + +"Boyce, for God's sake open the gate, and place men in readiness to +lower the drawbridge," implored Sir Everard of the officer of the +guard, and in a tone of deep emotion that was not meant to be overheard +by the governor. "I fear the boldness of this vengeful man may lead him +to some desperate means of escape." + +While the officer whom he addressed issued a command, the +responsibility of which he fancied he might, under the peculiar +circumstances of the moment, take upon himself, Wacousta began his +descent, not as before, by adhering to the staff, but by the rope which +he held in his left hand, while he still supported the apparently +senseless Clara against his right chest with the other. + +"Now, Colonel de Haldimar, I hope your heart is at rest," he shouted, +as he rapidly glided by the cord; "enjoy your triumph as best may suit +your pleasure." + +Every eye followed his movement with interest; every heart beat lighter +at the certainty of Clara being again restored, and without other +injury than the terror she must have experienced in such a scene. Each +congratulated himself on the favourable termination of the terrible +adventure, yet were all ready to spring upon and secure the desperate +author of the wrong. Wacousta had now reached the centre of the +flag-staff. Pausing for a moment, he grappled it with his strong and +nervous feet, on which he apparently rested, to give a momentary relief +to the muscles of his left arm. He then abruptly abandoned his hold, +swinging himself out a few yards from the staff, and returning again, +dashed his feet against it with a force that caused the weakened mass +to vibrate to its very foundation. Impelled by his weight, and the +violence of his action, the creaking pine gave way; its lofty top +gradually bending over the exterior rampart until it finally snapped +asunder, and fell with a loud crash across the ditch. + +"Open the gate, down with the drawbridge!" exclaimed the excited +governor. + +"Down with the drawbridge," repeated Sir Everard to the men already +stationed there ready to let loose at the first order. The heavy chains +rattled sullenly through the rusty pulleys, and to each the bridge +seemed an hour descending. Before it had reached its level, it was +covered with the weight of many armed men rushing confusedly to the +front; and the foremost of these leaped to the earth before it had sunk +into its customary bed. Sir Everard Valletort and Lieutenant Johnstone +were in the front, both armed with their rifles, which had been brought +them before Wacousta commenced his descent. Without order or +combination, Erskine, Blessington, and nearly half of their respective +companies, followed as they could; and dispersing as they advanced, +sought only which could outstep his fellows in the pursuit. + +Meanwhile the fugitive, assisted in his fall by the gradual rending +asunder of the staff, had obeyed the impulsion first given to his +active form, until, suddenly checking himself by the rope, he dropped +with his feet downward into the centre of the ditch. For a moment he +disappeared, then came again uninjured to the surface; and in the face +of more than fifty men, who, lining the rampart with their muskets +levelled to take him at advantage the instant he should reappear, +seemed to laugh their efforts to scorn. Holding Clara before him as a +shield, through which the bullets of his enemies must pass before they +could attain him, he impelled his gigantic form with a backward +movement towards the opposite bank, which he rapidly ascended; and, +still fronting his enemies, commenced his flight in that manner with a +speed which (considering the additional weight of the drenched garments +of both) was inconceivable. The course taken by him was not through the +town, but circuitously across the common until he arrived on that +immediate line whence, as we have before stated, the bridge was +distinctly visible from the rampart; on which, nearly the whole of the +remaining troops, in defiance of the presence of their austere chief, +were now eagerly assembled, watching, with unspeakable interest, the +progress of the chase. + +Desperate as were the exertions of Wacousta, who evidently continued +this mode of flight from a conviction that the instant his person was +left exposed the fire-arms of his pursuers would be brought to bear +upon him, the two officers in front, animated by the most extraordinary +exertions, were rapidly gaining upon him. Already was one within fifty +yards of him, when a loud yell was heard from the bridge. This was +fiercely answered by the fleeing man, and in a manner that implied his +glad sense of coming rescue. In the wild exultation of the moment, he +raised Clara high above his head, to show her in triumph to the +governor, whose person his keen eye could easily distinguish among +those crowded upon the rampart. In the gratified vengeance of that +hour, he seemed utterly to overlook the actions of those who were so +near him. During this brief scene, Sir Everard had dropped upon one +knee, and supporting his elbow on the other, aimed his rifle at the +heart of the ravisher of his wife. An exulting shout burst from the +pursuing troops. Wacousta bounded a few feet in air, and placing his +hand to his side, uttered another yell, more appalling than any that +had hitherto escaped him. His flight was now uncertain and wavering. He +staggered as one who had received a mortal wound; and discontinuing his +unequal mode of retreat, turned his back upon his pursuers, and threw +all his remaining energies into a final effort at escape. + +Inspirited by the success of his shot, and expecting momentarily to see +him fall weakened with the loss of blood, the excited Valletort +redoubled his exertions. To his infinite joy, he found that the efforts +of the fugitive became feebler at each moment Johnstone was about +twenty paces behind him, and the pursuing party at about the same +distance from Johnstone. The baronet had now reached his enemy, and +already was the butt of his rifle raised with both hands with murderous +intent, when suddenly Wacousta, every feature distorted with rage and +pain, turned like a wounded lion at bay, and eluding the blow, +deposited the unconscious form of his victim upon the sward. Springing +upon his infinitely weaker pursuer, he grappled him furiously by the +throat, exclaiming through his clenched teeth:-- + +"Nay then, since you will provoke your fate--be it so. Die like a dog, +and be d--d, for having balked me--of my just revenge!" + +As he spoke, he hurled the gasping officer to the earth with a violence +that betrayed the dreadful excitement of his soul, and again hastened +to assure himself of his prize. + +Meanwhile, Lieutenant Johnstone had come up, and, seeing his companion +struggling as he presumed, with advantage, with his severely wounded +enemy, made it his first care to secure the unhappy girl; for whose +recovery the pursuit had been principally instituted. Quitting his +rifle, he now essayed to raise her in his arms. She was without life or +consciousness, and the impression on his mind was that she was dead. + +While in the act of raising her, the terrible Wacousta stood at his +side, his vast chest heaving forth a laugh of mingled rage and +contempt. Before the officer could extricate, with a view of defending +himself, his arms were pinioned as though in a vice; and ere he could +recover from his surprise, he felt himself lifted up and thrown to a +considerable distance. When he opened his eyes a moment afterwards, he +was lying amid the moving feet of his own men. + +From the instant of the closing of the unfortunate Valletort with his +enemy, the Indians, hastening to the assistance of their chief, had +come up, and a desultory fire had already commenced, diverting, in a +great degree, the attention of the troops from the pursued. Emboldened +by this new aspect of things Wacousta now deliberately grasped the +rifle that had been abandoned by Johnstone; and raising it to his +shoulder, fired among the group collected on the ramparts. For a moment +he watched the result of his shot, and then, pealing forth another +fierce yell, he hurled the now useless weapon into the very heart of +his pursuers; and again raising Clara in his arms, once more commenced +his retreat, which, under cover of the fire of his party, was easily +effected. + +"Who has fallen?" demanded the governor of his adjutant, perceiving +that some one had been hit at his side, yet without taking his eyes off +his terrible enemy. + +"Mr. Delme, sir," was the reply. "He has been shot through the heart, +and his men are bearing him from the rampart." + +"This must not be," resumed the governor with energy. "Private feelings +must no longer be studied at the expense of the public good. That +pursuit is hopeless; and already too many of my officers have fallen. +Desire the retreat to be sounded, Mr. Lawson. Captain Wentworth, let +one or two covering guns be brought to bear upon the savages. They are +gradually increasing hi numbers; and if we delay, the party will be +wholly cut off." + +In issuing these orders, Colonel de Haldimar evinced a composedness +that astonished all who heard him. But although his voice was calm, +despair was upon his brow. Still he continued to gaze fixedly on the +retreating form of his enemy, until he finally disappeared behind the +orchard of the Canadian of the Fleur de lis. + +Obeying the summons from the fort, the troops without now commenced +their retreat, bearing off the bodies of their fallen officers and +several of their comrades who had fallen by the Indian fire. There was +a show of harassing them on their return; but they were too near the +fort to apprehend much danger. Two or three well-directed discharges of +artillery effectually checked the onward progress of the savages; and, +in the course of a minute, they had again wholly disappeared. + +In gloomy silence, and with anger and disappointment in their hearts, +the detachment now re-entered the fort. Johnstone was only severely +bruised; Sir Everard Valletort not dead. Both were conveyed to the same +room, where they were instantly attended by the surgeon, who pronounced +the situation of the latter hopeless. + +Major Blackwater, Captains Blessington and Erskine, Lieutenants Leslie +and Boyce, and Ensigns Fortescue and Summers, were now the only +regimental officers that remained of thirteen originally comprising the +strength of the garrison. The whole of these stood grouped around their +colonel, who seemed transfixed to the spot he had first occupied on the +rampart, with his arms folded, and his gaze bent in the direction in +which he had lost sight of Wacousta and his child. + +Hitherto the morning had been cold and cheerless, and objects in the +far distance were but indistinctly seen through a humid atmosphere. At +about half an hour before mid-day the air became more rarified, and, +the murky clouds gradually disappearing, left the blue autumnal sky +without spot or blemish. Presently, as the bells of the fort struck +twelve, a yell as of a legion of devils rent the air; and, riveting +their gaze in that direction, all beheld the bridge, hitherto deserted, +suddenly covered with a multitude of savages, among whom were several +individuals attired in the European garb, and evidently prisoners. Each +officer had a telescope raised to his eye, and each prepared himself, +shudderingly, for some horrid consummation. Presently the bridge was +cleared of all but a double line of what appeared to be women, armed +with war-clubs and tomahawks. Along the line were now seen to pass, in +slow succession, the prisoners that had previously been observed. At +each step they took (and it was evident they had been compelled to run +the gauntlet), a blow was inflicted by some one or other of the line, +until the wretched victims were successively despatched. A loud yell +from the warriors, who, although hidden from view by the intervening +orchards, were evidently merely spectators in the bloody drama, +announced each death. These yells were repeated, at intervals, to about +the number of thirty, when, suddenly, the bridge was again deserted as +before. + +After the lapse of a minute, the tall figure of a warrior was seen to +advance, holding a female in his arms. No one could mistake, even at +that distance, the gigantic proportions of Wacousta,--as he stood in +the extreme centre of the bridge, in imposing relief against the flood +that glittered like a sea of glass beyond. From his chest there now +burst a single yell; but, although audible, it was fainter than any +remembered ever to have been heard from him by the garrison. He then +advanced to the extreme edge of the bridge; and, raising the form of +the female far above his head with his left hand, seemed to wave her in +vengeful triumph. A second warrior was seen upon the bridge, and +stealing cautiously to the same point. The right hand of the first +warrior was now raised and brandished in air; in the next instant it +descended upon the breast of the female, who fell from his arms into +the ravine beneath. Yells of triumph from the Indians, and shouts of +execration from the soldiers, mingled faintly together. At that moment +the arm of the second warrior was raised, and a blade was seen to +glitter in the sunshine. His arm descended, and Wacousta was observed +to stagger forward and fall heavily into the abyss into which his +victim had the instant before been precipitated. Another loud yell, but +of disappointment and anger, was heard drowning that of exultation +pealed by the triumphant warrior, who, darting to the open extremity of +the bridge, directed his flight along the margin of the river, where a +light canoe was ready to receive him. Into this he sprang, and, seizing +the paddle, sent the waters foaming from its sides; and, pursuing his +way across the river, had nearly gained the shores of Canada before a +bark was to be seen following in pursuit. + +How felt--how acted Colonel de Haldimar throughout this brief but +terrible scene? He uttered not a word. With his arms still folded +across his breast, he gazed upon the murder of his child; but he heaved +not a groan, he shed not a tear. A momentary triumph seemed to, +irradiate his pallid features, when he saw the blow struck that +annihilated his enemy; but it was again instantly shaded by an +expression of the most profound despair. + +"It is done, gentlemen," he at length remarked. "The tragedy is closed, +the curse of Ellen Halloway is fulfilled, and I +am--childless!--Blackwater," he pursued, endeavouring to stifle the +emotion produced by the last reflection, "pay every attention to the +security of the garrison, see that the drawbridge is again properly +chained up, and direct that the duties of the troops be prosecuted in +every way as heretofore." + +Leaving his officers to wonder at and pity that apathy of mind that +could mingle the mere forms of duty with the most heart-rending +associations, Colonel de Haldimar now quitted the rampart; and, with a +head that was remarked for the first time to droop over his chest, +paced his way musingly to his apartments. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Night had long since drawn her circling mantle over the western +hemisphere; and deeper, far deeper than the gloom of that night was the +despair which filled every bosom of the devoted garrison, whose +fortunes it has fallen to our lot to record. A silence, profound as +that of death, pervaded the ramparts and exterior defences of the +fortress, interrupted only, at long intervals, by the customary "All's +well!" of the several sentinels; which, after the awful events of the +day, seemed to many who now heard it as if uttered in mockery of their +hopelessness of sorrow. The lights within the barracks of the men had +been long since extinguished; and, consigned to a mere repose of limb, +in which the eye and heart shared not, the inferior soldiery pressed +their rude couches with spirits worn out by a succession of painful +excitements, and frames debilitated, by much abstinence and watching. +It was an hour at which sleep was wont to afford them the blessing of a +temporary forgetfulness of endurances that weighed the more heavily as +they were believed to be endless and without fruit; but sleep had now +apparently been banished from all; for the low and confused murmur that +met the ear from the several block-houses was continuous and general, +betraying at times, and in a louder key, words that bore reference to +the tragic occurrences of the day. + +The only lights visible in the fort proceeded from the guard-house and +a room adjoining that of the ill-fated Charles de Haldimar. Within the +latter were collected, with the exception of the governor, and grouped +around a bed on which lay one of their companions in a nearly expiring +state, the officers of the garrison, reduced nearly one third in number +since we first offered them to the notice of our readers. The dying man +was Sir Everard Valletort, who, supported by pillows, was concluding a +narrative that had chained the earnest attention of his auditory, even +amid the deep and heartfelt sympathy perceptible in each for the +forlorn and hopeless condition of the narrator. At the side of the +unhappy baronet, and enveloped in a dressing gown, as if recently out +of bed, sat, reclining in a rude elbow chair, one whose pallid +countenance denoted, that, although far less seriously injured, he, +too, had suffered severely:--it was Lieutenant Johnstone. + +The narrative was at length closed; and the officer, exhausted by the +effort he had made in his anxiety to communicate every particular to +his attentive and surprised companions, had sunk back upon his pillow, +when, suddenly, the loud and unusual "Who comes there?" of the sentinel +stationed on the rampart above the gateway, arrested every ear. A +moment of pause succeeded, when again was heard the "Stand, friend!" +evidently given in reply to the familiar answer to the original +challenge. Then were audible rapid movements in the guard-house, as of +men aroused from temporary slumber, and hastening to the point whence +the voice proceeded. + +Silently yet hurriedly the officers now quitted the bedside of the +dying man, leaving only the surgeon and the invalid Johnstone behind +them; and, flying to the rampart, stood in the next minute confounded +with the guard, who were already grouped round the challenging +sentinel, bending their gaze eagerly in the direction of the road. + +"What now, man?--whom have you challenged?" asked Major Blackwater. + +"It is I--De Haldimar," hoarsely exclaimed one of four dark figures +that, hitherto, unnoticed by the officers, stood immediately beyond the +ditch, with a burden deposited at their feet. "Quick, Blackwater, let +us in for God's sake! Each succeeding minute may bring a scouting party +on our track. Lower the drawbridge!" + +"Impossible!" exclaimed the major: "after all that has passed, it is +more than my commission is worth to lower the bridge without +permission. Mr. Lawson, quick to the governor, and report that Captain +de Haldimar is here: with whom shall he say?" again addressing the +impatient and almost indignant officer. + +"With Miss de Haldimar, Francois the Canadian, and one to whom we all +owe our lives," hurriedly returned the officer; "and you may add," he +continued gloomily, "the corpse of my sister. But while we stand in +parley here, we are lost: Lawson, fly to my father, and tell him we +wait for entrance." + +With nearly the speed enjoined the adjutant departed. Scarcely a minute +elapsed when he again stood upon the rampart, and advancing closely to +the major, whispered a few words in his ear. + +"Good God! can it be possible? When? How came this? but we will enquire +later. Open the gate; down with the bridge, Leslie," addressing the +officer of the guard. + +The command was instantly obeyed. The officers flew to receive the +fugitives; and as the latter crossed the drawbridge, the light of a +lantern, that had been brought from the guard-room, flashed full upon +the harassed countenances of Captain and Miss de Haldimar, Francois the +Canadian, and the devoted Oucanasta. + +Silent and melancholy was the greeting that took place between the +parties: the voice spoke not; the hand alone was eloquent; but it was +in the eloquence of sorrow only that it indulged. Pleasure, even in +this almost despaired of re-union, could not be expressed; and even the +eye shrank from mutual encounter, as if its very glance at such a +moment were sacrilege. Recalled to a sense of her situation by the +preparation of the men to raise the bridge, the Indian woman was the +first to break the silence. + +"The Saganaw is safe within his fort, and the girl of the pale faces +will lay her head upon his bosom," she remarked solemnly. "Oucanasta +will go to her solitary wigwam among the red skins." + +The heart of Madeline de Haldimar was oppressed by the weight of many +griefs; yet she could not see the generous preserver of her life, and +the rescuer of the body of her ill-fated cousin, depart without +emotion. Drawing a ring, of some value and great beauty, from her +finger, which she had more than once observed the Indian to admire, she +placed it on her hand; and then, throwing herself on the bosom of the +faithful creature, embraced her with deep manifestations of affection, +but without uttering a word. + +Oucanasta was sensibly gratified: she raised her large eyes to heaven +as if in thankfulness; and by the light of the lantern, which fell upon +her dark but expressive countenance, tears were to be seen starting +unbidden from their source. + +Released from the embrace of her, whose life she had twice preserved at +imminent peril to her own, the Indian again prepared to depart; but +there was another, who, like Madeline, although stricken by many +sorrows, could not forego the testimony of his heart's gratitude. +Captain de Haldimar, who, during this short scene, had despatched a +messenger to his room for the purpose, now advanced to the poor girl, +bearing a short but elegantly mounted dagger, which he begged her to +deliver as a token of his friendship to the young chief her brother. He +then dropped on one knee at her feet, and raising her hand, pressed it +fervently against his heart; an action which, even to the untutored +mind of the Indian, bore evidence only of the feeling that prompted it, +A heavy sigh escaped her labouring chest; and as the officer now rose +and quitted her hand, she turned slowly and with dignity from him, and +crossing the drawbridge, was in a few minutes lost in the surrounding +gloom. + +Our readers have, doubtless, anticipated the communication made to +Major Blackwater by the Adjutant Lawson. Bowed down to the dust by the +accomplishment of the curse of Ellen Halloway, the inflexibility of +Colonel de Haldimar's pride was not proof against the utter +annihilation wrought to his hopes as a father by the unrelenting hatred +of the enemy his early falsehood and treachery had raised up to him. +When the adjutant entered his apartment, the stony coldness of his +cheek attested he had been dead some hours. + +We pass over the few days of bitter trial that succeeded to the +restoration of Captain de Haldimar and his bride to their friends; +days, during which were consigned to the same grave the bodies of the +governor, his lamented children, and the scarcely less regretted Sir +Everard Valletort. The funeral service was attempted by Captain +Blessington; but the strong affection of that excellent officer, for +three of the defunct parties at least, was not armed against the trial. +He had undertaken a task far beyond his strength; and scarcely had +commenced, ere he was compelled to relinquish the performance of the +ritual to the adjutant. A large grave had been dug close under the +rampart, and near the fatal flag-staff, to receive the bodies of their +deceased friends; and, as they were lowered successively into their +last earthly resting place, tears fell unrestrainedly over the bronzed +cheeks of the oldest soldiers, while many a female sob blended with and +gave touching solemnity to the scene. + +On the morning of the third day from this quadruple interment, notice +was given by one of the sentinels that an Indian was approaching the +fort, making signs as if in demand for a parley. The officers, headed +by Major Blackwater, now become the commandant of the place, +immediately ascended the rampart, when the stranger was at once +recognised by Captain de Haldimar for the young Ottawa, the preserver +of his life, and the avenger of the deaths of those they mourned, in +whose girdle was thrust, in seeming pride, the richly mounted dagger +that officer had caused to be conveyed to him through his no less +generous sister. A long conference ensued, in the language of the +Ottawas, between the parties just named, the purport of which was of +high moment to the garrison, now nearly reduced to the last extremity. +The young chief had come to apprise them, that, won by the noble +conduct of the English, on a late occasion, when his warriors were +wholly in their power, Ponteac had expressed a generous determination +to conclude a peace with the garrison, and henceforth to consider them +as his friends. This he had publicly declared in a large council of the +chiefs, held the preceding night; and the motive of the Ottawa's coming +was, to assure the English, that, on this occasion, their great leader +was perfectly sincere in a resolution, at which he had the more readily +arrived, now that his terrible coadjutor and vindictive adviser was no +more. He prepared them for the coming of Ponteac and the principal +chiefs of the league to demand a council on the morrow; and, with this +final communication, again withdrew. + +The Ottawa was right Within a week from that period the English were to +be seen once more issuing from their fort; and, although many months +elapsed before the wounds of their suffering hearts were healed, still +were they grateful to Providence for their final preservation from a +doom that had fallen, without exception, on every fortress on the line +of frontier in which they lay. + +Time rolled on; and, in the course of years, Oucanasta might be seen +associating with and bearing curious presents, the fruits of Indian +ingenuity, to the daughters of De Haldimar, now become the colonel of +the ---- regiment; while her brother, the chief, instructed his sons in +the athletic and active exercises peculiar to his race. As for poor +Ellen Halloway, search had been made for her, but she never was heard +of afterwards. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac +Conspiracy--Volume 3, by John Richardson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA--VOLUME 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 4911.txt or 4911.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/9/1/4911/ + +Produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from Charles Franks +and the distributed proofers. HTML version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Habits of long-since +acquired superstition, too powerful to be easily shaken +off, moreover contributed to the dejection of the mariners, +among whom there were not wanting those who believed the +silent steersman was in reality what their comrade had +represented,--an immaterial being, sent from the world +of spirits to warn them of some impending evil. What +principally gave weight to this impression were the +repeated asseverations of Fuller, during the sleepless +night passed by all on deck, that what he had seen was +no other, could be no other, than a ghost! exhibiting in +its hueless, fleshless cheek, the well-known lineaments +of one who was supposed to be no more: and, if the story +of their comrade had needed confirmation among men in +whom faith in, rather than love for, the marvellous was +a constitutional ingredient, the terrible effect that +seemed to have been produced on Captain de Haldimar by +the same mysterious visitation would have been more than +conclusive. The very appearance of the night, too, +favoured the delusion. The heavens, comparatively clear +at the moment when the canoe approached the vessel, became +suddenly enveloped in the deepest gloom at its departure, +as if to enshroud the course of those who, having so +mysteriously approached, had also so unaccountably +disappeared. Nor had this threatening state of the +atmosphere the counterbalancing advantage of storm and +tempest to drive them onward through the narrow waters +of the Sinclair, and enable them, by anticipating the +pursuit of their enemies, to shun the Scylla and Charybdis +that awaited their more leisure advance. The wind increased +not; and the disappointed seamen remarked, with dismay, +that their craft scarcely made more progress than at the +moment when she first quitted her anchorage. + +It was now near the first hours of day; and although, +perhaps, none slept, there were few who were not apparently +at rest, and plunged in the most painful reflections. +Still occupying her humble couch, and shielded from the +night air merely by the cloak that covered her own +blood-stained garments, lay the unhappy Clara, her deep +groans and stifled sobs bursting occasionally from her +pent-up heart, and falling on the ears of the mariners +like sounds of fearful import, produced by the mysterious +agency that already bore such undivided power over their +thoughts. On the bare deck, at her side, lay her brother, +his face turned upon the planks, as if to shut out all +objects from eyes he had not the power to close; and, +with one arm supporting his heavy brow, while the other, +cast around the restless form of his beloved sister, +seemed to offer protection and to impart confidence, even +while his lips denied the accents of consolation. Seated +on an empty hen-coop at their head, was Sir Everard +Valletort, his back reposing against the bulwarks of the +vessel, his arms folded across his chest, and his eyes +bent mechanically on the man at the helm, who stood within +a few paces of him,--an attitude of absorption, which +he, ever and anon, changed to one of anxious and enquiring +interest, whenever the agitation of Clara was manifested +in the manner already shown. + +The main deck and forecastle of the vessel presented a +similar picture of mingled unquietness and repose. Many +of the seamen might be seen seated on the gun-carriages, +with their cheeks pressing the rude metal that served +them for a pillow. Others lay along the decks, with their +heads resting on the elevated hatches; while not a few, +squatted on their haunches with their knees doubled up +to their very chins, supported in that position the aching +head that rested between their rough and horny palms. +A first glance might have induced the belief that all +were buried in the most profound slumber; but the quick +jerking of a limb,--the fitful, sudden shifting of a +position,--the utter absence of that deep breathing which +indicates the unconsciousness of repose, and the occasional +spirting of tobacco juice upon the deck,--all these +symptoms only required to be noticed, to prove the living +silence that reigned throughout was not born either of +apathy or sleep. + +At the gangway at which the canoe had approached now +stood the individual already introduced to our readers +as Jack Fuller. The same superstitious terror that caused +his flight had once more attracted him to the spot where +the subject of his alarm first appeared to him; and, +without seeming to reflect that the vessel, in her slow +but certain progress, had left all vestige of the mysterious +visitant behind, he continued gazing over the bulwarks +on the dark waters, as if he expected at each moment to +find his sight stricken by the same appalling vision. It +was at the moment when he had worked up his naturally +dull imagination to its highest perception of the +supernatural, that he was joined by the rugged boatswain, +who had passed the greater part of the night in pacing +up and down the decks, watching the aspect of the heavens, +and occasionally tauting a rope or squaring a light yard, +unassisted, as the fluttering of the canvass in the wind +rendered the alteration necessary. + +"Well, Jack!" bluntly observed the latter in a gruff +whisper that resembled the suppressed growling of a +mastiff, "what the hell are ye thinking of now?--Not got +over your flumbustification yet, that ye stand here, +looking as sanctified as an old parson!" + +"I'll tell ye what it is, Mr. Mullins," returned the +sailor, in the same key; "you may make as much game on +me as you like; but these here strange sort of doings +are somehow quizzical; and, though I fears nothing in +the shape of flesh and blood, still, when it comes to +having to do with those as is gone to Davy Jones's locker +like, it gives a fellow an all-overishness as isn't quite +the thing. You understand me?" + +"I'm damned if I do!" was the brief but energetic rejoinder. + +"Well, then," continued Fuller, "if I must out with it, +I must. I think that 'ere Ingian must have been the devil, +or how could he come so sudden and unbeknownst upon me, +with the head of a 'possum: and then, agin, how could he +get away from the craft without our seeing him? and how +came the ghost on board of the canoe?" + +"Avast there, old fellow; you means not the head of a +'possum, but a beaver: but that 'ere's all nat'r'l enough, +and easily 'counted for; but you hav'n't told us whose +ghost it was, after all." + +"No; the captain made such a spring to the gunwale, as +frighted it all out of my head: but come closer, Mr. +Mullins, and I'll whisper it in your ear.--Hark! what +was that?" + +"I hears nothing," said the boatswain, after a pause. + +"It's very odd," continued Fuller; "but I thought as how +I heard it several times afore you came." + +"There's something wrong, I take it, in your upper story, +Jack Fuller," coolly observed his companion; "that 'ere +ghost has quite capsized you." + +"Hark, again!" repeated the sailor. "Didn't you hear it +then? A sort of a groan like." + +"Where, in what part?" calmly demanded the boatswain, +though in the same suppressed tone in which the dialogue +had been, carried on. + +"Why, from the canoe that lies alongside there. I heard +it several times afore." + +"Well, damn my eyes, if you a'rn't turned a real coward +at last," politely remarked Mr. Mullins. "Can't the poor +fat devil of a Canadian snooze a bit in his hammock, +without putting you so completely out of your reckoning?" + +"The Canadian--the Canadian!" hurriedly returned Fuller: +"why, don't you see him there, leaning with his back to +the main-mast, and as fast asleep as if the devil himself +couldn't wake him?" + +"Then it was the devil, you heard, if you like," quaintly +retorted Mullins: "but bear a hand, and tell us all about +this here ghost." + +"Hark, again! what was that?" once more enquired the +excited sailor. + +"Only a gust of wind passing through the dried boughs of +the canoe," said the boatswain: "but since we can get +nothing out of that crazed noddle of yours, see if you +can't do something with your hands. That 'ere canoe +running alongside, takes half a knot off the ship's way. +Bear a hand then, and cast off the painter, and let her +drop astarn, that she may follow in our wake. Hilloa! +what the hell's the matter with the man now?" + +And well might he ask. With his eyeballs staring, his +teeth chattering, his body half bent, and his arms thrown +forward, yet pendent as if suddenly arrested in that +position while in the act of reaching the rope, the +terrified sailor stood gazing on the stern of the canoe; +in which, by the faint light of the dawning day, was to +be seen an object well calculated to fill the least +superstitious heart with terror and dismay. Through an +opening in the foliage peered the pale and spectral face +of a human being, with its dull eyes bent fixedly and +mechanically upon the vessel. In the centre of the wan +forehead was a dark incrustation, as of blood covering +the superficies of a newly closed wound. The pallid mouth +was partially unclosed, so as to display a row of white +and apparently lipless teeth; and the features were +otherwise set and drawn, as those of one who is no longer +of earth. Around the head was bound a covering so close, +as to conceal every part save the face; and once or twice +a hand was slowly raised, and pressed upon the blood spot +that dimmed the passing fairness of the brow. Every other +portion of the form was invisible. + +"Lord have mercy upon us!" exclaimed the boatswain, in +a voice that, now elevated to more than its natural tone, +sounded startlingly on the stillness of the scene; "sure +enough it is, indeed, a ghost!" + +"Ha! do you believe me now?" returned Fuller, gaining +confidence from the admission of his companion, and in +the same elevated key. "It is, as I hope to be saved, +the ghost I see'd afore." + +The commotion on deck was now every where universal. The +sailors started to their feet, and, with horror and alarm +visibly imprinted on their countenances, rushed tumultuously +towards the dreaded gangway. + +"Make way--room, fellows!" exclaimed a hurried voice; +and presently Captain de Haldimar, who had bounded like +lightning from the deck, appeared with eager eye and +excited cheek among them. To leap into the bows of the +canoe, and disappear under the foliage, was the work of +a single instant. All listened breathlessly for the +slightest sound; and then every heart throbbed with the +most undefinable emotions, as his lips were heard giving +utterance to the deep emotion of his own spirit,-- + +"Madeline, oh, my own lost Madeline!" he exclaimed with +almost frantic energy of passion: "do I then press you +once more in madness to my doting heart? Speak, speak to +me--for God's sake speak, or I shall go mad! Air, air, +--she wants air only--she cannot be dead." + +These last words were succeeded by the furious rending +asunder of the fastenings that secured the boughs, and +presently the whole went overboard, leaving revealed the +tall and picturesque figure of the officer; whose left +arm encircled while it supported the reclining and +powerless form of one who well resembled, indeed, the +spectre for which she had been mistaken, while his right +hand was busied in detaching the string that secured a +portion of the covering round her throat. At length it +fell from her shoulders; and the well known form of +Madeline de Haldimar, clad even in the vestments in which +they had been wont to see her, met the astonished gaze +of the excited seamen. Still there were some who doubted +it was the corporeal woman whom they beheld; and several +of the crew who were catholics even made the sign of the +cross as the supposed spirit was now borne up the gangway +in the arms of the pained yet gratified De Haldimar: nor +was it until her feet were seen finally resting on the +deck, that Jack Fuller could persuade himself it was +indeed Miss de Haldimar, and not her ghost, that lay +clasped to the heart of the officer. + +With the keen rush of the morning air upon her brow +returned the suspended consciousness of the bewildered +Madeline. The blood came slowly and imperceptibly to her +cheek; and her eyes, hitherto glazed, fixed, and +inexpressive, looked enquiringly, yet with stupid +wonderment, around. She started from the embrace of her +lover, gazed alternately at his disguise, at himself, +and at Clara; and then passing her hand several times +rapidly across her brow, uttered an hysteric scream, and +threw herself impetuously forward on the bosom of the +sobbing girl; who, with extended arms, parted lips, and +heaving bosom, sat breathlessly awaiting the first dawn +of the returning reason of her more than sister. + +We should vainly attempt to paint all the heart-rending +misery of the scene exhibited in the gradual restoration +of Miss de Haldimar to her senses. From a state of torpor, +produced by the freezing of every faculty into almost +idiocy, she was suddenly awakened to all the terrors of +the past and the deep intonations of her rich voice were +heard only in expressions of agony, that entered into +the most iron-hearted of the assembled seamen; while they +drew from the bosom of her gentle and sympathising cousin +fresh bursts of desolating grief. Imagination itself +would find difficulty in supplying the harrowing effect +upon all, when, with upraised hands, and on her bended +knees, her large eyes turned wildly up to heaven, she +invoked in deep and startling accents the terrible +retribution of a just God on the inhuman murderers of +her father, with whose life-blood her garments were +profusely saturated; and then, with hysteric laughter, +demanded why she alone had been singled out to survive +the bloody tragedy. Love and affection, hitherto the +first principles of her existence, then found no entrance +into her mind. Stricken, broken-hearted, stultified to +all feeling save that of her immediate wretchedness, she +thought only of the horrible scenes through which she +had passed; and even he, whom at another moment she could +have clasped in an agony of fond tenderness to her beating +bosom,--he to whom she had pledged her virgin faith, and +was bound by the dearest of human ties,--he whom she had +so often longed to behold once more, and had thought of, +the preceding day, with all the tenderness of her +impassioned and devoted soul,--even he did not, in the +first hours of her terrible consciousness, so much as +command a single passing regard. All the affections were +for a period blighted in her bosom. She seemed as one +devoted, without the power of resistance, to a grief +which calcined and preyed upon all other feelings of the +mind. One stunning and annihilating reflection seemed to +engross every principle of her being; nor was it for +hours after she had been restored to life and recollection +that a deluge of burning tears, giving relief to her +heart and a new direction to her feelings, enabled her +at length to separate the past from, and in some degree +devote herself to, the present. Then, indeed, for the +first time did she perceive and take pleasure in the +presence of her lover; and clasping her beloved and +weeping Clara to her heart, thank her God, in all the +fervour of true piety, that she at least had been spared +to shed a ray of comfort on her distracted spirit. But +we will not pain the reader by dwelling on a scene that +drew tears even from the rugged and flint-nerved boatswain +himself; for, although we should linger on it with minute +anatomical detail, no powers of language we possess could +convey the transcript as it should be. Pass we on, +therefore, to the more immediate incidents of our narrative. + +The day now rapidly developing, full opportunity was +afforded the mariners to survey the strict nature of +their position. To all appearance they were yet in the +middle of the lake, for around them lay the belting sweep +of forest that bounded the perspective of the equidistant +circle, of which their bark was the focus or immediate +centre. The wind was dying gradually away, and when at +length the sun rose, in all his splendour, there was +scarce air enough in the heavens to keep the sails from +flapping against the masts, or to enable the vessel to +obey her helm. In vain was the low and peculiar whistle +of the seamen heard, ever and anon, in invocation of the +departing breeze. Another day, calm and breathless as +the preceding, had been chartered from the world of light; +and their hearts failed them, as they foresaw the difficulty +of their position, and the almost certainty of their +retreat being cut off. It was while labouring under the +disheartening consciousness of danger, peculiar to all, +that the anxious boatswain summoned Captain de Haldimar +and Sir Everard Valletort, by a significant beck of the +finger, to the side of the deck opposite to that on which +still lay the suffering and nearly broken-hearted girls. + +"Well, Mullins, what now?" enquired the former, as he +narrowly scanned the expression of the old man's features: +"that clouded brow of yours, I fear me, bodes no agreeable +information." + +"Why, your honour, I scarcely knows what to say about +it; but seeing as I'm the only officer in the ship, now +our poor captain is killed, God bless him! I thought I +might take the liberty to consult with your honours as +to the best way of getting out of the jaws of them sharks +of Ingians; and two heads, as the saying is, is always +better than one." + +"And now you have the advantage of three," observed the +officer, with a sickly smile; "but I fear, Mullins, that +if your own be not sufficient for the purpose, ours will +be of little service. You must take counsel from your +own experience and knowledge of nautical matters." + +"Why, to be sure, your honour," and the sailor rolled +his quid from one cheek to the other, "I think I may say +as how I'll venture to steer the craft with any man on +the Canada lakes, and bring her safe into port too; but +seeing as how I'm only a petty officer, and not yet +recommended by his worship the governor for the full +command, I thought it but right to consult with my +superiors, not as to the management of the craft, but +the best as is to be done. What does your honour think +of making for the high land over the larboard bow yonder, +and waiting for the chance of the night-breeze to take +us through the Sinclair?" + +"Do whatever you think best," returned the officer. "For +my part, I scarcely can give an opinion. Yet how are we +to get there? There does not appear to be a breath of +wind." + +"Oh, that's easily managed; we have only to brail and +furl up a little, to hide our cloth from the Ingians, +and then send the boats a-head to tow the craft, while +some of us lend a hand at her own sweeps. We shall get +close under the lee of the land afore night, and then we +must pull up agin along shore, until we get within a mile +or so of the head of the river." + +"But shall we not be seen by our enemies?" asked Sir +Everard; "and will they not be on the watch for our +movements, and intercept our retreat?" + +"Now that's just the thing, your honour, as they're not +likely to do, if so be as we bears away for yon headlands. +I knows every nook and sounding round the lake; and odd +enough if I didn't, seeing as how the craft circumnavigated +it, at least, a dozen times since we have been cooped up +here. Poor Captain Danvers! (may the devil damn his +murderers, I say, though it does make a commander of me +for once;) he used always to make for that 'ere point, +whenever he wished to lie quiet; for never once did we +see so much as a single Ingian on the headland. No, your +honour, they keeps all at t'other side of the lake, seeing +as how that is the main road from Mackina' to Detroit." + +"Then, by all means, do so," eagerly returned Captain de +Haldimar. "Oh, Mullins! take us but safely through, and +if the interest of my father can procure you a king's +commission, you shall not want it, believe me." + +"And if half my fortune can give additional stimulus to +exertion, it shall be shared, with pleasure, between +yourself and crew," observed Sir Everard. + +"Thank your honours,--thank your honours," said the +boatswain, somewhat electrified by these brilliant offers. +"The lads may take the money, if they like; all I cares +about is the king's commission. Give me but a swab on my +shoulder, and the money will come fast enough of itself. +But, still, shiver my topsails, if I wants any bribery +to make me do my duty; besides, if 'twas only for them +poor girls alone, I would go through fire and water to +sarve them. I'm not very chicken-hearted in my old age, +your honours, but I don't recollect the time when I +blubbered so much as I did when Miss Madeline come aboard. +But I can't bear to think of it; and now let us see and +get all ready for towing." + +Every thing now became bustle and activity on board the +schooner. The matches, no longer required for the moment, +were extinguished, and the heavy cutlasses and pistols +unbuckled from the loins of the men, and deposited near +their respective guns. Light forms flew aloft, and, +standing out upon the yards, loosely furled the sails +that had previously been hauled and clewed up; but, as +this was an operation requiring little time in so small +a vessel, those who were engaged in it speedily glided +to the deck again, ready for a more arduous service. +The boats had, meanwhile, been got forward, and into +these the sailors sprang, with an alacrity that could +scarcely have been expected from men who had passed not +only the preceding night, but many before it, in utter +sleeplessness and despair. But the imminence of the +danger, and the evident necessity existing for exertion, +aroused them to new energy; and the hitherto motionless +vessel was now made to obey the impulse given by the tow +ropes of the boats, in a manner that proved their crews +to have entered on their toil with the determination of +men, resolved to devote themselves in earnest to their +task. Nor was the spirit of action confined to these. +The long sweeps of the schooner had been shipped, and +such of the crew as remained on board laboured effectually +at them,--a service, in which they were essentially aided, +not only by mine host of the Fleur de lis, but by the +young officers themselves. + +At mid-day the headlands were seen looming largely in +the distance, while the immediate shores of the ill-fated +fortress were momentarily, and in the same proportion, +disappearing under the dim line of horizon in the rear. +More than half their course, from the spot whence they +commenced towing, had been completed, when the harassed +men were made to quit their oars, in order to partake of +the scanty fare of the vessel, consisting chiefly of +dried bear's meat and venison. Spirit of any description +they had none; but, unlike their brethren of the Atlantic, +when driven to extremities in food, they knew not what +it was to poison the nutritious properties of the latter +by sipping the putrid dregs of the water-cask, in quantities +scarce sufficient to quench the fire of their parched +palates. Unslaked thirst was a misery unknown to the +mariners of these lakes: it was but to cast their buckets +deep into the tempting element, and water, pure, sweet, +and grateful as any that ever bubbled from the moss-clad +fountain of sylvan deity, came cool and refreshing to +their lips, neutralising, in a measure, the crudities of +the coarsest food. It was to this inestimable advantage +the crew of the schooner had been principally indebted +for their health, during the long series of privation, +as far as related to fresh provisions and rest, to which +they had been subjected. All appeared as vigorous in +frame, and robust in health, as at the moment when they +had last quitted the waters of the Detroit; and but for +the inward sinking of the spirit, reflected in many a +bronzed and furrowed brow, there was little to show they +had been exposed to any very extraordinary trials. + +Their meal having been hastily dispatched, and sweetened +by a draught from the depths of the Huron, the seamen +once more sprang into their boats, and devoted themselves, +heart and soul, to the completion of their task, pulling +with a vigour that operated on each and all with a tendency +to encouragement and hope. At length the vessel, still +impelled by her own sweeps, gradually approached the +land; and at rather more than an hour before sunset was +so near that the moment was deemed arrived when, without +danger of being perceived, she might be run up along the +shore to the point alluded to by the boatswain. Little +more than another hour was occupied in bringing her to +her station; and the red tints of departing day were +still visible in the direction of the ill-fated fortress +of Michilimackinac, when the sullen rumbling of the cable, +following the heavy splash of the anchor, announced the +place of momentary concealment had been gained. + +The anchorage lay between two projecting headlands; to +the outermost extremities of which were to be seen, +overhanging the lake, the stately birch and pine, connected +at their base by an impenetrable brushwood, extending to +the very shore, and affording the amplest concealment, +except from the lake side and the banks under which the +schooner was moored. From the first quarter, however, +little danger was incurred, as any canoes the savages +might send in discovery of their course, must unavoidably +be seen the moment they appeared over the line of the +horizon, while, on the contrary, their own vessel, although +much larger, resting on and identified with the land, +must be invisible, except on a very near approach. In +the opposite direction they were equally safe; for, as +Mullins had truly remarked, none, save a few wandering +hunters, whom chance occasionally led to the spot, were +to be met with in a part of the country that lay so +completely out of the track of communication between the +fortresses. It was, however, but to double the second +headland in their front, and they came within view of +the Sinclair, the head of which was situated little more +than a league beyond the spot where they now lay. Thus +secure for the present, and waiting only for the rising +of the breeze, of which the setting sun had given promise, +the sailors once more snatched their hasty refreshment, +while two of their number were sent aloft to keep a +vigilant look-out along the circuit embraced by the +enshrouding headlands. + +During the whole of the day the cousins had continued on +deck clasped in each other's arms, and shedding tears of +bitterness, and heaving the most heart-rending sobs at +intervals, yet but rarely conversing. The feelings of +both were too much oppressed to admit of the utterance +of their grief. The vampire of despair had banqueted on +their hearts. Their vitality had been sucked, as it were, +by its cold and bloodless lips; and little more than the +withered rind, that had contained the seeds of so many +affections, had been left. Often had Sir Everard and De +Haldimar paused momentarily from the labour of their +oars, to cast an eye of anxious solicitude on the scarcely +conscious girls, wishing, rather than expecting, to find +the violence of their desolation abated, and that, in +the full expansion of unreserved communication, they were +relieving their sick hearts from the terrible and crushing +weight of woe that bore them down. Captain de Haldimar +had even once or twice essayed to introduce the subject +himself, in the hope that some fresh paroxysm, following +their disclosures, would remove the horrible stupefaction +of their senses; but the wild look and excited manner of +Madeline, whenever he touched on the chord of her +affliction, had as often caused him to desist. + +Towards the evening, however, her natural strength of +character came in aid of his quiescent efforts to soothe +her; and she appeared not only more composed, but more +sensible of the impression produced by surrounding objects. +As the last rays of the sun were tinging the horizon, +she drew up her form in a sitting position against the +bulwarks, and, raising her clasped hands to heaven, while +her eyes were bent long and fixedly on the distant west, +appeared for some minutes wholly lost in that attitude +of absorption. Then she closed her eyes; and through the +swollen lids came coursing, one by one, over her quivering +cheek, large tears, that seemed to scald a furrow where +they passed. After this she became more calm--her +respiration more free; and she even consented to taste +the humble meal which the young man now offered for the +third time. Neither Clara nor herself had eaten food +since the preceding morning; and the weakness of their +frames contributed not a little to the increasing +despondency of their spirits; but, notwithstanding several +attempts previously made, they had rejected what was +offered them, with insurmountable loathing. When they +had now swallowed a few morsels of the sliced venison +ham, prepared with all the delicacy the nearly exhausted +resources of the vessel could supply, accompanied by a +small portion of the cornbread of the Canadian, Captain +de Haldimar prevailed on them to swallow a few drops of +the spirit that still remained in the canteen given them +by Erskine on their departure from Detroit. The genial +liquid sent a kindling glow to their chilled hearts, and +for a moment deadened the pungency of their anguish; and +then it was that Miss de Haldimar entered briefly on the +horrors she had witnessed, while Clara, with her arm +encircling her waist, fixed her dim and swollen eyes, +from which a tear ever and anon rolled heavily to her +lap, on those of her beloved cousin, + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Without borrowing the affecting language of the unhappy +girl--a language rendered even more touching by the +peculiar pathos of her tones, and the searching agony of +spirit that burst at intervals through her narrative-- +we will merely present our readers with a brief summary +of what was gleaned from her melancholy disclosure. On +bearing her cousin to the bedroom, after the terrifying +yell first heard from without the fort, she had flown +down the front stairs of the blockhouse, in the hope of +reaching the guardroom in time to acquaint Captain Baynton +with what she and Clara had witnessed from their window. +Scarcely, however, had she gained the exterior of the +building, when she saw that officer descending from a +point of the rampart immediately on her left, and almost +in a line with the block-house. He was running to overtake +and return the ball of the Indian players, which had, at +that moment, fallen into the centre of the fort, and was +now rolling rapidly away from the spot on which Miss de +Haldimar stood. The course of the ball led the pursuing +officer out of the reach of her voice; and it was not +until he had overtaken and thrown it again over the +rampart, she could succeed in claiming his attention. No +sooner, however, had he heard her hurried statement, +than, without waiting to take the orders of his commanding +officer, he prepared to join his guard, and give directions +for the immediate closing of the gates. But the opportunity +was now lost. The delay occasioned by the chase and +recovery of the ball had given the Indians time to approach +the gates in a body, while the unsuspicious soldiery +looked on without so much as dreaming to prevent them; +and Captain Baynton had scarcely moved forward in execution +of his purpose, when the yelling fiends were seen already +possessing themselves of the drawbridge, and exhibiting +every appearance of fierce hostility. Wild, maddened at +the sight, the almost frantic Madeline, alive only to +her father's danger, rushed back towards the council-room, +whence the startling yell from without had already been +echoed, and where the tramp of feet, and the clashing of +weapons, were distinguishable. + +Cut off from his guard, by the rapid inundation of +warriors, Captain Baynton had at once seen the futility +of all attempts to join the men, and his first impression +evidently had been to devote himself to the preservation +of the cousins. With this view he turned hastily to Miss +de Haldimar, and hurriedly naming the back staircase of +the block-house, urged her to direct her flight to that +quarter. But the excited girl had neither consideration +nor fear for herself; she thought only of her father: +and, even while the fierceness of contest was at its +height within, she suddenly burst into the council-room. +The confusion and horror of the scene that met her eyes +no language can render: blood was flowing in every +direction, and dying and dead officers, already stripped +of their scalps, were lying strewed about the room. +Still the survivors fought with all the obstinacy of +despair, and many of the Indians had shared the fate of +their victims. Miss de Haldimar attempted to reach her +father, then vigorously combating with one of the most +desperate of the chiefs; but, before she could dart +through the intervening crowd, a savage seized her by +the hair, and brandished a tomahawk rapidly over her +neck. At that moment Captain Baynton sent his glittering +blade deep into the heart of the Indian, who, relinquishing +his grasp, fell dead at the feet of his intended victim. +The devoted officer then threw his left arm round her +waist, and, parrying with his sword-arm the blows of +those who sought to intercept his flight, dragged his +reluctant burden towards the door. Hotly pressed by the +remaining officers, nearly equal in number, the Indians +were now compelled to turn and defend themselves in front, +when Captain Baynton took that opportunity of getting +once more into the corridor, not, however, without having +received a severe wound immediately behind the right ear, +and leaving a skirt and lappel of his uniform in the +hands of two savages who had successively essayed to +detain him. At that moment the band without had succeeded +in forcing open the door of the guard-room; and the +officer saw, at a glance, there was little time left for +decision. In hurried and imploring accents he besought +Miss de Haldimar to forget every thing but her own danger, +and to summon resolution to tear herself from the scene: +but prayer and entreaty, and even force, were alike +employed in vain. Clinging firmly to the rude balustrades, +she refused to be led up the staircase, and wildly +resisting all his efforts to detach her hands, declared +she would again return to the scene of death, in which +her beloved parent was so conspicuous an actor. While he +was yet engaged in this fruitless attempt to force her +from the spot, the door of the council-room was suddenly +burst open, and a group of bleeding officers, among whom +was Major de Haldimar, followed by their yelling enemies, +rushed wildly into the passage, and, at the very foot of +the stairs where they yet stood, the combat was renewed. +From that moment Miss de Haldimar lost sight of her +generous protector. Meanwhile the tumult of execrations, +and groans, and yells, was at its height; and one by one +she saw the unhappy officers sink beneath weapons yet +reeking with the blood of their comrades, until not more +than three or four, including her father and the commander +of the schooner, were left. At length Major de Haldimar, +overcome by exertion, and faint from wounds, while his +wild eye darted despairingly on his daughter, had his +sword-arm desperately wounded, when the blade dropped to +the earth, and a dozen weapons glittered above his head. +The wild shriek that had startled Clara then burst from +the agonised heart of her maddened cousin, and she darted +forward to cover her father's head with her arms. But +her senses failed her in the attempt; and the last thing +she recollected was falling over the weltering form of +Middleton, who pressed her, as she lay there, in the +convulsive energy of death, to his almost pulseless heart. + +A vague consciousness of being raised from the earth, +and borne rapidly through the air, came over her even in +the midst of her insensibility, but without any definite +perception of the present, or recollection of the past, +until she suddenly, when about midway between the fort +and the point of wood that led to Chabouiga, opened her +eyes, and found herself in the firm grasp of an Indian, +whose features, even in the hasty and fearful glance she +cast at the countenance, she fancied were not unfamiliar +to her. Not another human being was to be seen in the +clearing at that moment; for all the savages, including +even the women assembled outside, were now within the +fort assisting in the complex horrors of murder, fire, +and spoliation. In the wild energy of returning reason +and despair, the wretched girl struggled violently to +free herself; and so far with success, that the Indian, +whose strength was evidently fast failing him, was +compelled to quit his hold, and suffer her to walk. No +sooner did Miss de Haldimar feel her feet touching the +ground, when she again renewed her exertions to free +herself, and return to the fort; but the Indian held her +firmly secured by a leathern thong he now attached to +her waist, and every attempt proved abortive. He was +evidently much disconcerted at her resistance; and more +than once she expected, and almost hoped, the tomahawk +at his side would be made to revenge him for the test to +which his patience was subjected; but Miss de Haldimar +looked in vain for the expression of ferocity and impatience +that might have been expected from him at such a moment. +There was an air of mournfulness, and even kindness, +mingled with severity, on his smooth brow that harmonised +ill with the horrible atrocities in which he had, to all +appearance, covered as he was with blood, been so recent +and prominent an actor. The Indian remarked her surprise; +and then looking hurriedly, yet keenly, around, and +finding no living being near them, suddenly tore the +shirt from his chest, and emphatically pronouncing the +names "Oucanasta," "De Haldimar," disclosed to the still +struggling captive the bosom of a woman. After which, +pointing in the direction of the wood, and finally towards +Detroit, she gave Miss de Haldimar to understand that +was the course intended to be pursued. + +In a moment the resistance of the latter ceased. She at +once recognised the young Indian woman whom her cousin +had rescued from death: and aware, as she was, of the +strong attachment that had subsequently bound her to her +preserver, she was at no loss to understand how she might +have been led to devote herself to the rescue of one +whom, it was probable, she knew to be his affianced wife. +Once, indeed, a suspicion of a different nature crossed +her mind; for the thought occurred to her she had only +been saved from the general doom to be made the victim +of private revenge--that it was only to glut the jealous +vengeance of the woman at a more deliberative hour, she +had been made a temporary captive. The apprehension, +however, was no sooner formed than extinguished. Bitterly, +deeply as she had reason to abhor the treachery and +cunning of the dark race to which her captor belonged, +there was an expression of openness and sincerity, and +even imploringness, in the countenance of Oucanasta, +which, added to her former knowledge of the woman, at +once set this fear at rest, inducing her to look upon +her rather in the character of a disinterested saviour, +than in that of a cruel and vindictive enemy, goaded on +to the indulgence of malignant hate by a spirit of rivalry +and revenge. Besides, even were her cruellest fears to +be realised, what could await her worse than the past? +If she could even succeed in getting away, it would only +be to return upon certain death; and death only could +await her, however refined the tortures accompanying its +infliction, in the event of her quietly following and +yielding herself up to the guidance of one who offered +this slight consolation, at least, that she was of her +own sex. But Miss de Haldimar was willing to attribute +more generous motives to the Indian; and fortified in +her first impression, she signified by signs, that seemed +to be perfectly intelligible to her companion, she +appreciated her friendly intentions, and confided wholly +in her. + +No longer checked in her efforts, Oucanasta now directed +her course towards the wood, still holding the thong that +remained attached to Miss de Haldimar's waist, probably +with a view to deceive any individuals from the villages +on whom they might chance to fall, into a belief that +the English girl was in reality her prisoner. No sooner, +however, had they entered the depths of the forest, when, +instead of following the path that led to Chabouiga, +Oucanasta took a direction to the left, and then moving +nearly on a parallel line with the course of the lake, +continued her flight as rapidly as the rude nature of +the underwood, and the unpractised feet of her companion, +would permit. They had travelled in this manner for +upwards of four hours, without meeting a breathing thing, +or even so much as exchanging a sound between themselves, +when, at length, the Indian stopped at the edge of a deep +cavern-like excavation in the earth, produced by the +tearing up, by the wild tempest, of an enormous pine. +Into this she descended, and presently reappeared with +several blankets, and two light painted paddles. Then +unloosing the thong from the waist of the exhausted girl, +she proceeded to disguise her in one of the blankets in +the manner already shown, securing it over the head, +throat, and shoulders with the badge of captivity, now +no longer necessary for her purpose. She then struck off +at right angles from the course they had previously +pursued; and in less than twenty minutes both stood on +the lake shore, apparently at a great distance from the +point whence they had originally set out. The Indian +gazed for a moment anxiously before her; and then, with +an exclamation, evidently meant to convey a sense of +pleasure and satisfaction, pointed forward upon the lake. +Miss de Haldimar followed, with eager and aching eyes, +the direction of her finger, and beheld the well-known +schooner evidently urging her flight towards the entrance +of the Sinclair. Oh, how her sick heart seemed ready to +burst at that moment! When she had last gazed upon it +was from the window of her favourite apartment; and even +while she held her beloved Clara clasped fondly in her +almost maternal embrace, she had dared to indulge the +fairest images that ever sprung into being at the creative +call of woman's fancy. How bitter had been the reverse! +and what incidents to fill up the sad volume of the +longest life of sorrow and bereavement had not Heaven +awarded her in lieu! In one short hour the weight of a +thousand worlds had fallen on and crushed her heart; and +when and how was the panacea to be obtained to restore +one moment's cessation from suffering to her agonised +spirit? Alas! she felt at that moment, that, although +she should live a thousand years, the bitterness and +desolation of her grief must remain. From the vessel she +turned her eyes away upon the distant shore, which it +was fast quitting, and beheld a column of mingled flame +and smoke towering far above the horizon, and attesting +the universal wreck of what had so long been endeared to +her as her home. And she had witnessed all this, and yet +had strength to survive it! + +The courage of the unhappy girl had hitherto been sustained +by no effort of volition of her own. From the moment +when, discovering a friend in Oucanasta, she had yielded +herself unresistingly to the guidance of that generous +creature, her feelings had been characterised by an +obtuseness strongly in contrast with the high excitement +that had distinguished her previous manner. A dreamy +recollection of some past horror, it is true, pursued +her during her rapid and speechless flight; but any +analysis of the causes conducing to that horror, her +subjugated faculties were unable to enter upon. Even as +one who, under the influence of incipient slumber, rejects +the fantastic images that rise successively and indistinctly +to the slothful brain, until, at length, they weaken, +fade, and gradually die away, leaving nothing but a +formless and confused picture of the whole; so was it +with Miss de Haldimar. Had she been throughout alive to +the keen recollections associated with her flight, she +could not have stirred a foot in furtherance of her own +safety, even if she would. The mere instinct of +self-preservation would never have won one so truly +devoted to the generous purpose of her deliverer, had +not the temporary stupefaction of her mind prevented all +desire of opposition. It is true, in the moment of her +discovery of the sex of Oucanasta, she had been able to +exercise her reflecting powers; but they were only in +connection with the present, and wholly abstract and +separate from the past. She had followed her conductor +almost without consciousness, and with such deep absorption +of spirit, that she neither once conjectured whither they +were going, nor what was to be the final issue of their +flight. But now, when she stood on the lake shore, +suddenly awakened, as if by some startling spell, to +every harrowing recollection, and with her attention +assisted by objects long endeared, and rendered familiar +to her gaze--when she beheld the vessel that had last +borne her across the still bosom of the Huron, fleeing +for ever from the fortress where her arrival had been so +joyously hailed--when she saw that fortress itself +presenting the hideous spectacle of a blackened mass of +ruins fast crumbling into nothingness--when, in short, +she saw nothing but what reminded her of the terrific +past, the madness of reason returned, and the desolation +of her heart was complete. And then, again, when she +thought of her generous, her brave, her beloved, and too +unfortunate father, whom she had seen perish at her +feet--when she thought of her own gentle Clara, and the +sufferings and brutalities to which, if she yet lived, +she must inevitably be exposed, and of the dreadful fate +of the garrison altogether, the most menial of whom was +familiar to her memory, brought up, as she had been, +among them from her childhood--when she dwelt on all +these things, a faintness, as of death, came over her, +and she sank without life on the beach. Of what passed +afterwards she had no recollection. She neither knew how +she had got into the canoe, nor what means the Indian +had taken to secure her approach to the schooner. She +had no consciousness of having been removed to the bark +of the Canadian, nor did she even remember having risen +and gazed through the foliage on the vessel at her side; +but she presumed, the chill air of morning having partially +restored pulsation, she had moved instinctively from her +recumbent position to the spot in which her spectre-like +countenance had been perceived by Fuller. The first moment +of her returning reason was that when, standing on the +deck of the schooner, she found herself so unexpectedly +clasped to the heart of her lover. + +Twilight had entirely passed away when Miss de Haldimar +completed her sad narrative; and already the crew, roused +to exertion by the swelling breeze, were once more engaged +in weighing the anchor, and setting and trimming the +sails of the schooner, which latter soon began to shoot +round the concealing headland into the opening of the +Sinclair. A deathlike silence prevailed throughout the +decks of the little bark, as her bows, dividing the waters +of the basin that formed its source, gradually immerged +into the current of that deep but narrow river; so narrow, +indeed, that from its centre the least active of the +mariners might have leaped without difficulty to either +shore. This was the most critical part of the dangerous +navigation. With a wide sea-board, and full command of +their helm, they had nothing to fear; but so limited was +the passage of this river, it was with difficulty the +yards and masts of the schooner could be kept disengaged +from the projecting boughs of the dense forest that lined +the adjacent shores to their very junction with the water. +The darkness of the night, moreover, while it promised +to shield them from the observation of the savages, +contributed greatly to perplex their movements; for such +was the abruptness with which the river wound itself +round in various directions, that it required a man +constantly on the alert at the bows to apprise the helmsman +of the course he should steer, to avoid collision with +the shores. Canopies of weaving branches met in various +directions far above their heads, and through these the +schooner glided with a silence that might have called up +the idea of a Stygian freight. Meanwhile, the men stood +anxiously to their guns, concealing the matches in their +water-buckets as before; and, while they strained both +ear and eye through the surrounding; gloom to discover +the slightest evidence of danger, grasped the handles of +their cutlasses with a firm hand, ready to unsheathe them +at the first intimation of alarm. + +At the suggestion of the boatswain, who hinted at the +necessity of having cleared decks, Captain de Haldimar +had prevailed on his unfortunate relatives to retire to +the small cabin arranged for their reception; and here +they were attended by an aged female, who had long followed +the fortunes of the crew, and acted in the twofold +character of laundress and sempstress. He himself, with +Sir Everard, continued on deck watching the progress of +the vessel with an anxiety that became more intense at +each succeeding hour. Hitherto their course had been +unimpeded, save by the obstacles already enumerated; and +they had now, at about an hour before dawn, gained a +point that promised a speedy termination to their dangers +and perplexities. Before them lay a reach in the river, +enveloped in more than ordinary gloom, produced by the +continuous weaving of the tops of the overhanging trees; +and in the perspective, a gleam of relieving light, +denoting the near vicinity of the lake that lay at the +opposite extremity of the Sinclair, whose name it also +bore. This was the narrowest part of the river; and so +approximate were its shores, that the vessel in her course +could not fail to come in contact both with the obtruding +foliage of the forest and the dense bullrushes skirting +the edge of either bank. + +"If we get safe through this here place," said the +boatswain, in a rough whisper to his anxious and attentive +auditors," I think as how I'll venture to answer for the +craft. I can see daylight dancing upon the lake already. +Ten minutes more and she will be there." Then turning to +the man at the helm,--"Keep her in the centre of the +stream, Jim. Don't you see you're hugging the weather +shore?" + +"It would take the devil himself to tell which is the +centre," growled the sailor, in the same suppressed tone. +"One might steer with one's eyes shut in such a queer +place as this and never be no worser off than with them +open." + +"Steady her helm, steady," rejoined Mullins, "it's as +dark as pitch, to be sure, but the passage is straight +as an arrow, and with a steady helm you can't miss it. +Make for the light ahead." + +"Abaft there!" hurriedly and loudly shouted the man on +the look-out at the bows, "there's a tree lying across +the river, and we're just upon it." + +While he yet spoke, and before the boatswain could give +such instructions as the emergency required, the vessel +suddenly struck against the obstacle in question; but +the concussion was not of the violent nature that might +have been anticipated. The course of the schooner, at no +one period particularly rapid, had been considerably +checked since her entrance into the gloomy arch, in the +centre of which her present accident had occurred; so +that it was without immediate injury to her hull and +spars she had been thus suddenly brought to. But this +was not the most alarming part of the affair. Captain de +Haldimar and Sir Everard both recollected, that, in making +the same passage, not forty-eight hours previously, they +had encountered no obstacle of the kind, and a misgiving +of danger rose simultaneously to the hearts of each. It +was, however, a thing of too common occurrence in these +countries, where storm and tempest were so prevalent and +partial, to create more than a mere temporary alarm; for +it was quite as probable the barrier had been interposed +by some fitful outburst of Nature, as that it arose from +design on the part of their enemies: and when the vessel +had continued stationary for some minutes, without the +prepared and expectant crew discovering the slightest +indication of attack, the former impression was preserved +by the officers--at least avowedly to those around. + +"Bear a hand, my lads, and cut away," at length ordered +the boatswain, in a low but clear tone; "half a dozen at +each end of the stick, and we shall soon clear a passage +for the craft." + +A dozen sailors grasped their axes, and hastened forward +to execute the command. They sprang lightly from the +entangled bows of the schooner, and diverging in equal +numbers moved to either extremity of the fallen tree. + +"This is sailing through the heart of the American forest +with a vengeance," muttered Mullins, whose annoyance at +their detention was strongly manifested as he paced up +and down the deck. "Shiver my topsails, if it isn't bad +enough to clear the Sinclair at any time, much more so +when one's running for one's life, and not a whisper's +length from one's enemies. Do you know, Captain," abruptly +checking his movement, and familiarly placing his hand +on the shoulder of De Haldimar, "the last time we sailed +through this very reach I couldn't help telling poor +Captain Danvers, God rest his soul, what a nice spot it +was for an Ingian ambuscade, if they had only gumption +enough to think of it." + +"Hark!" said the officer, whose heart, eye, and ear were +painfully on the alert, "what rustling is that we hear +overhead?" + +"It's Jack Fuller, no doubt, your honour; I sent him up +to clear away the branches from the main topmast rigging." +Then raising his head, and elevating his voice, "Hilloa! +aloft there!" + +The only answer was a groan, followed by a deeper commotion +among the rustling foliage. + +"Why, what the devil's the matter with you now, Jack?" +pursued the boatswain, in a voice of angry vehemence. +"Are ye scared at another ghost, and be damned to you, +that ye keep groaning there after that fashion?" + +At that moment a heavy dull mass was heard tumbling +through the upper rigging of the schooner towards the +deck, and presently a human form fell at the very feet +of the small group, composed of the two officers and the +individual who had last spoken. + +"A light, a light!" shouted the boatswain; "the foolish +chap has lost his hold through fear, and ten to one if +he hasn't cracked his skull-piece for his pains. Quick +there with a light, and let's see what we can do for him." + +The attention of all had been arrested by the sound of +the falling weight, and as one of the sailors now advanced, +bearing a dark lantern from below, the whole of the crew, +with the exception of those employed on the fallen tree, +gathered themselves in a knot round the motionless form +of the prostrate man. But no sooner had their eyes +encountered the object of their interest, when each +individual started suddenly and involuntarily back, baring +his cutlass, and drawing forth his pistol, the whole +presenting a group of countenances strongly marked by +various shades of consternation and alarm, even while +their attitudes were those of men prepared for some fierce +and desperate danger. It was indeed Fuller whom they had +beheld, but not labouring, as the boatswain had imagined, +under the mere influence of superstitious fear. He was +dead, and the blood flowing from a deep wound, inflicted +by a sharp instrument in his chest, and the scalped head, +too plainly told the manner of his death, and the danger +that awaited them all. + +A pause ensued, but it was short. Before any one could +find words to remark on the horrible circumstance, the +appalling war-cry of the savages burst loudly from every +quarter upon the ears of the devoted crew. In the +desperation of the moment, several of the men clutched +their cutlasses between their teeth, and seizing the +concealed matches, rushed to their respective stations +at the guns. It was in vain the boatswain called out to +them, in a voice of stern authority, to desist, intimating +that their only protection lay in the reservation of the +fire of their batteries. Goaded and excited, beyond the +power of resistance, to an impulse that set all +subordination at defiance, they applied the matches, and +almost at the same instant the terrific discharge of both +broadsides took place, rocking the vessel to the water's +edge, and reverberating, throughout, the confined space +in which she lay, like the deadly explosion of some deeply +excavated mine. + +Scarcely had the guns been fired, when the seamen became +sensible of their imprudence. The echoes were yet +struggling to force a passage through the dense forest, +when a second yell of the Indians announced the fiercest +joy and triumph, unmixed by disaster, at the result; and +then the quick leaping of many forms could be heard, as +they divided the crashing underwood, and rushed forward +to close with their prey. It was evident, from the +difference of sound, their first cry had been pealed +forth while lying prostrate on the ground, and secure +from the bullets, whose harmless discharge that cry was +intended to provoke; for now the voices seemed to rise +progressively from the earth, until they reached the +level of each individual height, and were already almost +hotly breathing in the ears of those they were destined +to fill with illimitable dismay. + +"Shiver my topsails, but this comes of disobeying orders," +roared the boatswain, in a voice of mingled anger and +vexation. "The Ingians are quite as cunning as ourselves, +and arn't to be frighted that way. Quick, every cutlass +and pistol to his gangway, and let's do our best. Pass +the word forward for the axemen to return to quarters." + +Recovered from their first paroxysm of alarm, the men at +length became sensible of the presence of a directing +power, which, humble as it was, their long habits of +discipline had taught them to respect, and, headed on +the one side by Captain de Haldimar, and on the other by +Sir Everard Valletort, neither of whom, however, entertained +the most remote chance of success, flew, as commanded, +to their respective gangways. The yell of the Indians +had again ceased, and all was hushed into stillness; but +as the anxious and quicksighted officers gazed over the +bulwarks, they fancied they could perceive, even through +the deep gloom that every where prevailed, the forms of +men,--resting in cautious and eager attitudes, on the +very verge of the banks, and at a distance of little more +than half pistol shot. Every heart beat with expectancy, +--every eye was riveted intently in front, to watch and +meet the first movements of their foes, but not a sound +of approach was audible to the equally attentive ear. In +this state of aching suspense they might have continued +about five minutes, when suddenly their hearts were made +to quail by a third cry, that came, not as previously, +from the banks of the river, but from the very centre of +their own decks, and from the top-mast and riggings of +the schooner. So sudden and unexpected too was this fresh +danger, that before the two parties had time to turn, +and assume a new posture of defence, several of them had +already fallen under the butchering blades of their +enemies. Then commenced a desperate but short conflict, +mingled with yellings, that again were answered from +every point; and rapidly gliding down the pendant ropes, +were to be seen the active and dusky forms of men, swelling +the number of the assailants, who had gained the deck in +the same noiseless manner, until resistance became almost +hopeless. + +"Ha! I hear the footsteps of our lads at last," exclaimed +Mullins exultingly to his comrades, as he finished +despatching a third savage with his sturdy weapon. "Quick, +men, quick, up with hatchet and cutlass, and take them +in the rear. If we are to die, let's die--" game, he +would perhaps have added, but death arrested the word +upon his lips; and his corpse rolled along the deck, +until its further progress was stopped by the stiffened +body of the unhappy Fuller. + +Notwithstanding the fall of their brave leader, and the +whoopings of their enemies, the flagging spirits of the +men were for a moment excited by the announcement of the +return even of the small force of the axemen, and they +defended themselves with a courage and determination +worthy of a better result; but when, by the lurid light +of the torches, now lying burning about the decks, they +turned and beheld not their companions, but a fresh band +of Indians, at whose pouch-belts dangled the reeking +scalps of their murdered friends, they at once relinquished +the combat as hopeless, and gave themselves unresistingly +up to be bound by their captors. + +Meanwhile the cousins experienced a renewal of all those +horrors from which their distracted minds had been +temporarily relieved; and, petrified with alarm, as they +lay in the solitary berth that contained them both, +endured sufferings infinitely more terrible than death +itself. The early part of the tumult they had noticed +almost without comprehending its cause, and but for the +terrific cry of the Indians that had preceded them, would +have mistaken the deafening broadsides for the blowing +up of the vessel, so tremendous and violent bad been the +concussion. Nay, there was a moment when Miss de Haldimar +felt a pang of deep disappointment and regret at the +misconception; for, with the fearful recollection of past +events, so strongly impressed on her bleeding heart, she +could not but acknowledge, that to be engulfed in one +general and disastrous explosion, was mercy compared with +the alternative of falling into the hands of those to +whom her loathing spirit bad been too fatally taught to +deny even the commonest attributes of humanity. As for +Clara, she had not the power to think, or to form a +conjecture on the subject:--she was merely sensible of +a repetition of the horrible scenes from which she had +so recently been snatched, and with a pale cheek, a fixed +eye, and an almost pulseless heart, lay without motion +in the inner side of the berth. The piteous spectacle of +her cousin's alarm lent a forced activity to the despair +of Miss de Haldimar, in whom apprehension produced that +strong energy of excitement that sometimes gives to +helplessness the character of true courage. With the +increasing clamour of appalling conflict on deck, this +excitement grew at every moment stronger, until it finally +became irrepressible, so that at length, when through +the cabin windows there suddenly streamed a flood of +yellow light, extinguishing that of the lamp that threw +its flickering beams around the cabin, she flung herself +impetuously from the berth, and, despite of the aged and +trembling female who attempted to detain her, burst open +the narrow entrance to the cabin, and rushed up the steps +communicating with the deck. + +The picture that here met her eyes was at once graphic +and fearful in the extreme. On either side of the river +lines of streaming torches were waved by dusky warriors +high above their heads, reflecting the grim countenances, +not only of those who bore them, but of dense groups in +their rear, whose numbers were alone concealed by the +foliage of the forest in which they stood. From the +branches that wove themselves across the centre of the +river, and the topmast and rigging of the vessel, the +same strong yellow light, produced by the bark of the +birch tree steeped in gum, streamed down upon the decks +below, rendering each line and block of the schooner as +distinctly visible as if it had been noon on the sunniest +of those far distant lakes. The deck itself was covered +with the bodies of slain men--sailors, and savages mixed +together; and amid these were to be seen fierce warriors, +reclining triumphantly and indolently on their rifles, +while others were occupied in securing the arms of their +captives with leathern thongs behind their backs. The +silence that now prevailed was strongly in contrast with, +and even more fearful than, the horrid shouts by which +it had been preceded; and, but for the ghastly countenances +of the captives, and the quick rolling eyes of the savages, +Miss de Haldimar might have imagined herself the sport +of some extraordinary and exciting illusion. Her glance +over these prominent features in the tragedy had been +cursory, yet accurate. It now rested on one that had more +immediate and terrifying interest for herself. At a few +paces in front of the companion ladder, and with their +backs turned towards her, stood two individuals, whose +attitudes denoted the purpose of men resolved to sell +with their lives alone a passage to a tall fierce-looking +savage, whose countenance betrayed every mark of triumphant +and deadly passion, while he apparently hesitated whether +his uplifted arm should stay the weapon it wielded. These +individuals were Captain de Haldimar and Sir Everard +Valletort; and to the former of these the attention of +the savage was more immediately and exultingly directed; +so much so, indeed, that Miss de Haldimar thought she +could read in the ferocious expression of his features +the death-warrant of her cousin. In the wild terror of +the moment she gave a piercing scream that was answered +by a hundred yelling voices, and rushing between her +lover and his enemy, threw herself wildly and supplicatingly +at the feet of the latter. Uttering a savage laugh, the +monster spurned her from him with his foot, when, quick +as thought, a pistol was discharged within a few inches +of his face; but with a rapidity equal to that of his +assailant, he bent aside his head, and the ball passed +harmlessly on. The yell that followed was terrific; and +while it was yet swelling into fulness, Captain de Haldimar +felt an iron hand furiously grappling his throat, and, +ere the grasp was relinquished, he again stood the bound +and passive victim of the warrior of the Fleur de lis. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The interval that succeeded to the last council-scene of +the Indians was passed by the officers of Detroit in a +state of inexpressible anxiety and doubt. The fears +entertained for the fate of their companions, who had +set out in the perilous and almost forlorn hope of reaching +Michilimackinac, in time to prevent the consummation of +the threatened treachery, had, in some degree, if not +wholly, been allayed by the story narrated by the Ottawa +chief. It was evident, from his statement, the party had +again met, and been engaged in fearful struggle with the +gigantic warrior they had all so much reason to recollect; +and it was equally apparent, that in that struggle they +had been successful. But still, so many obstacles were +likely to be opposed to their navigation of the several +lakes and rivers over which lay their course, it was +almost feared, even if they eventually escaped unharmed +themselves, they could not possibly reach the fort in +time to communicate the danger that awaited their friends. +It is true, the time gained by Governor de Haldimar on +the first occasion had afforded a considerable interval, +of which advantage might be taken; but it was also, on +the other hand, uncertain whether Ponteac had commanded +the same delay in the council of the chiefs investing +Michilimackinac, to which he had himself assented. Three +days were sufficient to enable an Indian warrior to +perform the journey by land; and it was chiefly on this +vague and uncertain ground they based whatever little of +hope was entertained on the subject. + +It had been settled at the departure of the adventurers, +that the instant they effected a communication with the +schooner on Lake Huron, Francois should be immediately +sent back, with instructions so to contrive the period +of his return, that his canoe should make its appearance +soon after daybreak at the nearest extremity of Hog +Island, the position of which has been described in our +introductory chapter. From this point a certain signal, +that could be easily distinguished with the aid of a +telescope, was to be made from the canoe, which, without +being of a nature to attract the attention of the savages, +was yet to be such as could not well be mistaken by the +garrison. This was a precaution adopted, not only with +the view of giving the earliest intimation of the result +of the enterprise, but lest the Canadian should be +prevented, by any closer investment on the part of the +Indians, from communicating personally with the fort in +the way he had been accustomed. + +It will easily be comprehended therefore, that, as the +period approached when they might reasonably look for +the return of Francois, if he should return at all, the +nervous anxiety of the officers became more and more +developed. Upwards of a week had elapsed since the +departure of their friends; and already, for the last +day or two, their impatience had led them, at early dawn, +and with beating hearts, to that quarter of the rampart +which overlooked the eastern extremity of Hog Island. +Hitherto, however, their eager watching had been in vain. +As far as our recollection of the Canadian tradition of +this story serves us, it must have been on the fourth +night after the final discomfiture of the plans of Ponteac, +and the tenth from the departure of the adventurers, that +the officers were assembled in the mess-room, partaking +of the scanty and frugal supper to which their long +confinement had reduced them. The subject of their +conversation, as it was ever of their thoughts, was the +probable fate of their companions; and many and various, +although all equally melancholy, were the conjectures +offered as to the result. There was on the countenance +of each, that deep and fixed expression of gloom, which, +if it did not indicate any unmanliness of despair, told +at least that hope was nearly extinct: but more especially +was this remarkable in the young but sadly altered Charles +de Haldimar, who, with a vacant eye and a pre-occupied +manner, seemed wholly abstracted from the scene before +him. + +All was silence in the body of the fort. The men off duty +had long since retired to rest in their clothes, and only +the "All's well!" of the sentinels was heard at intervals +of a quarter of an hour, as the cry echoed from mouth to +mouth in the line of circuit. Suddenly, however, between +two of those intervals, and during a pause in the languid +conversation of the officers, the sharp challenge of a +sentinel was heard, and then quick steps on the rampart, +as of men hastening to the point whence the challenge +had been given. The officers, whom this new excitement +seemed to arouse into fresh activity, hurriedly quitted +the room; and, with as little noise as possible, gained +the spot where the voice had been heard. Several men were +bending eagerly over the rampart, and, with their muskets +at the recover, riveting their gaze on a dark and motionless +object that lay on the verge of the ditch immediately +beneath them. + +"What have you here, Mitchell?" asked Captain Blessington, +who was in command of the guard, and who had recognised +the gruff voice of the veteran in the challenge just +given. + +"An American burnt log, your honour," muttered the soldier, +"if one was to judge from its stillness; but if it is, +it must have rolled there within the last minute; for +I'll take my affidavy it wasn't here when I passed last +in my beat." + +"An American burnt log, indeed! it's some damned rascal +of a spy, rather," remarked Captain Erskine. "Who knows +but it may be our big friend, come to pay us a visit +again? And yet he is not half long enough for him, either. +Can't you try and tickle him with the bayonet, any of +you fellows, and see whether he is made of flesh and +blood?" + +Although this observation was made almost without object, +it being totally impossible for any musket, even with +the addition of its bayonet, to reach more than half way +across the ditch, the several sentinels threw themselves +on their chests, and, stretching over the rampart as far +as possible, made the attempt to reach the suspicious +looking object that lay beyond. No sooner, however, had +their arms been extended in such a manner as to be utterly +powerless, when the dark mass was seen to roll away in +an opposite direction, and with such rapidity that, before +the men could regain their feet and level their muskets, +it had entirely disappeared from their view. + +"Cleverly managed, to give the red skin his due," half +laughingly observed Captain Erskine, while his brother +officers continued to fix their eyes in astonishment on +the spot so recently occupied by the strange object; "but +what the devil could be his motive for lying there so +long? Not playing the eaves-dropper, surely; and yet, if +he meant to have picked off a sentinel, what was to have +prevented him from doing it sooner?" + +"He had evidently no arms," said Ensign Delme. + +"No, nor legs either, it would appear," resumed the +literal Erskine. "Curse me if I ever saw any thing in +the shape of a human form bundled together in that manner." + +"I mean he had no fire-arms--no rifle," pursued Delme. + +"And if he had, he certainly would have rifled one of us +of a life," continued the captain, laughing at his own +conceit. "But come, the bird is flown, and we have only +to thank ourselves for having been so egregiously duped. +Had Valletort been here, he would have given a different +account of him." + +"Hist! listen!" exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone, calling +the attention of the party to a peculiar and low sound +in the direction in which the supposed Indian had departed. + +It was repeated, and in a plaintive tone, indicating a +desire to propitiate. Soon afterwards a human form was +seen advancing slowly, but without show either of +concealment or hostility in its movements. It finally +remained stationary on the spot where the dark and +shapeless mass had been first perceived. + +"Another Oucanasta for De Haldimar, no doubt," observed +Captain Erskine, after a moment's pause. "These grenadiers +carry every thing before them as well in love as in war." + +The error of the good-natured officer was, however, +obvious to all but himself. The figure, which was now +distinctly traced in outline for that of a warrior, stood +boldly and fearlessly on the brink of the ditch, holding +up its left arm, in the hand of which dangled something +that was visible in the starlight, and pointing +energetically to this pendant object with the other. + +A voice from one of the party now addressed the Indian +in two several dialects, but without eliciting a reply. +He either understood not, or would not answer the question +proposed, but continued pointing significantly to the +indistinct object which he still held forth in an elevated +position. + +"The governor must be apprised of this," observed Captain +Blessington to De Haldimar, who was his subaltern of the +guard. "Hasten, Charles, to acquaint your father, and +receive his orders." + +The young officer willingly obeyed the injunction of his +superior. A secret and indefinable hope rushed through +his mind, that as the Indian came not in hostility, he +might be the bearer of some communication from their +friends; and he moved rapidly towards that part of the +building occupied by his father. + +The light of a lamp suspended over the piazza leading to +the governor's rooms reflecting strongly on his regimentals, +he passed unchallenged by the sentinels posted there, +and uninterruptedly gained a door that opened on a narrow +passage, at the further extremity of which was the +sitting-room usually occupied by his parent. This again +was entered from the same passage by a second door, the +upper part of which was of common glass, enabling any +one on the outside to trace with facility every object +within when the place was lighted up. + +A glance was sufficient to satisfy the youth his father +was not in the room; although there was strong evidence +he had not retired for the night. In the middle of the +floor stood an oaken table, and on this lay an open +writing desk, with a candle on each side, the wicks of +which had burnt so long as to throw a partial gloom over +the surrounding wainscotting. Scattered about the table +and desk were a number of letters that had apparently +been just looked at or read; and in the midst of these +an open case of red morocco, containing a miniature. +The appearance of these letters, thus left scattered +about by one who was scrupulously exact in the arrangement +of his papers, added to the circumstance of the neglected +and burning candles, confirmed the young officer in an +impression that his father, overcome by fatigue, had +retired into his bed-room, and fallen unconsciously +asleep. Imagining, therefore, he could not, without +difficulty, succeed in making himself heard, and deeming +the urgency of the case required it, he determined to +wave the usual ceremony of knocking, and penetrate to +his father's bedroom unannounced. The glass door being +without fastening within, easily yielded to his pressure +of the latch; but as he passed by the table, a strong +and natural feeling of curiosity induced him to cast his +eye upon the miniature. To his infinite surprise, nay, +almost terror, he discovered it was that of his mother--the +identical portrait which his sister Clara had worn in +her bosom from infancy, and which he had seen clasped +round her neck on the very deck of the schooner in which +she sailed for Michilimackinac. He felt there could be +no mistake, for only one miniature of the sort had ever +been in possession of the family, and that the one just +accounted for. Almost stupified at what he saw, and +scarcely crediting the evidence of his senses, the young +officer glanced his eye hurriedly along one of the open +letters that lay around. It was in the well remembered +hand-writing of his mother, and commenced, "Dear, dearest +Reginald." After this followed expressions of endearment +no woman might address except to an affianced lover, or +the husband of her choice; and his heart sickened while +he read. Scarcely, however, had he scanned half a dozen +lines, when it occurred to him he was violating some +secret of his parents; and, discontinuing the perusal +with an effort, he prepared to acquit himself of his +mission. + +On raising his eyes from the paper he was startled by +the appearance of his father, who, with a stern brow and +a quivering lip, stood a few paces from the table, +apparently too much overcome by his indignation to be +able to utter a sentence. + +Charles de Haldimar felt all the awkwardness of his +position. Some explanation of his conduct, however, was +necessary; and he stammered forth the fact of the portrait +having riveted his attention, from its striking resemblance +to that in his sister's possession. + +"And to what do these letters bear resemblance?" demanded +the governor, in a voice that trembled in its attempt to +be calm, while he fixed his penetrating eye on that of +his son. "THEY, it appears, were equally objects of +attraction with you." + +"The letters were in the hand-writing of my mother; and +I was irresistibly led to glance at one of them," replied +the youth, with the humility of conscious wrong. "The +action was involuntary, and no sooner committed than +repented of. I am here, my father, on a mission of +importance, which must account for my presence." + +"A mission of importance!" repeated the governor, with +more of sorrow than of anger in the tone in which he now +spoke. "On what mission are you here, if it be not to +intrude unwarrantably on a parent's privacy?" + +The young officer's cheek flushed high, as he proudly +answered:--"I was sent by Captain Blessington, sir, to +take your orders in regard to an Indian who is now without +the fort under somewhat extraordinary circumstances, yet +evidently without intention of hostility. It is supposed +he bears some message from my brother." + +The tone of candour and offended pride in which this +formal announcement of duty was made seemed to banish +all suspicion from the mind of the governor; and he +remarked, in a voice that had more of the kindness that +had latterly distinguished his address to his son, "Was +this, then, Charles, the only motive for your abrupt +intrusion at this hour? Are you sure no inducement of +private curiosity was mixed up with the discharge of your +duty, that you entered thus unannounced? You must admit, +at least, I found you employed in a manner different from +what the urgency of your mission would seem to justify." + +There was lurking irony in this speech; yet the softened +accents of his father, in some measure, disarmed the +youth of the bitterness he would have flung into his +observation,--"That no man on earth, his parent excepted, +should have dared to insinuate such a doubt with impunity." + +For a moment Colonel de Haldimar seemed to regard his +son with a surprised but satisfied air, as if he had not +expected the manifestation of so much spirit, in one whom +he had been accustomed greatly to undervalue. + +"I believe you, Charles," he at length observed; "forgive +the justifiable doubt, and think no more of the subject. +Yet, one word," as the youth was preparing to depart; +"you have read that letter" (and he pointed to that which +had principally arrested the attention of the officer): +"what impression has it given you of your mother? Answer +me sincerely. MY name," and his faint smile wore something +of the character of triumph, "is not REGINALD, you know." + +The pallid cheek of the young man flushed at this question. +His own undisguised impression was, that his mother had +cherished a guilty love for another than her husband. He +felt the almost impiety of such a belief, but he could +not resist the conviction that forced itself on his mind; +the letter in her handwriting spoke for itself; and though +the idea was full of wretchedness, he was unable to +conquer it. Whatever his own inference might be, however, +he could not endure the thought of imparting it to his +father; he, therefore, answered evasively. + +"Doubtless my mother had some dear relative of the name, +and to him was this letter addressed; perhaps a brother, +or an uncle. But I never knew," he pursued, with a look +of appeal to his father, "that a second portrait of my +mother existed. This is the very counterpart of Clara's." + +"It may be the same," remarked the governor, but in a +tone of indecision, that dented his faith in what he +uttered. + +"Impossible, my father. I accompanied Clara, if you +recollect, as far as Lake Sinclair; and when I quitted +the deck of the schooner to return, I particularly remarked +my sister wore her mother's portrait, as usual, round +her neck." + +"Well, no matter about the portrait," hurriedly rejoined +the governor; "yet, whatever your impression, Charles," +and he spoke with a warmth that was far from habitual to +him, "dare not to sully the memory of your mother by a +doubt of her purity. An accident has given this letter +to your inspection, but breathe not its contents to a +human creature; above all, respect the being who gave +you birth. Go, tell Captain Blessington to detain the +Indian; I will join you immediately." + +Strongly, yet confusedly, impressed with the singularity +of the scene altogether, and more particularly with his +father's strange admonition, the young officer quitted +the room, and hastened to rejoin his companions. On +reaching the rampart he found that the Indian, during +his long absence, had departed; yet not without depositing, +on the outer edge of the ditch, the substance to which +he had previously directed their attention. At the moment +of De Haldimar's approach, the officers were bending over +the rampart, and, with straining eyes, endeavouring to +make out what it was, but in vain; something was just +perceptible in the withered turf, but what that something +was no one could succeed in discovering. + +"Whatever this be, we must possess ourselves of it," said +Captain Blessington: "it is evident, from the energetic +manner of him who left it, it is of importance. I think +I know who is the best swimmer and climber of our party." + +Several voices unanimously pronounced the name of +"Johnstone." + +"Any thing for a dash of enterprise," said that officer, +whose slight wound had been perfectly healed. "But what +do you propose that the swimmer and climber should do, +Blessington?" + +"Secure yon parcel, without lowering the drawbridge." + +"What! and be scalped in the act? Who knows if it be not +a trick after all, and that the rascal who placed it +there is not lying within a few feet, ready to pounce +upon me the instant I reach the bank." + +"Never mind," said Erskine, laughingly, "we will revenge +your death, my boy." + +"Besides, consider the nunquam non paratus, Johnstone," +slily remarked Lieutenant Leslie. + +"What, again, Leslie?" energetically responded the young +Scotsman. "Yet think not I hesitate, for I did but jest: +make fast a rope round my loins, and I think I will answer +for the result." + +Colonel de Haldimar now made his appearance. Having +heard a brief statement of the facts, and approving of +the suggestion of Captain Blessington, a rope was procured, +and made fast under the shoulders of the young officer, +who had previously stripped himself of his uniform and +shoes. He then suffered himself to drop gently over the +edge of the rampart, his companions gradually lowering +the rope, until a deep and gasping aspiration, such as +is usually wrung from one coming suddenly in contact with +cold water, announced he had gained the surface of the +ditch. The rope was then slackened, to give him the +unrestrained command of his limbs; and in the next instant +he was seen clambering up the opposite elevation. + +Although the officers, indulging in a forced levity, in +a great degree meant to encourage their companion, had +treated his enterprise with indifference, they were far +from being without serious anxiety for the result. They +had laughed at the idea, suggested by him, of being +scalped; whereas, in truth, they entertained the +apprehension far more powerfully than he did himself. +The artifices resorted to by the savages, to secure an +isolated victim, were so many and so various, that +suspicion could not but attach to the mysterious occurrence +they had just witnessed. Willing even as they were to +believe their present visitor, whoever he was, came not +in a spirit of enmity, they could not altogether divest +themselves of a fear that it was only a subtle artifice +to decoy one of them within the reach of their traitorous +weapons. They, therefore, watched the movements of their +companion with quickening pulses; and it was with a lively +satisfaction they saw him, at length, after a momentary +search, descend once more into the ditch, and, with a +single powerful impulsion of his limbs, urge himself back +to the foot of the rampart. Neither feet nor hands were +of much service, in enabling him to scale the smooth and +slanting logs that composed the exterior surface of the +works; but a slight jerk of the well secured rope, serving +as a signal to his friends, he was soon dragged once more +to the summit of the rampart, without other injury than +a couple of slight bruises. + +"Well, what success?" eagerly asked Leslie and Captain +Erskine in the same breath, as the dripping Johnstone +buried himself in the folds of a capacious cloak procured +during his absence. + +"You shall hear," was the reply; "but first, gentlemen, +allow me, if you please, to enjoy, with yourselves, the +luxury of dry clothes. I have no particular ambition to +contract an American ague fit just now; yet, unless you +take pity on me, and reserve my examination for a future +moment, there is every probability I shall not have a +tooth left by to-morrow morning." + +No one could deny the justice of the remark, for the +teeth of the young man were chattering as he spoke. It +was not, therefore, until after he had changed his dress, +and swallowed a couple of glasses of Captain Erskine's +never failing spirit, that they all repaired once more +to the mess-room, when Johnstone anticipated all questions, +by the production of the mysterious packet. + +After removing several wrappers of bark, each of which +was secured by a thong of deerskin, Colonel de Haldimar, +to whom the successful officer had handed his prize, at +length came to a small oval case of red morocco, precisely +similar, in size and form, to that which had so recently +attracted the notice of his son. For a moment he hesitated, +and his cheek was observed to turn pale, and his hand to +tremble; but quickly subduing his indecision, he hurriedly +unfastened the clasp, and disclosed to the astonished +view of the officers the portrait of a young and lovely +woman, habited in the Highland garb. + +Exclamations of various kinds burst from the lips of the +group of officers. Several knew it to be the portrait of +Mrs. de Haldimar; others recognised it from the striking +likeness it bore to Clara and to Charles; all knew it +had never been absent from the possession of the former +since her mother's death; and feeling satisfied as they +did that its extraordinary appearance among them, at the +present moment, was an announcement of some dreadful +disaster, their countenances wore an impress of dismay +little inferior to that of the wretched Charles, who, +agonized beyond all attempt at description, had thrown +himself into a seat in the rear of the group, and sat +like one bewildered, with his head buried in his hands. + +"Gentlemen," at length observed Colonel de Haldimar, in +a voice that proved how vainly his natural emotion was +sought to be subdued by his pride, "this, I fear me, is +an unwelcome token. It comes to announce to a father the +murder of his child; to us all, the destruction of our +last remaining friends and comrades." + +"God forbid!" solemnly aspirated Captain Blessington. +After a pause of a moment or two he pursued: "I know not +why, sir; but my impression is, the appearance of this +portrait, which we all recognise for that worn by Miss +de Haldimar, bears another interpretation." + +Colonel de Haldimar shook his head.--"I have but too +much reason to believe," he observed, smiling in mournful +bitterness, "it has been conveyed to us not in mercy but +in revenge." + +No one ventured to question why; for notwithstanding all +were aware that in the mysterious ravisher of the wife +of Halloway Colonel de Haldimar had a fierce and inexorable +private enemy, no allusion had ever been made by that +officer himself to the subject. + +"Will you permit me to examine the portrait and envelopes, +Colonel?" resumed Captain Blessington: "I feel almost +confident, although I confess I have no other motive for +it than what springs from a recollection of the manner +of the Indian, that the result will bear me out in my +belief the bearer came not in hostility but in friendship." + +"By my faith, I quite agree with Blessington," said +Captain Erskine; "for, in addition to the manner of the +Indian, there is another evidence in favour of his +position. Was it merely intended in the light in which +you consider it, Colonel, the case or the miniature itself +might have been returned, but certainly not the metal in +which it is set. The savages are fully aware of the value +of gold, and would not so easily let it slip through +their fingers." + +"And wherefore thus carefully wrapped up?" remarked +Lieutenant Johnstone, "unless it had been intended it +should meet with no injury on the way. I certainly think +the portrait never would have been conveyed, in its +present perfect state, by an enemy." + +"The fellow seemed to feel, too, that he came in the +character of one whose intentions claimed all immunity +from harm," remarked Captain Wentworth. "He surely never +would have stood so fearlessly on the brink of the ditch, +and within pistol shot, had he not been conscious of +rendering some service to those connected with us." + +To these several observations of his officers, Colonel +de Haldimar listened attentively; and although he made +no reply, it was evident he felt gratified at the eagerness +with which each sought to remove the horrible impression +he had stated to have existed in his own mind. Meanwhile, +Captain Blessington had turned and examined the miniature +in fifty different ways, but without succeeding in +discovering any thing that could confirm him in his +original impression. Vexed and disappointed, he at length +flung it from him on the table, and sinking into a seat +at the side of the unfortunate Charles, pressed the hand +of the youth in significant silence. + +Finding his worst fears now confirmed. Colonel de +Haldimar, for the first time, cast a glance towards his +son, whose drooping head, and sorrowing attitude, spoke +volumes to his heart. For a moment his own cheek blanched, +and his eye was seen to glisten with the first tear ever +witnessed there by those around him. Subduing his emotion, +however, he drew up his person to its lordly height, as +if that act reminded him the commander was not to be lost +in the father, and quitting the room with a heavy brow +and step, recommended to his officers the repose of which +they appeared to stand so much in need. But not one was +there who felt inclined to court the solitude of his +pillow. No sooner were the footsteps of the governor +heard dying away in the distance, when fresh lights were +ordered, and several logs of wood heaped on the slackening +fire. Around this the officers now grouped, and throwing +themselves back in their chairs, assumed the attitudes +of men seeking to indulge rather in private reflection +than in personal converse. + +The grief of the wretched Charles de Haldimar, hitherto +restrained by the presence of his father, and encouraged +by the touching evidences of interest afforded him by +the ever-considerate Blessington, now burst forth audibly. +No attempt was made by the latter officer to check the +emotion of his young friend. Knowing his passionate +fondness for his sister, he was not without fear that +the sudden shock produced by the appearance of her +miniature might destroy his reason, even if it affected +not his life; and as the moment was now come when tears +might be shed without exciting invidious remark in the +only individual who was likely to make it, he sought to +promote them as much as possible. Too much occupied in +their own mournful reflections to bestow more than a +passing notice on the weakness of their friend, the group +round the fireplace scarcely seemed to have regarded his +emotion. + +This violent paroxysm past, De Haldimar breathed more +freely; and, after listening to several earnest observations +of Captain Blessington, who still held out the possibility +of something favourable turning up, on a re-examination +of the portrait by daylight, he was so far composed as +to be able to attend to the summons of the sergeant of +the guard, who came to say the relief were ready, and +waiting to be inspected before they were finally marched +off. Clasping the extended hand of his captain between +his own, with a pressure indicative of his deep gratitude, +De Haldimar now proceeded to the discharge of his duty; +and having caught up the portrait, which still lay on +the table, and thrust it into the breast of his uniform, +he repaired hurriedly to rejoin his guard, from which +circumstances alone had induced his unusually long absence. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +The remainder of that night was passed by the unhappy De +Haldimar in a state of indescribable wretchedness. After +inspecting the relief, he had thrown himself on his rude +guard-bed; and, drawing his cloak over his eyes, given +full rein to the wanderings of his excited imagination. +It was in vain the faithful old Morrison, who never +suffered his master to mount a guard without finding some +one with whom to exchange his tour of duty, when he +happened not to be in orders himself, repeatedly essayed, +as he sat stirring the embers of the fire, to enter into +conversation with him. The soul of the young officer was +sick, past the endurance even of that kind voice; and, +more than once, he impetuously bade him be silent, if he +wished to continue where he was; or, if not, to join his +comrades in the next guard-room. A sigh was the only +respectful but pained answer to these sharp remonstrances; +and De Haldimar, all absorbed even as he was in his own +grief, felt it deeply; for he knew the old man loved him, +and he could not bear the idea of appearing to repay with +slight the well-intentioned efforts of one whom he had +always looked upon more as a dependant on his family than +as the mere rude soldier. Still he could not summon +courage to disclose the true nature of his grief, which +the other merely ascribed to general causes and vague +apprehensions of a yet unaccomplished evil. Morrison had +ever loved his sister with an affection in no way inferior +to that which he bore towards himself. He had also nursed +her in childhood; and his memory was ever faithful to +trace, as his tongue was to dwell on, those gentle and +amiable qualities, which, strongly marked at an earlier +period of her existence, had only undergone change, +inasmuch as they had become matured and more forcibly +developed in womanhood. Often, latterly, had the grey-haired +veteran been in the habit of alluding to her; for he saw +the subject was one that imparted a mournful satisfaction +to the youth; and, with a tact that years, more than deep +reading of the human heart, had given him, he ever made +a point of adverting to their re-union as an event +admitting not of doubt. + +Hitherto the affectionate De Haldimar had loved to listen +to these sounds of comfort; for, although they carried +no conviction to his mind, impressed as he was with the +terrible curse of Ellen Halloway, and the consequent +belief that his family were devoted to some fearful doom, +still they came soothingly and unctuously to his sick +soul; and, all deceptive even as he felt them to be, he +found they created a hope which, while certain to be +dispelled by calm after-reflection, carried a momentary +solace to his afflicted spirit. But, now that he had +every evidence his adored sister was no more, and that +the illusion of hope was past for ever, to have heard +her name even mentioned by one who, ignorant of the +fearful truth the events of that night had elucidated, +was still ready to renew a strain every chord of which +had lost its power of harmony, was repugnant beyond +bearing to his heart. At one moment he resolved briefly +to acquaint the old man with the dreadful fact, but +unwillingness to give pain prevented him; and, moreover, +he felt the grief the communication would draw from the +faithful servitor of his family must be of so unchecked +a nature as to render his own sufferings even more poignant +than they were. Neither had he (independently of all +other considerations) resolution enough to forego the +existence of hope in another, even although it had passed +entirely away from himself. It was for these reasons he +had so harshly and (for him) unkindly checked, the attempt +of the old man at a conversation which he, at every +moment, felt would be made to turn on the ill-fated Clara. + +Miserable as he felt his position to be, it was not +without satisfaction he again heard the voice of his +sergeant summoning him to the inspection of another +relief. This duty performed, and anxious to avoid the +paining presence of his servant, he determined, instead +of returning to his guard-room, to consume the hour that +remained before day in pacing the ramparts. Leaving word +with his subordinate, that, in the event of his being +required, he might be found without difficulty, he ascended +to that quarter of the works where the Indian had been +first seen who had so mysteriously conveyed the sad token +he still retained in his breast. It was on the same side +with that particular point whence we have already stated +a full view of the bridge with its surrounding scenery, +together with the waters of the Detroit, where they were +intersected by Hog Island, were distinctly commanded. At +either of those points was stationed a sentinel, whose +duty it was to extend his beat between the boxes used +now rather as lines of demarcation than as places of +temporary shelter, until each gained that of his next +comrade, when they again returned to their own, crossing +each other about half way: a system of precaution pursued +by the whole of the sentinels in the circuit of the +rampart. + +The ostensible motive of the officer in ascending the +works, was to visit his several posts; but no sooner had +he found himself between the points alluded to, which +happened to be the first in his course, than he seemed +to be riveted there by a species of fascination. Not that +there was any external influence to produce this effect, +for the utmost stillness reigned both within and around +the fort; and, but for the howling of some Indian wolf-dog +in the distance, or the low and monotonous beat of their +drums in the death-dance, there was nought that gave +evidence of the existence of the dreadful enemy by whom +they were beset. But the whole being of the acutely +suffering De Haldimar was absorbed in recollections +connected with the spot on which he stood. At one +extremity was the point whence he had witnessed the +dreadful tragedy of Halloway's death; at the other, that +on which had been deposited the but too unerring record +of the partial realisation of the horrors threatened at +the termination of that tragedy; and whenever he attempted +to pass each of these boundaries, he felt as if his limbs +repugned the effort. + +In the sentinels, his appearance among them excited but +little surprise; for it was no uncommon thing for the +officers of the guard to spend the greatest part of the +night in visiting, in turn, the several more exposed +points of the ramparts; and that it was now confined to +one particular part, seemed not even to attract their +notice. It was, therefore, almost wholly unremarked by +his men, that the heart-stricken De Haldimar paced his +quick and uncertain walk with an imagination filled with +the most fearful forebodings, and with a heart throbbing +with the most painful excitement. Hitherto, since the +discovery of the contents of the packet, his mind had +been so exclusively absorbed in stupifying grief for his +sister, that his perception seemed utterly incapable of +outstepping the limited sphere drawn around it; but now, +other remembrances, connected with the localities, forced +themselves upon his attention; and although, in all these, +there was nothing that was not equally calculated to +carry dismay and sorrow to his heart, still, in dividing +his thoughts with the one supreme agony that bowed him +down, they were rather welcomed than discarded. His mind +was as a wheel, embracing grief within grief, multiplied +to infinitude; and the wider and more diffusive the +circle, the less powerful was the concentration of +sickening heart and brain on that which was the more +immediate axis of the whole. + +Reminded, for the first time, as he pursued his measured +but aimless walk, by the fatal portrait which he more +than once pressed with feverish energy to his lips, of +the singular discovery he had made that night in the +apartments of his father, he was naturally led, by a +chain of consecutive thought, into a review of the whole +of the extraordinary scene. The fact of the existence of +a second likeness of his mother was one that did not now +fail to reawaken all the unqualified surprise he had +experienced at the first discovery. So far from having +ever heard his father make the slightest allusion to this +memorial of his departed mother, he perfectly recollected +his repeatedly recommending to Clara the safe custody of +a treasure, which, if lost, could never be replaced. What +could be the motive for this mystery?--and why had he +sought to impress him with the belief it was the identical +portrait worn by his sister which had so unintentionally +been exposed to his view? Why, too, had he evinced so +much anxiety to remove from his mind all unfavourable +impressions in regard to his mother? Why have been so +energetic in his caution not to suffer a taint of impurity +to attach to her memory? Why should he have supposed the +possibility of such impression, unless there had been +sufficient cause for it? In what, moreover, originated +his triumphant expression of feature, when, on that +occasion, he reminded him that HIS name was not Reginald? +Who, then, was this Reginald? Then came the recollection +of what had been repeated to him of the parting scene +between Halloway and his wife. In addressing her ill-fated +husband, she had named him Reginald. Could it be possible +this was the same being alluded to by his father? But +no; his youth forbade the supposition, being but two +years older than his brother Frederick; yet might be not, +in some way or other, be connected with the Reginald of +the letter? Why, too, had his father shown such unrelenting +severity in the case of this unfortunate victim?--a +severity which had induced more than one remark from his +officers, that it looked as if he entertained some personal +feeling of enmity towards a man who had done so much for +his family, and stood so high in the esteem of all who +knew him. + +Then came another thought. At the moment of his execution, +Halloway had deposited a packet in the hands of Captain +Blessington;--could these letters--could that portrait +be the same? Certain it was, by whatever means obtained, +his father could not have had them long in his possession; +for it was improbable letters of so old a date should +have occupied his attention NOW, when many years had +rolled over the memory of his mother. And then, again, +what was the meaning of the language used by the implacable +enemy of his father, that uncouth and ferocious warrior +of the Fleur de lis, not only on the occasion of the +execution of Halloway, but afterwards to his brother, +during his short captivity; and, subsequently, when, +disguised as a black, he penetrated, with the band of +Ponteac, into the fort, and aimed his murderous weapon +at his father's head. What had made him the enemy of his +family? and where and how had originated his father's +connection with so extraordinary and so savage a being? +Could he, in any way, be implicated with his mother? But +no; there was something revolting, monstrous, in the +thought: besides, had not his father stood forward the +champion of her innocence?--had he not declared, with an +energy carrying conviction with every word, that she was +untainted by guilt? And would he have done this, had he +had reason to believe in the existence of a criminal love +for him who evidently was his mortal foe? Impossible. + +Such were the questions and solutions that crowded on +and distracted the mind of the unhappy De Haldimar, who, +after all, could arrive at no satisfactory conclusion. +It was evident there was a secret,--yet, whatever its +nature, it was one likely to go down with his father to +the grave; for, however humiliating the reflection to a +haughty parent, compelled to vindicate the honour of a +mother to her son, and in direct opposition to evidence +that scarcely bore a shadow of misinterpretation, it was +clear he had motives for consigning the circumstance to +oblivion, which far outweighed any necessity he felt of +adducing other proofs of her innocence than those which +rested on his own simple yet impressive assertion. + +In the midst of these bewildering doubts, De Haldimar +heard some one approaching in his rear, whose footsteps +he distinguished from the heavy pace of the sentinels. +He turned, stopped, and was presently joined by Captain +Blessington. + +"Why, dearest Charles," almost querulously asked the kind +officer, as he passed his arm through that of his +subaltern,--"why will you persist in feeding this love +of solitude? What possible result can it produce, but an +utter prostration of every moral and physical energy? +Come, come, summon a little fortitude; all may not yet +be so hopeless as you apprehend. For my own part, I feel +convinced the day will dawn upon some satisfactory solution +of the mystery of that packet." + +"Blessington, my dear Blessington!"--and De Haldimar +spoke with mournful energy,--"you have known me from my +boyhood, and, I believe, have ever loved me; seek not, +therefore, to draw me from the present temper of my mind; +deprive me not of an indulgence which, melancholy as it +is, now constitutes the sole satisfaction I take in +existence." + +"By Heaven! Charles, I will not listen to such language. +You absolutely put my patience to the rack." + +"Nay, then, I will urge no more," pursued the young +officer. "To revert, therefore, to a different subject. +Answer me one question with sincerity. What were the +contents of the packet you received from poor Halloway +previous to his execution? and in whose possession are +they now?" + +Pleased to find the attention of his young friend diverted +for the moment from his sister, Captain Blessington +quickly rejoiced, he believed the packet contained letters +which Halloway had stated to him were of a nature to +throw some light on his family connections. He had, +however, transferred it, with the seal unbroken, as +desired by the unhappy man, to Colonel de Haldimar. + +An exclamation of surprise burst involuntarily from the +lips of the youth. "Has my father ever made any allusion +to that packet since?" he asked. + +"Never," returned Captain Blessington; "and, I confess, +his failing to do so has often excited my astonishment. +But why do you ask?" + +De Haldimar energetically pressed the arm of his captain, +while a heavy sigh burst from his oppressed heart "This +very night, Blessington, on entering my father's apartment +to apprise him of what was going on here, I saw,--I can +scarcely tell you what, but certainly enough to convince +me, from what you have now stated, Halloway was, in some +degree or other, connected with our family. Tell me," +he anxiously pursued, "was there a portrait enclosed with +the letters?" + +"I cannot state with confidence, Charles," replied his +friend; "but if I might judge from the peculiar form and +weight of the packet, I should be inclined to say not. +Have you seen the letters, then?" + +"I have seen certain letters which, I have reason to +believe, are the same," returned De Haldimar. "They were +addressed to 'Reginald;' and Halloway, I think you have +told me, was so called by his unhappy wife." + +"There can be little doubt they are the same," said +Captain Blessington; "but what were their contents, and +by whom written, that you deem they prove a connection +between the unhappy soldier and your family?" + +De Haldimar felt the blood rise into his cheek, at this +natural but unexpected demand. "I am sure, Blessington," +he replied, after a pause, "you will not think me capable +of unworthy mystery towards yourself but the contents of +these letters are sacred, inasmuch as they relate only +to circumstances connected with my father's family." + +"This is singular indeed," exclaimed Captain Blessington, +in a tone that marked his utter and unqualified astonishment +at what had now been disclosed to him; "but surely, +Charles," he pursued, "if the packet handed me by Halloway +were the same you allude to, he would have caused the +transfer to have been made before the period chosen by +him for that purpose." + +"But the name," pursued De Haldimar; "how are we to +separate the identity of the packets, when we recur to +that name of 'Reginald?'" + +"True," rejoined the musing Blessington; "there is a +mystery in this that baffles all my powers of penetration. +Were I in possession of the contents of the letters, I +might find some clue to solve the enigma: but---" + +"You surely do not mean this as a reproach, Blessington?" +fervently interrupted the youth. "More I dare not, cannot +say, for the secret is not my own; and feelings, which +it would be dishonour to outrage, alone bind me to silence. +What little I have revealed to you even now, has been +uttered in confidence. I hope you have so understood it." + +"Perfectly, Charles. What you have stated, goes no further; +but we have been too long absent from our guard, and I +confess I have no particular fancy for remaining in this +chill night-air. Let us return." + +De Haldimar made no opposition, and they both prepared +to quit the rampart. As they passed the sentinel stationed +at that point where the Indian had been first seen, their +attention was directed by him to a fire that now suddenly +rose, apparently at a great distance, and rapidly increased +in volume. The singularity of this occurrence riveted +the officers for a moment in. silent observation; until +Captain Blessington at length ventured a remark, that, +judging from the direction, and the deceptive nature of +the element at night, he should incline to think it was +the hut of the Canadian burning. + +"Which is another additional proof, were any such wanting, +that every thing is lost," mournfully urged the ever +apprehensive De Haldimar. "Francois has been detected in +rendering aid to our friends; and the Indians, in all +probability, after having immolated their victim, are +sacrificing his property to their rage." + +During this exchange of opinions, the officers had again +moved to the opposite point of the limited walk of the +younger. Scarcely had they reached it, and before Captain +Blessington could find time to reply to the fears of his +friend, when a loud and distant booming like that of a +cannon was heard in the direction of the fire. The alarm +was given hastily by the sentinels, and sounds of +preparation and arming were audible in the course of a +minute or two every where throughout the fort. Startled +by the report, which they had half inclined to imagine +produced by the discharge of one of their own guns, the +half slumbering officers had quitted the chairs in which +they had passed the night in the mess-room, and were soon +at the side of their more watchful companions, then +anxiously listening for a repetition of the sound. + +The day was just beginning to dawn, and as the atmosphere +cleared gradually away, it was perceived the fire rose +not from the hut of the Canadian, but at a point +considerably beyond it. Unusual as it was to see a large +fire of this description, its appearance became an object +of minor consideration, since it might be attributed to +some caprice or desire on the part of the Indians to +excite apprehension in their enemies. But how was the +report which had reached their ears to be accounted for? +It evidently could only have been produced by the discharge +of a cannon; and if so, where could the Indians have +procured it? No such arm had recently been in their +possession; and if it were, they were totally unacquainted +with the manner of serving it. + +As the day became more developed, the mystery was resolved. +Every telescope in the fort had been called into +requisition; and as they were now levelled in the direction +of the fire, sweeping the line of horizon around, +exclamations of surprise escaped the lips of several. + +"The fire is at the near extremity of the wood on Hog +Island," exclaimed Lieutenant Johnstone. "I can distinctly +see the forms of a multitude of savages dancing round it +with hideous gestures and menacing attitudes." + +"They are dancing their infernal war dance," said Captain +Wentworth. "How I should like to be able to discharge a +twenty-four pound battery, loaded with grape, into the +very heart of the devilish throng." + +"Do you see any prisoners?--Are any of our friends among +them?" eagerly and tremblingly enquired De Haldimar of +the officer who had last spoken. + +Captain Wentworth made a sweep of his glass along the +shores of the island; but apparently without success. He +announced that he could discover nothing but a vast number +of bark canoes lying dry and upturned on the beach. + +"It is an unusual hour for their war dance," observed +Captain Blessington. "My experience furnishes me with no +one instance in which it has not been danced previous to +their retiring to rest." + +"Unless," said Lieutenant Boyce, "they should have been +thus engaged all night; in which case the singularity +may be explained." + +"Look, look," eagerly remarked Lieutenant Johnstone--"see +how they are flying to their canoes, bounding and leaping +like so many devils broke loose from their chains. The +fire is nearly deserted already." + +"The schooner--the schooner!" shouted Captain Erskine. +"By Heaven, our own gallant schooner! see how beautifully +she drives past the island. It was her gun we heard, +intended as a signal to prepare us for her appearance." + +A thrill of wild and indescribable emotion passed through +every heart. Every eye was turned upon the point to which +attention was now directed. The graceful vessel, with +every stitch of canvass set, was shooting rapidly past +the low bushes skirting the sands that still concealed +her hull; and in a moment or two she loomed largely and +proudly on the bosom of the Detroit, the surface of which +was slightly curled with a north-western breeze. + +"Safe, by Jupiter!" exclaimed the delighted Erskine, +dropping the glass upon the rampart, and rubbing his +hands together with every manifestation of joy. + +"The Indians are in chase," said Lieutenant Boyce; "upwards +of fifty canoes are following in the schooner's wake. +But Danvers will soon give us an account of their +Lilliputian fleet." + +"Let the troops be held in readiness for a sortie, Mr. +Lawson," said the governor, who had joined his officers +just as the schooner cleared the island; "we must cover +their landing, or, with this host of savages in pursuit, +they will never effect it alive." + +During the whole of this brief but exciting scene, the +heart of Charles de Haldimar beat audibly. A thousand +hopes and fears rushed confusedly on his mind, and he +was as one bewildered by, and scarcely crediting what he +saw. Could Clara,--could his cousin--could his +brother--could his friend be on board? He scarcely dared +to ask himself these questions; still it was with a +fluttering heart, in which hope, however, predominated, +that he hastened to execute an order of his captain, that +bore immediate reference to his duty as subaltern of the +guard. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Meanwhile the schooner dashed rapidly along, her hull +occasionally hid from the view of those assembled on the +ramparts by some intervening orchard or cluster of houses, +but her tall spars glittering in their covering of white +canvass, and marking the direction of her course. At +length she came to a point in the river that offered no +other interruption to the eye than what arose from the +presence of almost all the inhabitants of the village, +who, urged by curiosity and surprise, were to be seen +crowding the intervening bank. Here the schooner was +suddenly put about, and the English colours, hitherto +concealed by the folds of the canvass, were at length +discovered proudly floating in the breeze. + +Immediately over the gateway of the fort there was an +elevated platform, approached by the rampart, of which +it formed a part, by some half dozen rude steps on either +side; and on this platform was placed a long eighteen +pounder, that commanded the whole extent of road leading +from the drawbridge to the river. Hither the officers +had all repaired, while the schooner was in the act of +passing the town; and now that, suddenly brought up in +the wind's eye, she rode leisurely in the offing, every +movement on her decks was plainly discernible with the +telescope. + +"Where the devil can Danvers have hid all his crew?" +first spoke Captain Erskine; "I count but half a dozen +hands altogether on deck, and these are barely sufficient +to work her." + +"Lying concealed, and ready, no doubt, to give the canoes +a warm reception," observed Lieutenant Johnstone; "but +where can our friends be? Surely, if there, they would +show themselves to us." + +There was truth in this remark; and each felt discouraged +and disappointed that they did not appear. + +"There come the whooping hell fiends," said Major +Blackwater. "By Heaven! the very water is darkened with +the shadows of their canoes." + +Scarcely had he spoken, when the vessel was suddenly +surrounded by a multitude of savages, whose fierce shouts +rent the air, while their dripping paddles, gleaming like +silver in the rays of the rising sun, were alternately +waved aloft in triumph, and then plunged into the troubled +element, which they spurned in fury from their blades. + +"What can Danvers be about? Why does he not either open +his fire, or crowd sail and away from them?" exclaimed +several voices. + +The detachment is in readiness, sir," said Mr. Lawson, +ascending the platform, and addressing Major Blackwater. + +"The deck, the deck!" shouted Erskine. + +Already the eyes of several were bent in the direction +alluded to by the last speaker, while those whose attention +had been diverted by the approaching canoes glanced +rapidly to the same point. To the surprise and consternation +of all, the tall and well-remembered form of the warrior +of the Fleur de lis was seen towering far above the +bulwarks of the schooner; and with an expression in the +attitude he had assumed, which no one could mistake for +other than that of triumphant defiance. Presently he +drew from the bosom of his hunting coat a dark parcel, +and springing into the rigging of the main-mast, ascended +with incredible activity to the point where the English +ensign was faintly floating in the breeze. This he tore +furiously away, and rending it into many pieces, cast +the fragments into the silver element beneath him, on +whose bosom they were seen to float among the canoes of +the savages, many of whom possessed themselves, with +eagerness, of the gaudy coloured trophies. The dark parcel +was now unfolded by the active warrior, who, after having +waved it several times round his head, commenced attaching +it to the lines whence the English ensign had so recently +been torn. It was a large black flag, the purport of +which was too readily comprehended by the excited officers. + +"D--n the ruffian! can we not manage to make that, flag +serve as his own winding sheet?" exclaimed Captain Erskine. +"Come, Wentworth, give us a second edition of the sortie +firing; I know no man who understands pointing a gun +better than yourself, and this eighteen pounder might do +some mischief." + +The idea was instantly caught at by the officer of +artillery, who read his consent in the eye of Colonel de +Haldimar. His companions made way on either side; and +several gunners, who were already at their stations, +having advanced to work the piece at the command of their +captain, it was speedily brought to bear upon the schooner. + +"This will do, I think," said Wentworth, as, glancing +his experienced eye carefully along the gun, he found it +pointed immediately on the gigantic frame of the warrior. +"If this chain-shot miss him, it will be through no fault +of mine." + +Every eye was now riveted on the main-mast of the schooner, +where the warrior was still engaged in attaching the +portentous flag. The gunner, who held the match, obeyed +the silent signal of his captain; and the massive iron +was heard rushing past the officers, bound on its murderous +mission. A moment or two of intense anxiety elapsed; and +when at length the rolling volumes of smoke gradually +floated away, to the dismay and disappointment of all, +the fierce warrior was seen standing apparently unharmed +on the same spot in the rigging. The shot had, however, +been well aimed, for a large rent in the outstretched +canvass, close at his side, and about mid-height of his +person, marked the direction it had taken. Again he tore +away, and triumphantly waved the black flag around his +head, while from his capacious lungs there burst yells +of defiance and scorn, that could be distinguished for +his own even at that distance. This done, he again secured +the death symbol to its place; and gliding to the deck +by a single rope, appeared to give orders to the few men +of the crew who were to be seen; for every stitch of +canvass was again made to fill, and the vessel, bounding +forward before the breeze then blowing upon her quarter, +shot rapidly behind the town, and was finally seen to +cast anchor in the navigable channel that divides Hog +Island from the shores of Canada. + +At the discharge of the eighteen pounder, the river had +been suddenly cleared, as if by magic, of every canoe; +while, warned by the same danger, the groups of inhabitants, +assembled on the bank, had rushed for shelter to their +respective homes; so that, when the schooner disappeared, +not a vestige of human life was to be seen along that +vista so recently peopled with human forms. An order from +Colonel de Haldimar to the adjutant, countermanding the +sortie, was the first interruption to the silence that +had continued to pervade the little band of officers; +and two or three of these having hastened to the western +front of the rampart, in order to obtain a more distinct +view of the movements of the schooner, their example was +speedily followed by the remainder, all of whom now +quitted the platform, and repaired to the same point. + +Here, with the aid of their telescopes, they again +distinctly commanded a view of the vessel, which lay +motionless close under the sandy beach of the island, +and exhibiting all the technicalities of skill in the +disposition of sails and yards peculiar to the profession. +In vain, however, was every eye strained to discover, +among the multitude of savages that kept momentarily +leaping to her deck, the forms of those in whom they were +most interested. A group of some half dozen men, apparently +common sailors, and those, in all probability, whose +services had been compelled in the working of the vessel, +were the only evidences that civilised man formed a +portion of that grotesque assemblage. These, with their +arms evidently bound behind their backs, and placed on +one of the gangways, were only visible at intervals, as +the band of savages that surrounded them, brandishing +their tomahawks around their heads, occasionally left an +opening in their circle. The formidable warrior of the +Fleur de lis was no longer to be seen, although the flag +which he had hoisted still fluttered in the breeze. + +"All is lost, then," ejaculated the governor, with a +mournfulness of voice and manner that caused many of his +officers to turn and regard him with surprise. "That +black flag announces the triumph of my foe in the too +certain destruction of my children. Now, indeed," he +concluded in a lower tone, "for the first time, does the +curse of Ellen Halloway sit heavily on my soul." + +A deep sigh burst from one immediately behind him. The +governor turned suddenly round, and beheld his son. Never +did human countenance wear a character of more poignant +misery than that of the unhappy Charles at the moment. +Attracted by the report of the cannon, he had flown to +the rampart to ascertain the cause, and had reached his +companions only to learn the strong hope so recently +kindled in his breast was fled for ever. His cheek, over +which hung his neglected hair, was now pale as marble, +and his lips bloodless and parted; yet, notwithstanding +this intensity of personal sorrow, a tear had started to +his eye, apparently wrung from him by this unusual +expression of dismay in his father. + +"Charles--my son--my only now remaining child," murmured +the governor with emotion, as he remarked, and started +at the death-like image of the youth; "look not thus, or +you will utterly unman me." + +A sudden and involuntary impulse caused him to extend +his arms. The young officer sprang forward into the +proffered embrace, and sank his head upon the cheek of +his father. It was the first time he had enjoyed that +privilege since his childhood; and even overwhelmed as +he was by his affliction, he felt it deeply. + +This short but touching scene was witnessed by their +companions, without levity in any, and with emotion by +several. None felt more gratified at this demonstration +of parental affection for the sensitive boy, than +Blessington and Erskine. + +"I cannot yet persuade myself," observed the former +officer, as the colonel again assumed that dignity of +demeanour which had been momentarily lost sight of in +the ebullition of his feelings,--"I cannot yet persuade +myself things are altogether so bad as they appear. It +is true the schooner is in the possession of the enemy, +but there is nothing to prove our friends are on board." + +"If you had reason to know HIM into whose hands she has +fallen, as I do, you would think differently, Captain +Blessington," returned the governor. "That mysterious +being," he pursued, after a short pause, "would never +have made this parade of his conquest, had it related +merely to a few lives, which to him are of utter +insignificance. The very substitution of yon black flag, +in his insolent triumph, was the pledge of redemption of +a threat breathed in my ear within this very fort: on +what occasion I need not state, since the events connected +with that unhappy night are still fresh in the recollections +of us all. That he is my personal enemy, gentlemen, it +would be vain to disguise from you; although who he is, +or of what nature his enmity, it imports not now to enter +upon Suffice it, I have little doubt my children are in +his power; but whether the black flag indicates they are +no more, or that the tragedy is only in preparation, I +confess I am at a loss to understand." + +Deeply affected by the evident despondency that had +dictated these unusual admissions on the part of their +chief, the officers were forward to combat the inferences +he had drawn: several coinciding in the opinion now +expressed by Captain Wentworth, that the fact of the +schooner having fallen into the hands of the savages by +no means implied the capture of the fort whence she came; +since it was not at all unlikely she had been chased +during a calm by the numerous canoes into the Sinclair, +where, owing to the extreme narrowness of the river, she +had fallen an easy prey. + +"Moreover," observed Captain Blessington, "it is highly +improbable the ferocious warrior could have succeeded in +capturing any others than the unfortunate crew of the +schooner; for had this been the case, he would not have +lost the opportunity of crowning his triumph by exhibiting +his victims to our view in some conspicuous part of the +vessel." + +"This, I grant you," rejoined the governor, "to be one +solitary circumstance in our favour; but may it not, +after all, merely prove that our worst apprehensions are +already realised?" + +"He is not one, methinks, since vengeance seems his aim, +to exercise it in so summary, and therefore merciful, a +manner. Depend upon it, colonel, had any of those in whom +we are more immediately interested, fallen into his hands, +he would not have failed to insult and agonize us by an +exhibition of his prisoners." + +"You are right, Blessington," exclaimed Charles de +Haldimar, in a voice that his choking feelings rendered +almost sepulchral; "he is not one to exercise his vengeance +in a summary, and merciful manner. The deed is yet +unaccomplished, for even now the curse of Ellen Halloway +rings again in my ear, and tells me the atoning blood +must be spilt on the grave of her husband." + +The peculiar tone in which these words were uttered, +caused every one present to turn and regard the speaker, +for they recalled the prophetic language of the unhappy +woman. There was now a wildness of expression in his +handsome features, marking the mind utterly dead to hope, +yet struggling to work itself up to passive endurance of +the worst. Colonel de Haldimar sighed painfully, as he +bent his eye half reproachfully on the dull and attenuated +features of his son; and although he spoke not, his look +betrayed the anguish that allusion had called up to his +heart. + +"Forgive me, my father," exclaimed the youth, grasping a +hand that was reluctantly extended. "I meant it not in +unkindness; but indeed I have ever had the conviction +strongly impressed on my spirit. I know I appear weak, +childish, unsoldierlike; yet can it be wondered at, when +I have been so often latterly deceived by false hopes, that +now my heart has room for no other tenant than despair. +I am very wretched," he pursued, with affecting despondency; +"in the presence of my companions do I admit it, but they +all know how I loved my sister. Can they then feel surprise, +that having lost not only her, but my brother and my friend, +I should be the miserable thing I am." + +Colonel de Haldimar turned away, much affected; and +throwing his back against the sentry box near him, passed +his hand over his eyes, and remained for a few moments +motionless. + +"Charles, Charles, is this your promise to me?" whispered +Captain Blessington, as he approached and took the hand +of his unhappy friend. "Is this the self-command you +pledged yourself to exercise? For Heaven's sake, agitate +not your father thus, by the indulgence of a grief that +can have no other tendency than to render him equally +wretched. Be advised by me, and quit the rampart. Return +to your guard, and endeavour to compose yourself." + +"Ha! what new movement is that on the part of the savages?" +exclaimed Captain Erskine, who had kept his glass to his +eye mechanically, and chiefly with a view of hiding the +emotion produced in him by the almost infantine despair +of the younger De Haldimar: "surely it is--yet, no, it +cannot be--yes, see how they are dragging several prisoners +from the wood to the beach. I can distinctly see a man +in a blanket coat, and two others considerably taller, +and apparently sailors. But look, behind them are two +females in European dress. Almighty Heaven! there can be +no doubt." + +A painful pause ensued. Every other glass and eye was +levelled in the same direction; and, even as Erskine had +described it, a party of Indians were seen, by those who +had the telescopes, conducting five prisoners towards a +canoe that lay in the channel communicating from the +island with the main land on the Detroit shore. Into the +bottom of these they were presently huddled, so that only +their heads and shoulders were visible above the gunwale +of the frail bark. Presently a tall warrior was seen +bounding from the wood towards the beach. The crowd of +gesticulating Indians made way, and the warrior was seen +to stoop and apply his shoulder to the canoe, one half +of which was high and dry upon the sands. The heavily +laden vessel obeyed the impetus with a rapidity that +proved the muscular power of him who gave it. Like some +wild animal, instinct with life, it lashed the foaming +waters from its bows, and left a deep and gurgling furrow +where it passed. As it quitted the shore, the warrior +sprang lightly in, taking his station at the stern; and +while his tall and remarkable figure bent nimbly to the +movement, he dashed his paddle from right to left +alternately in the stream, with a quickness that rendered +it almost invisible to the eye. Presently the canoe +disappeared round an intervening headland, and the officers +lost sight of it altogether. + +"The portrait, Charles; what have you done with the +portrait?" exclaimed Captain Blessington, actuated by a +sudden recollection, and with a trepidation in his voice +and manner that spoke volumes of despair to the younger +De Haldimar. "This is our only hope of solving the mystery. +Quick, give me the portrait, if you have it." + +The young officer hurriedly tore the miniature from the +breast of his uniform, and pitched it through the interval +that separated him from his captain, who stood a few feet +off; but with so uncertain and trembling an aim, it missed +the hand extended to secure it, and fell upon the very +stone the youth had formerly pointed out to Blessington, +as marking the particular spot on which he stood during +the execution of Halloway. The violence of the fall +separated the back of the frame from the picture itself, +when suddenly a piece of white and crumpled paper, +apparently part of the back of a letter, yet cut to the +size and shape of the miniature, was exhibited to the +view of all. + +"Ha!" resumed the gratified Blessington, as he stooped +to possess himself of the prize; "I knew the miniature +would be found to contain some intelligence from our +friends. It is only this moment it occurred to me to take +it to pieces, but accident has anticipated my purpose. +May the omen prove a good one! But what have we here?" + +With some difficulty, the anxious officer now succeeded +in making out the characters, which, in default of pen +or pencil, had been formed by the pricking of a fine pin +on the paper. The broken sentences, on which the whole +of the group now hung with greedy ear, ran nearly as +follows:--"All is lost. Michilimackinac is taken. We are +prisoners, and doomed to die within eight and forty hours. +Alas! Clara and Madeline are of our number. Still there +is a hope, if my father deem it prudent to incur the +risk. A surprise, well managed, may do much; but it must +be tomorrow night; forty-eight hours more, and it will +be of no avail. He who will deliver this is our friend, +and the enemy of my father's enemy. He will be in the +same spot at the same hour to-morrow night, and will +conduct the detachment to wherever we may chance to be. +If you fail in your enterprise, receive our last prayers +for a less disastrous fate. God bless you all!" + +The blood ran coldly through every vein during the perusal +of these important sentences, but not one word of comment +was offered by an individual of the group. No explanation +was necessary. The captives in the canoe, the tall warrior +in its stern, all sufficiently betrayed the horrible +truth. + +Colonel de Haldimar at length turned an enquiring look +at his two captains, and then addressing the adjutant, +asked-- + +"What companies are off duty to-day, Mr. Lawson?" + +"Mine," said Blessington, with an energy that denoted +how deeply rejoiced he felt at the fact, and without +giving the adjutant time to reply. + +"And mine," impetuously added Captain Erskine; "and, by +G--! I will answer for them; they never embarked on a +duty of the sort with greater zeal than they will on this +occasion." + +"Gentlemen, I thank you," said Colonel de Haldimar, with +deep emotion, as he stepped forward and grasped in turn +the hands of the generous-hearted officers. "To Heaven, +and to your exertions, do I commit my children." + +"Any artillery, colonel?" enquired the officer of that +corps. + +"No, Wentworth, no artillery. Whatever remains to be +done, must be achieved by the bayonet alone, and under +favour of the darkness. Gentlemen, again I thank you for +this generous interest in my children--this forwardness +in an enterprise on which depend the lives of so many +dear friends. I am not one given to express warm emotion, +but I do, indeed, appreciate this conduct deeply." He +then moved away, desiring Mr. Lawson, as he quitted the +rampart, to cause the men for this service to be got in +instant readiness. + +Following the example of their colonel, Captains Blessington +and Erskine quitted the rampart also, hastening to satisfy +themselves by personal inspection of the efficiency in +all respects of their several companies; and in a few +minutes, the only individual to be seen in that quarter +of the works was the sentinel, who had been a silent and +pained witness of all that had passed among his officers. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Doubtless, many of our readers are prepared to expect +that the doom of the unfortunate Frank Halloway was, as +an officer of his regiment had already hinted, the fruit +of some personal pique and concealed motive of vengeance; +and that the denouement of our melancholy story will +afford evidence of the governor's knowledge of the true +character of him, who, under an assumed name, excited +such general interest at his trial and death, not only +among his military superiors, but those with whom his +adverse destiny had more immediately associated him. It +has already been urged to us, by one or two of our critical +friends to whom we have submitted what has been thus far +written in our tale, that, to explain satisfactorily and +consistently the extreme severity of the governor, some +secret and personally influencing motive must be assigned; +but to these we have intimated, what we now repeat,--namely, +that we hope to bear out our story, by natural explanation +and simple deduction. Who Frank Halloway really was, or +what the connection existing between him and the mysterious +enemy of the family of De Haldimar, the sequel of our +narrative will show; but whatever its nature, and however +well founded the apprehension of the governor of the +formidable being hitherto known as the warrior of the +Fleur de lis, and however strong his conviction that the +devoted Halloway and his enemy were in secret +correspondence, certain it is, that, to the very hour of +the death of the former, he knew him as no other than +the simple private soldier. + +To have ascribed to Colonel de Haldimar motives that +would have induced his eagerly seeking the condemnation +of an innocent man, either to gratify a thirst of vengeance, +or to secure immunity against personal danger, would have +been to have painted him, not only as a villain, but a +coward. Colonel de Haldimar was neither; but, on the +contrary, what is understood in worldly parlance and the +generally received acceptation of the terms, a man of +strict integrity and honour, as well as of the most +undisputed courage. Still, he was a severe and a haughty +man,--one whose military education had been based on the +principles of the old school--and to whom the command of +a regiment afforded a field for the exercise of an orthodox +despotism, that could not be passed over without the +immolation of many a victim on its rugged surface. Without +ever having possessed any thing like acute feeling, his +heart, as nature had formed it, was moulded to receive +the ordinary impressions of humanity; and had he been +doomed to move in the sphere of private life, if he had +not been distinguished by any remarkable sensibilities, +he would not, in all probability, have been conspicuous +for any extraordinary cruelties. Sent into the army, +however, at an early age, and with a blood not remarkable +for its mercurial aptitudes, he had calmly and deliberately +imbibed all the starched theories and standard prejudices +which a mind by no means naturally gifted was but too well +predisposed to receive; and he was among the number of +those (many of whom are indigenous to our soil even at the +present day) who look down from a rank obtained, upon that +which has been just quitted, with a contempt, and coldness, +and consciousness of elevation, commensurate only with the +respect paid to those still above them, and which it belongs +only to the little-minded to indulge in. + +As a subaltern, M. de Haldimar had ever been considered +a pattern of rigid propriety and decorum of conduct. Not +the shadow of military crime had ever been laid to his +charge. He was punctual at all parades and drills; kept +the company to which he was attached in a perfect hot +water of discipline; never missed his distance in marching +past, or failed in a military manoeuvre; paid his mess-bill +regularly to the hour, nay, minute, of the settling day; +and was never, on any one occasion, known to enter the +paymaster's office, except on the well-remembered 24th +of each month; and, to crown all, he had never asked, +consequently never obtained, a day's leave from his +regiment, although he had served in it so long, that +there was now but one man living who had entered it with +him. With all these qualities, Ensign de Haldimar promised +to make an excellent soldier; and, as such, was encouraged +by the field-officers of the corps, who unhesitatingly +pronounced him a lad of discernment and talent, who would +one day rival them in all the glorious privileges of +martinetism. It was even remarked, as an evidence of his +worth, that, when promoted to a lieutenancy, he looked +down upon the ensigns with that becoming condescension +which befitted his new rank; and up to the captains with +the deferential respect he felt to be due to that third +step in the five-barred gate of regimental promotion, on +which his aspiring but chained foot had not yet succeeded +in reposing. What, therefore, he became when he had +succeeded in clambering to the top, and looked down from +the lordly height he had after many years of plodding +service obtained, we must leave it to the imaginations +of our readers to determine. We reserve it to a future +page, to relate more interesting particulars. + +Sufficient has been shown, however, from this outline of +his character, as well as from the conversations among +his officers, elsewhere transcribed, to account for the +governor's conduct in the case of Halloway. That the +recommendation of his son, Captain de Haldimar, had not +been attended to, arose not from any particular ill-will +towards the unhappy man, but simply because he had always +been in the habit of making his own selections from the +ranks, and that the present recommendation had been warmly +urged by one who he fancied pretended to a discrimination +superior to his own, in pointing out merits that had +escaped his observation. It might be, too, that there +was a latent pride about the manner of Halloway that +displeased and dissatisfied one who looked upon his +subordinates as things that were amenable to the haughtiness +of his glance,--not enough of deference in his demeanour, +or of supplicating obsequiousness in his speech, to +entitle him to the promotion prayed for. Whatever the +motive, there was nothing of personality to influence +him in the rejection of the appeal made in favour of one +who had never injured him; but who, on the contrary, as +the whole of the regiment could attest, had saved the +life of his son. + +Rigid disciplinarian as he was, and holding himself +responsible for the safety of the garrison it was but +natural, when the discovery had been made of the +unaccountable unfastening of the gate of the fort, +suspicion of no ordinary kind should attach to the sentinel +posted there; and that he should steadily refuse all +credence to a story wearing so much appearance of +improbability. Proud, and inflexible, and bigoted to +first impressions, his mind was closed against those +palliating circumstances, which, adduced by Halloway in +his defence, had so mainly contributed to stamp the +conviction of his moral innocence on the minds of his +judges and the attentive auditory; and could he even have +conquered his pride so far as to have admitted the belief +of that innocence, still the military crime of which he +had been guilty, in infringing a positive order of the +garrison, was in itself sufficient to call forth all the +unrelenting severity of his nature. Throughout the whole +of the proceedings subsequently instituted, he had acted +and spoken from a perfect conviction of the treason of +the unfortunate soldier, and with the fullest impression +of the falsehood of all that had been offered in his +defence. The considerations that influenced the minds of +his officers, found no entrance into his proud breast, +which was closed against every thing but his own dignified +sense of superior judgment. Could he, like them, have +given credence to the tale of Halloway, or really have +believed that Captain de Haldimar, educated under his +own military eye, could have been so wanting in +subordination, as not merely to have infringed a positive +order of the garrison, but to have made a private soldier +of that garrison accessary to his delinquency, it is more +than probable his stern habits of military discipline +would have caused him to overlook the offence of the +soldier, in deeper indignation at the conduct of the +infinitely more culpable officer; but not one word did +he credit of a statement, which he assumed to have been +got up by the prisoner with the mere view of shielding +himself from punishment: and when to these suspicions of +his fidelity was attached the fact of the introduction +of his alarming visitor, it must be confessed his motives +for indulging in this belief were not without foundation. + +The impatience manifested during the trial of Halloway +was not a result of any desire of systematic persecution, +but of a sense of wounded dignity. It was a thing unheard +of, and unpardonable in his eyes, for a private soldier +to assert, in his presence, his honour and his +respectability in extenuation, even while admitting the +justice of a specific charge; and when he remarked the +Court listening with that profound attention, which the +peculiar history of the prisoner had excited, he could +not repress the manifestation of his anger. In justice +to him, however, it must be acknowledged that, in causing +the charge, to which the unfortunate man pleaded guilty, +to be framed, he had only acted from the conviction that, +on the two first, there was not sufficient evidence to +condemn one whose crime was as clearly established, to +his judgment, as if he had been an eye-witness of the +treason. It is true, he availed himself of Halloway's +voluntary confession, to effect his condemnation; but +estimating him as a traitor, he felt little delicacy was +necessary to be observed on that score. + +Much of the despotic military character of Colonel de +Haldimar had been communicated to his private life; so +much, indeed, that his sons,--both of whom, it has been +seen, were of natures that belied their origin from so +stern a stock,--were kept at nearly as great a distance +from him as any other subordinates of his regiment. But +although he seldom indulged in manifestations of parental +regard towards those whom he looked upon rather as +inferiors in military rank, than as beings connected with +him by the ties of blood, Colonel de Haldimar was not +without that instinctive love for his children, which +every animal in the creation feels for its offspring. +He, also, valued and took a pride in, because they +reflected a certain degree of lustre upon himself, the +talents and accomplishments of his eldest son, who, +moreover, was a brave, enterprising officer, and, only +wanted, in his father's estimation, that severity of +carriage and hauteur of deportment, befitting HIS son, +to render him perfect. As for Charles,--the gentle, bland, +winning, universally conciliating Charles,--he looked +upon him as a mere weak boy, who could never hope to +arrive at any post of distinction, if only by reason of +the extreme delicacy of his physical organisation; and +to have shown any thing like respect for his character, +or indulged in any expression of tenderness for one so +far below his estimate of what a soldier, a child of his, +ought to be, would have been a concession of which his +proud nature was incapable. In his daughter Clara, however, +the gentleness of sex claimed that warmer affection which +was denied to him, who resembled her in almost every +attribute of mind and person. Colonel de Haldimar doated +on his daughter with a tenderness, for which few, who +were familiar with his harsh and unbending nature, ever +gave him credit. She was the image of one on whom all of +love that he had ever known had been centered; and he +had continued in Clara an affection, that seemed in itself +to form a portion, distinct and apart, of his existence. + +We have already seen, as stated by Charles de Haldimar +to the unfortunate wife of Halloway, with what little +success he had pleaded in the interview he had requested +of his father, for the preserver of his gallant brother's +life; and we have also seen how equally inefficient was +the lowly and supplicating anguish of that wretched being, +when, on quitting the apartment of his son, Colonel de +Haldimar had so unexpectedly found himself clasped in +her despairing embrace. There was little to be expected +from an intercession on the part of one claiming so little +ascendancy over his father's heart, as the universally +esteemed young officer; still less from one who, in her +shriek of agony, had exposed the haughty chief to the +observation both of men and officers, and under +circumstances that caused his position to border on the +ludicrous. But however these considerations might have +failed in effect, there was another which, as a soldier, +he could not wholly overlook. Although he had offered +no comment on the extraordinary recommendation to mercy +annexed to the sentence of the prisoner, it had had a +certain weight with him; and he felt, all absolute even +as he was, he could not, without exciting strong +dissatisfaction among his troops, refuse attention to a +document so powerfully worded, and bearing the signature +and approval of so old and valued an officer as Captain +Blessington. His determination, therefore, had been +formed, even before his visit to his son, to act as +circumstances might require; and, in the mean while, he +commanded every preparation for the execution to be made. + +In causing a strong detachment to be marched to the +conspicuous point chosen for his purpose, he had acted +from a conviction of the necessity of showing the enemy +the treason of the soldier had been detected; reserving +to himself the determination of carrying the sentence +into full effect, or pardoning the condemned, as the +event might warrant. Not one moment, meanwhile, did he +doubt the guilt of Halloway, whose description of the +person of his enemy was, in itself, to him, confirmatory +evidence of his treason. It is doubtful whether he would, +in any way, have been influenced by the recommendation +of the Court, had the first charges been substantiated; +but as there was nothing but conjecture to bear out these, +and as the prisoner had been convicted only on the ground +of suffering Captain de Haldimar to quit the fort contrary +to orders, he felt he might possibly go too far in carrying +the capital punishment into effect, in decided opposition +to the general feeling of the garrison,--both of officers +and men. + +When the shot was subsequently fired from the hut of the +Canadian, and the daring rifleman recognised as the same +fearful individual who had gained access to his apartment +the preceding night, conviction of the guilt of Halloway +came even deeper home to the mind of the governor. It +was through Francois alone that a communication was kept +up secretly between the garrison and several of the +Canadians without the fort; and the very fact of the +mysterious warrior having been there so recently after +his daring enterprise, bore evidence that whatever treason +was in operation, had been carried on through the +instrumentality of mine host of the Fleur de lis. In +proof, moreover, there was the hat of Donellan, and the +very rope Halloway had stated to be that by which the +unfortunate officer had effected his exit. Colonel de +Haldimar was not one given to indulge in the mysterious +or to believe in the romantic. Every thing was plain +matter of fact, as it now appeared before him; and he +thought it evident, as though it had been written in +words of fire, that if his son and his unfortunate servant +had quitted the fort in the manner represented, it was +no less certain they had been forced off by a party, at +the head of whom was his vindictive enemy, and with the +connivance of Halloway. We have seen, that after the +discovery of the sex of the supposed drummer-boy when +the prisoners were confronted together, Colonel de Haldimar +had closely watched the expression of their countenances, +but failed in discovering any thing that could be traced +into evidence of a guilty recognition. Still he conceived +his original impression to have been too forcibly borne +out, even by the events of the last half hour, to allow +this to have much weight with him; and his determination +to carry the thing through all its fearful preliminary +stages became more and more confirmed. + +In adopting this resolution in the first instance, he +was not without a hope that Halloway, standing, as he +must feel himself to be, on the verge of the grave, might +be induced to make confession of his guilt, and communicate +whatever particulars might prove essential not only to +the safety of the garrison generally, but to himself +individually, as far as his personal enemy was concerned. +With this view, he had charged Captain Blessington, in +the course of their march from the hut to the fatal +bridge, to promise a full pardon, provided he should make +such confession of his crime as would lead to a just +appreciation of the evils likely to result from the +treason that had in part been accomplished. Even in making +this provision, however, which was met by the prisoner +with solemn yet dignified reiteration of his innocence, +Colonel de Haldimar had not made the refusal of pardon +altogether conclusive in his own mind: still, in adopting +this plan, there was a chance of obtaining a confession; +and not until there was no longer a prospect of the +unhappy man being led into that confession, did he feel +it imperative on him to stay the progress of the tragedy. + +What the result would have been, had not Halloway, in +the strong excitement of his feelings, sprung to his feet +upon the coffin, uttering the exclamation of triumph +recorded in the last pages of our first volume, is scarcely +doubtful. However much the governor might have contemned +and slighted a credulity in which he in no way participated +himself, he had too much discrimination not to perceive, +that to have persevered in the capital punishment would +have been to have rendered himself personally obnoxious +to the comrades of the condemned, whose dispirited air +and sullen mien, he clearly saw, denounced the punishment +as one of unnecessary rigour. The haughty commander was +not one to be intimidated by manifestations of discontent; +neither was he one to brook a spirit of insubordination, +however forcibly supported; but he had too much experience +and military judgment, not to determine that this was +riot a moment, by foregoing an act of compulsory clemency, +to instil divisions in the garrison, when the safety of +all so much depended on the cheerfulness and unanimity +with which they lent themselves to the arduous duties of +defence. + +However originating in policy, the lenity he might have +been induced to have shown, all idea of the kind was +chased from his mind by the unfortunate action of the +prisoner. At the moment when the distant heights resounded +with the fierce yells of the savages, and leaping forms +came bounding down the slope, the remarkable warrior of +the Fleur de lis--the fearful enemy who had whispered +the most demoniac vengeance in his ears the preceding +night--was the only one that met and riveted the gaze of +the governor. He paused not to observe or to think who +the flying man could be of whom the mysterious warrior +was in pursuit,--neither did it, indeed, occur to him +that it was a pursuit at all. But one idea suggested +itself to his mind, and that was an attempt at rescue of +the condemned on the part of his accomplice; and when at +length Halloway, who had at once, as if by instinct, +recognised his captain in the fugitive, shouted forth +his gratitude to Heaven that "he at length approached +who alone had the power to save him," every shadow of +mercy was banished from the mind of the governor, who, +labouring under a natural misconception of the causes of +his exulting shout, felt that justice imperatively demanded +her victim, and no longer hesitated in awarding the doom +that became the supposed traitor. It was under this +impression that he sternly gave and repeated the fatal +order to fire; and by this misjudged and severe, although +not absolutely cruel act, not only destroyed one of the +noblest beings that ever wore a soldier's uniform, but +entailed upon himself and family that terrific curse of +his maniac wife, which rang like a prophetic warning in +the ears of all, and was often heard in the fitful +starlings of his own ever-after troubled slumbers. + +What his feelings were, when subsequently he discovered, +in the wretched fugitive, the son whom he already believed +to have been numbered with the dead, and heard from his +lips a confirmation of all that had been advanced by the +unhappy Halloway, we shall leave it to our readers to +imagine. Still, even amid his first regret, the rigid +disciplinarian was strong within him; and no sooner had +the detachment regained the fort, after performing the +last offices of interment over their ill-fated comrade, +than Captain de Haldimar received an intimation, through +the adjutant, to consider himself under close arrest for +disobedience of orders. Finally, however, he succeeded +in procuring an interview with his father; in the course +of which, disclosing the plot of the Indians, and the +short period allotted for its being carried into execution, +he painted in the most gloomy colours the alarming, +dangers which threatened them all, and finished by urgently +imploring his father to suffer him to make the attempt +to reach their unsuspecting friends at Michilimackinac. +Fully impressed with the difficulties attendant on a +scheme that offered so few feasible chances of success, +Colonel de Haldimar for a period denied his concurrence; +but when at length the excited young man dwelt on the +horrors that would inevitably await his sister and +betrothed cousin, were they to fall into the hands of +the savages, these considerations were found to be +effective. An after-arrangement included Sir Everard +Valletort, who had expressed a strong desire to share +his danger in the enterprise; and the services of the +Canadian, who had been brought back a prisoner to the +fort, and on whom promises and threats were bestowed in +an equally lavish manner, were rendered available. In +fact, without the assistance of Francois, there was little +chance of their effecting in safety the navigation of +the waters through which they were to pass to arrive at +the fort. He it was, who, when summoned to attend a +conference among the officers, bearing on the means to +be adopted, suggested the propriety of their disguising +themselves as Canadian duck hunters; in which character +they might expect to pass unmolested, even if encountered +by any outlying parties of the savages. With the doubts +that had previously been entertained of the fidelity of +Francois, there was an air of forlorn hope given to the +enterprise; still, as the man expressed sincere earnestness +of desire to repay the clemency accorded him, by a faithful +exercise of his services, and as the object sought was +one that justified the risk, there was, notwithstanding, +a latent hope cherished by all parties, that the event +would prove successful. We have already seen to what +extent their anticipations were realised. + +Whether it was that he secretly acknowledged the too +excessive sternness of his justice in regard to Halloway +(who still, in the true acceptation of facts, had been +guilty of a crime that entailed the penalty he had paid), +or that the apprehensions that arose to his heart in +regard to her on whom he yearned with all a father's +fondness governed his conduct, certain it is, that, from +the hour of the disclosure made by his son, Colonel de +Haldimar became an altered man. Without losing any thing +of that dignity of manner, which had hitherto been +confounded with the most repellent haughtiness of bearing, +his demeanour towards his officers became more courteous; +and although, as heretofore, he kept himself entirely +aloof, except when occasions of duty brought them together, +still, when they did meet, there was more of conciliation +in his manner, and less of austerity in his speech. There +was, moreover, a dejection in his eye, strongly in contrast +with his former imperious glance; and more than one +officer remarked, that, if his days were devoted to the +customary practical arrangements for defence, his pallid +countenance betokened that his nights were nights rather +of vigil than of repose. + +However natural and deep the alarm entertained for the +fate of the sister fort, there could be no apprehension +on the mind of Colonel de Haldimar in regard to his own; +since, furnished with the means of foiling his enemies +with their own weapons of cunning and deceit, a few +extraordinary precautions alone were necessary to secure +all immunity from danger. Whatever might be the stern +peculiarities of his character,--and these had originated +chiefly in an education purely military,--Colonel de +Haldimar was an officer well calculated to the important +trust reposed in him; for, combining experience with +judgment in all matters relating to the diplomacy of war, +and being fully conversant with the character and habits +of the enemy opposed to him, he possessed singular aptitude +to seize whatever advantages might present themselves. + +The prudence and caution of his policy have already been +made manifest in the two several council scenes with the +chiefs recorded in our second volume. It may appear +singular, that, with the opportunity thus afforded him +of retaining the formidable Ponteac,--the strength and +sinew of that long protracted and ferocious war,--in his +power, he should have waved his advantage; but here +Colonel de Haldimar gave evidence of the tact which so +eminently distinguished his public conduct throughout. +He well knew the noble, fearless character of the chief; +and felt, if any hold was to be secured over him, it was +by grappling with his generosity, and not by the exercise +of intimidation. Even admitting that Ponteac continued +his prisoner, and that the troops, pouring their destructive +fire upon the mass of enemies so suddenly arrested on +the drawbridge, had swept away the whole, still they were +but as a mite among the numerous nations that were leagued +against the English; and to these nations, it was evident, +they must, sooner or later, succumb. + +Colonel de Haldimar knew enough of the proud but generous +nature of the Ottawa, to deem that the policy he proposed +to pursue in the last council scene would not prove +altogether without effect on that warrior. It was well +known to him, that much pains had been taken to instil +into the minds of the Indians the belief that the English +were resolved on their final extirpation; and as certain +slights, offered to them at various periods, had given +a colouring of truth to this assertion, the formidable +league which had already accomplished the downfall of so +many of the forts had been the consequence of these artful +representations. Although well aware that the French had +numerous emissaries distributed among the fierce tribes, +it was not until after the disclosure made by the haughty +Ponteac, at the close of the first council scene, that +he became apprised of the alarming influence exercised +over the mind of that warrior himself by his own terrible +and vindictive enemy. The necessity of counteracting that +influence was obvious; and he felt this was only to be +done (if at all) by some marked and extraordinary evidence +of the peaceful disposition of the English. Hence his +determination to suffer the faithless chiefs and their +followers to depart unharmed from the fort, even at the +moment when the attitude assumed by the prepared garrison +fully proved to the assailants their designs had been +penetrated and their schemes rendered abortive. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +With the general position of the encampment of the +investing Indians, the reader has been made acquainted +through the narrative of Captain de Haldimar. It was, as +has been shown, situate in a sort of oasis close within +the verge of the forest, and (girt by an intervening +underwood which Nature, in her caprice, had fashioned +after the manner of a defensive barrier) embraced a space +sufficient to contain the tents of the fighting men, +together with their women and children. This, however, +included only the warriors and inferior chiefs. The +tents of the leaders were without the belt of underwood, +and principally distributed at long intervals on that +side of the forest which skirted the open country towards +the river; forming, as it were, a chain of external +defences, and sweeping in a semicircular direction round +the more dense encampment of their followers. At its +highest elevation the forest shot out suddenly into a +point, naturally enough rendered an object of attraction +from whatever part it was commanded. + +Darkness was already beginning to spread her mantle over +the intervening space, and the night fires of the Indians +were kindling into brightness, glimmering occasionally +through the wood with that pale and lambent light peculiar +to the fire-fly, of which they offered a not inapt +representation, when suddenly a lofty tent, the brilliant +whiteness of which was thrown into strong relief by the +dark field on which it reposed, was seen to rise at a +few paces from the abrupt point in the forest just +described, and on the extreme summit of a ridge, beyond +which lay only the western horizon in golden perspective. + +The opening of this tent looked eastward and towards the +fort; and on its extreme summit floated a dark flag, +which at intervals spread itself before the slight evening +breeze, but oftener hung drooping and heavily over the +glittering canvass. One solitary pine, whose trunk exceeded +not the ordinary thickness of a man's waist, and standing +out as a landmark on the ridge, rose at the distance of +a few feet from the spot on which the tent had been +erected; and to this was bound the tall and elegant figure +of one dressed in the coarse garb of a sailor. The arms +and legs of this individual were perfectly free; but a +strong rope, rendered doubly secure after the manner of +what is termed "whipping" among seamen, after having been +tightly drawn several times around his waist, and then +firmly knotted behind, was again passed round the tree, +to which the back of the prisoner was closely lashed; +thus enabling, or rather compelling, him to be a spectator +of every object within the tent. + +Layers of bark, over which were spread the dressed skins +of the bear and the buffalo, formed the floor and carpet +of the latter; and on these, in various parts, and in +characteristic attitudes, reposed the forms of three +human beings;--one, the formidable warrior of the Fleur +de lis. Attired in the garb in which we first introduced +him to our readers, and with the same weapons reposing +at his side, the haughty savage lay at his lazy length; +his feet reaching beyond the opening of the tent, and +his head reposing on a rude pillow formed of a closely +compressed pack of skins of wild animals, over which was +spread a sort of mantle or blanket. One hand was introduced +between the pillow and his head, the other grasped the +pipe tomahawk he was smoking; and while the mechanical +play of his right foot indicated pre-occupation of thought, +his quick and meaning eye glanced frequently and alternately +upon the furthest of his companions, the prisoner without, +and the distant fort. + +Within a few feet of the warrior lay, extended on a +buffalo skin, the delicate figure of a female, whose +hair, complexion, and hands, denoted her European +extraction. Her dress was entirely Indian, however; +consisting of a machecoti with leggings, mocassins, and +shirt of printed cotton studded with silver brooches,--all +of which were of a quality and texture to mark the wearer +as the wife of a chief; and her fair hair, done up in a +club behind, reposed on a neck of dazzling whiteness. +Her eyes were large, blue, but wild and unmeaning; her +countenance vacant; and her movements altogether mechanical. +A wooden bowl filled with hominy,--a preparation of Indian +corn,--was at her side; and from this she was now in +the act of feeding herself with a spoon of the same +material, but with a negligence and slovenliness that +betrayed her almost utter unconsciousness of the action. + +At the further side of the tent there was another woman, +even more delicate in appearance than the one last +mentioned. She, too, was blue-eyed, and of surpassing +fairness of skin. Her attitude denoted a mind too powerfully +absorbed in grief to be heedful of appearances; for she +sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, and rocking her +body to and fro with an undulating motion that seemed to +have its origin in no effort of volition of her own. +Her long fair hair hung negligently over her shoulders; +and a blanket drawn over the top of her head like a veil, +and extending partly over the person, disclosed here and +there portions of an apparel which was strictly European, +although rent, and exhibiting in various places stains +of blood. A bowl similar to that of her companion, and +filled with the same food, was at her side; but this was +untasted. + +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" asked the warrior of +her next him, as he fiercely rolled a volume of smoke +from his lips. "Make her eat, for I would speak to her +afterwards." + +"Why does the girl refuse to eat?" responded the woman +in the same tone, dropping her spoon as she spoke, and +turning to the object of remark with a vacant look. "It +is good," she pursued, as she rudely shook the arm of +the heedless sufferer. "Come, girl, eat." + +A shriek burst from the lips of the unhappy girl, as, +apparently roused from her abstraction, she suffered the +blanket to fall from her head, and staring wildly at her +questioner, faintly demanded,-- + +"Who, in the name of mercy, are you, who address me in +this horrid place in my own tongue? Speak; who are you? +Surely I should know that voice for that of Ellen, the +wife of Frank Halloway!" + +A maniac laugh was uttered by the wretched woman. This +continued offensively for a moment; and she observed, in +an infuriated tone and with a searching eye,--"No, I am +not the wife of Halloway. It is false. I am the wife of +Wacousta. This is my husband!" and as she spoke she sprang +nimbly to her feet, and was in the next instant lying +prostrate on the form of the warrior; her arms thrown +wildly around him, and her lips imprinting kisses on his +cheek. + +But Wacousta was in no mood to suffer her endearments. +He for the first time seemed alive to the presence of +her who lay beyond, and, to whose whole appearance a +character of animation had been imparted by the temporary +excitement of her feelings. He gazed at her a moment, +with the air of one endeavouring to recall the memory of +days long gone by; and as he continued to do so, his eye +dilated, his chest heaved, and his countenance alternately +flushed and paled. At length he threw the form that +reposed upon his own, violently, and even savagely, from +him; sprang eagerly to his feet; and clearing the space +that divided him from the object of his attention at a +single step, bore her from the earth in his arms with as +much ease as if she had been an infant, and then returning +to his own rude couch, placed his horror-stricken victim +at his side. + +"Nay, nay," he urged sarcastically, as she vainly struggled +to free herself; "let the De Haldimar portion of your +blood rise up in anger if it will; but that of Clara +Beverley, at least--." + +"Gracious Providence! where am I, that I hear the name +of my sainted mother thus familiarly pronounced?" +interrupted the startled girl; "and who are you,"--turning +her eyes wildly on the swarthy countenance of the warrior, +--"who are you, I ask, who, with the mien and in the garb +of a savage of these forests, appear thus acquainted with +her name?" + +The warrior passed his hand across his brow for a moment, +as if some painful and intolerable reflection had been +called up by the question; but he speedily recovered his +self-possession, and, with an expression of feature that +almost petrified his auditor, vehemently observed,-- + +"You ask who I am! One who knew your mother long before +the accursed name of De Haldimar had even been whispered +in her ear; and whom love for the one and hatred for the +other has rendered the savage you now behold! But," he +continued, while a fierce and hideous smile lighted up +every feature, "I overlook my past sufferings in my +present happiness. The image of Clara Beverley, even +such as my soul loved her in its youth, is once more +before me in her child; THAT child shall be my wife!" + +"Your wife! monster;--never!" shrieked the unhappy girl, +again vainly attempting to disengage herself from the +encircling arm of the savage. "But," she pursued, in a +tone of supplication, while the tears coursed each other +down her cheek, "if you ever loved my mother as you say +you have, restore her children to their home; and, if +saints may be permitted to look down from heaven in +approval of the acts of men, she whom you have loved will +bless you for the deed." + +A deep groan burst from the vast chest of Wacousta; but, +for a moment, he answered not. At length he observed, +pointing at the same time with his finger towards the +cloudless vault above their heads,--"Do you behold yon +blue sky, Clara de Haldimar?" + +"I do;--what mean you?" demanded the trembling girl, in +whom a momentary hope had been excited by the subdued +manner of the savage. + +"Nothing," he coolly rejoined; "only that were your mother +to appear there at this moment, clad in all the attributes +ascribed to angels, her prayer would not alter the destiny +that awaits you. Nay, nay; look not thus sorrowfully," +he pursued, as, in despite of her efforts to prevent him, +he imprinted a burning kiss upon her lips. "Even thus +was I once wont to linger on the lips of your mother; +but hers ever pouted to be pressed by mine; and not with +tears, but with sunniest smiles, did she court them." He +paused; bent his head over the face of the shuddering +girl; and gazing fixedly for a few minutes on her +countenance, while he pressed her struggling form more +closely to his own, exultingly pursued, as if to himself, +--"Even as her mother was, so is she. Ye powers of hell! +who would have ever thought a time would come when both +my vengeance and my love would be gratified to the utmost? +How strange it never should have occurred to me he had +a daughter!" + +"What mean you, fierce, unpitying man?" exclaimed the +terrified Clara, to whom a full sense of the horror of +her position had lent unusual energy of character. "Surely +you will not detain a poor defenceless woman in your +hands,--the child of her you say you have loved. But it +is false!--you never knew her, or you would not now reject +my prayer." + +"Never knew her!" fiercely repeated Wacousta. Again he +paused. "Would I had never known her! and I should not +now be the outcast wretch I am," he added, slowly and +impressively. Then once more elevating his voice,--"Clara +de Haldimar, I have loved your mother as man never loved +woman; and I have hated your father" (grinding his teeth +with fury as he spoke) "as man never hated man. That +love, that hatred are unquenched--unquenchable. Before +me I see at once the image of her who, even in death, +has lived enshrined in my heart, and the child of him +who is my bitterest foe. Clara de Haldimar, do you +understand me now?" + +"Almighty Providence! is there no one to save me?--can +nothing touch your stubborn heart?" exclaimed the affrighted +girl; and she turned her swimming eyes on those of the +warrior, in appeal; but his glance caused her own to sink +in confusion. "Ellen Halloway," she pursued, after a +moment's pause, and in the wild accents of despair, "if +you are indeed the wife of this man, as you say you are, +oh! plead for me with him; and in the name of that +kindness, which I once extended to yourself, prevail on +him to restore me to my father!" + +"Ellen Halloway!--who calls Ellen Halloway?" said the +wretched woman, who had again resumed her slovenly meal +on the rude couch, apparently without consciousness of +the scene enacting at her side. "I am not Ellen Halloway: +they said so; but it is not true. My husband was Reginald +Morton: but he went for a soldier, and was killed; and +I never saw him more." + +"Reginald Morton! What mean you, woman?--What know you +of Reginald Morton?" demanded Wacousta, with frightful +energy, as, leaning over the shrinking form of Clara, he +violently grasped and shook the shoulder of the unhappy +maniac. + +"Stop; do not hurt me, and I will tell you all, sir," +she almost screamed. "Oh, sir, Reginald Morton was my +husband once; but he was kinder than you are. He did not +look so fiercely at me; nor did he pinch me so." + +"What of him?--who was he?" furiously repeated Wacousta, +as he again impatiently shook the arm of the wretched +Ellen. "Where did you know him?--Whence came he?" + +"Nay, you must not be jealous of poor Reginald:" and, as +she uttered these words in a softening and conciliating +tone, her eye was turned upon those of the warrior with +a mingled expression of fear and cunning. "But he was +very good and very handsome, and generous; and we lived +near each other, and we loved each other at first sight. +But his family were very proud, and they quarrelled with +him because he married me; and then we became very poor, +and Reginald went for a soldier, and--; but I forget the +rest, it is so long ago." She pressed her hand to her +brow, and sank her head upon her chest. + +"Ellen, woman, again I ask you where he came from? this +Reginald Morton that you have named. To what county did +he belong?" + +"Oh, we were both Cornish," she answered, with a vivacity +singularly in contrast with her recent low and monotonous +tone; "but, as I said before, he was of a great family, +and I only a poor clergyman's daughter." + +"Cornish!--Cornish, did you say?" fiercely repeated the +dark Wacousta, while an expression of loathing and disgust +seemed for a moment to convulse his features; "then is +it as I had feared. One word more. Was the family seat +called Morton Castle?" + +"It was," unhesitatingly returned the poor woman, yet +with the air of one wondering to hear a name repeated, +long forgotten even by herself. "It was a beautiful castle +too, on a lovely ridge of hills; and it commanded such +a nice view of the sea, close to the little port of -----; +and the parsonage stood in such a sweet valley, close +under the castle; and we were all so happy." She paused, +again put her hand to her brow, and pressed it with force, +as if endeavouring to pursue the chain of connection in +her memory, but evidently without success. + +"And your father's name was Clayton?" said the warrior, +enquiringly; "Henry Clayton, if I recollect aright?" + +"Ha! who names my father?" shrieked the wretched woman. +"Yes, sir, it was Clayton--Henry Clayton--the kindest, +the noblest of human beings. But the affliction of his +child, and the persecutions of the Morton family, broke +his heart. He is dead, sir, and Reginald is dead too; +and I am a poor lone widow in the world, and have no one +to love me." Here the tears coursed each other rapidly +down her faded cheek, although her eyes were staring and +motionless. + +"It is false!" vociferated the warrior, who, now he had +gained all that was essential to the elucidation of his +doubts, quitted the shoulder he had continued to press +with violence in his nervous hand, and once more extended +himself at his length; "in me you behold the uncle of +your husband. Yes, Ellen Clayton, you have been the wife +of two Reginald Mortons. Both," he pursued with unutterable +bitterness, while he again started up and shook his +tomahawk menacingly in the direction of the fort,--"both +have been the victims of yon cold-blooded governor; but +the hour of our reckoning is at hand. Ellen," he fiercely +added, "do you recollect the curse you pronounced on the +family of that haughty man, when he slaughtered your +Reginald. By Heaven! it shall be fulfilled; but first +shall the love I have so long borne the mother be +transferred to the child." + +Again he sought to encircle the waist of her whom, in +the strong excitement of his rage, he had momentarily +quitted; but the unutterable disgust and horror produced +in the mind of the unhappy Clara lent an almost supernatural +activity to her despair. She dexterously eluded his grasp, +gained her feet, and with tottering steps and outstretched +arms darted through the opening of the tent, and piteously +exclaiming, "Save me! oh, for God's sake, save me!" sank +exhausted, and apparently lifeless, on the chest of the +prisoner without. + +To such of our readers as, deceived by the romantic nature +of the attachment stated to have been originally entertained +by Sir Everard Valletort for the unseen sister of his +friend, have been led to expect a tale abounding in +manifestations of its progress when the parties had +actually met, we at once announce disappointment. Neither +the lover of amorous adventure, nor the admirer of witty +dialogue, should dive into these pages. Room for the +exercise of the invention might, it is true, be found; +but ours is a tale of sad reality, and our heroes and +heroines figure under circumstances that would render +wit a satire upon the understanding, and love a reflection +upon the heart. Within the bounds of probability have +we, therefore, confined ourselves. + +What the feelings of the young Baronet must have been, +from the first moment when he received from the hands of +the unfortunate Captain Baynton (who, although an officer +of his own corps, was personally a stranger to him,) that +cherished sister of his friend, on whose ideal form his +excited imagination had so often latterly loved to linger, +up to the present hour, we should vainly attempt to paint. +There are emotions of the heart, it would be mockery in +the pen to trace. From the instant of his first contributing +to preserve her life, on that dreadful day of blood, to +that when the schooner fell into the hands of the savages, +few words had passed between them, and these had reference +merely to the position in which they found themselves, +and whenever Sir Everard felt he could, without indelicacy +or intrusion, render himself in the slightest way +serviceable to her. The very circumstances under which +they had met, conduced to the suppression, if not utter +extinction, of all of passion attached to the sentiment +with which he had been inspired. A new feeling had +quickened in his breast; and it was with emotions more +assimilated to friendship than to love that he now regarded +the beautiful but sorrow-stricken sister of his bosom +friend. Still there was a softness, a purity, a delicacy +and tenderness in this new feeling, in which the influence +of sex secretly though unacknowledgedly predominated; +and even while sensible it would have been a profanation +of every thing most sacred and delicate in nature to have +admitted a thought of love within his breast at such a +moment, he also felt he could have entertained a voluptuous +joy in making any sacrifice, even to the surrender of +life itself, provided the tranquillity of that gentle +and suffering being could be by it ensured. + +Clara, in her turn, had been in no condition to admit so +exclusive a power as that of love within her soul. She +had, it is true, even amid the desolation of her shattered +spirit, recognised in the young officer the original of +a portrait so frequently drawn by her brother, and dwelt +on by herself. She acknowledged, moreover, the fidelity +of the painting: but however she might have felt and +acted under different circumstances, absorbed as was her +heart, and paralysed her imagination, by the harrowing +scenes she had gone through, she, too, had room but for +one sentiment in her fainting soul, and that was friendship +for the friend of her brother; on whom, moreover, she +bestowed that woman's gratitude, which could not fail to +be awakened by a recollection of the risks he had +encountered, conjointly with Frederick, to save her from +destruction. During their passage across lake Huron, Sir +Everard had usually taken his seat on the deck, at that +respectful distance which he conceived the delicacy of +the position of the unfortunate cousins demanded; but in +such a manner that, while he seemed wholly abstracted +from them, his eye had more than once been detected by +Clara fixed on hers, with an affectionateness of interest +she could not avoid repaying with a glance of recognition +and approval. These, however, were the only indications +of regard that had passed between them. + +If, however, a momentary and irrepressible flashing of +that sentiment, which had, at an earlier period, formed +a portion of their imaginings, did occasionally steal +over their hearts while there was a prospect of reaching +their friends in safety, all manifestation of its power +was again finally suppressed when the schooner fell into +the hands of the savages. Become the immediate prisoners +of Wacousta, they had been surrendered to that ferocious +chief to be dealt with as he might think proper; and, on +disembarking from the canoe in which their transit to +the main land had been descried that morning from the +fort, had been separated from their equally unfortunate +and suffering companions. Captain de Haldimar, Madeline, +and the Canadian, were delivered over to the custody of +several choice warriors of the tribe in which Wacousta +was adopted; and, bound hand and foot, were, at that +moment, in the war tent of the fierce savage, which, as +Ponteac had once boasted to the governor, was every where +hung around with human scalps, both of men, of women, +and of children. The object of this mysterious man, in +removing Clara to the spot we have described, was one +well worthy of his ferocious nature. His vengeance had +already devoted her to destruction; and it was within +view of the fort, which contained the father whom he +loathed, he had resolved his purpose should be accomplished. +A refinement of cruelty, such as could scarcely have been +supposed to enter the breast even of such a remorseless +savage as himself, had caused him to convey to the same +spot, him whom he rather suspected than knew to be the +lover of the young girl. It was with the view of harrowing +up the soul of one whom he had recognised as the officer +who had disabled him on the night of the rencontre on +the bridge, that he had bound Sir Everard to the tree, +whence, as we have already stated, he was a compelled +spectator of every thing that passed within the tent; +and yet with that free action of limb which only tended +to tantalize him the more amid his unavailable efforts +to rid himself of his bonds,--a fact that proved not only +the dire extent to which the revenge of Wacousta could +be carried, but the actual and gratuitous cruelty of his +nature. + +One must have been similarly circumstanced, to understand +all the agony of the young man during this odious scene, +and particularly at the fierce and repeated declaration +of the savage that Clara should be his bride. More than +once had he essayed to remove the ligatures which confined +his waist; but his unsuccessful attempts only drew an +occasional smile of derision from his enemy, as he glanced +his eye rapidly towards him. Conscious at length of the +inutility of efforts, which, without benefiting her for +whom they were principally prompted, rendered him in some +degree ridiculous even in his own eyes, the wretched +Valletort desisted altogether, and with his head sunk +upon his chest, and his eyes closed, sought at least to +shut out a scene which blasted his sight, and harrowed +up his very soul. + +But when Clara, uttering her wild cry for protection, +and rushing forth from the tent, sank almost unconsciously +in his embrace, a thrill of inexplicable joy ran through +each awakened fibre of his frame. Bending eagerly forward, +he had extended his arms to receive her; and when he felt +her light and graceful form pressing upon his own as its +last refuge--when he felt her heart beating against +his--when he saw her head drooping on his shoulder, in +the wild recklessness of despair,--even amid that scene +of desolation and grief he could not help enfolding her +in tumultuous ecstasy to his breast. Every horrible danger +was for an instant forgotten in the soothing consciousness +that he at length encircled the form of her, whom in many +an hour of solitude he had thus pictured, although under +far different circumstances, reposing confidingly on him. +There was delight mingled with agony in his sensation of +the wild throb of her bosom against his own; and even +while his soul fainted within him, as he reflected on +the fate that awaited her, he felt as if he could himself +now die more happily. + +Momentary, however, was the duration of this scene. +Furious with anger at the evident disgust of his victim, +Wacousta no sooner saw her sink into the arms of her +lover, than with that agility for which he was remarkable +he was again on his feet, and stood in the next instant +at her side. Uniting to the generous strength of his +manhood all that was wrung from his mingled love and +despair, the officer clasped his hands round the waist +of the drooping Clara; and with clenched teeth, and feet +firmly set, seemed resolved to defy every effort of the +warrior to remove her. Not a word was uttered on either +side; but in the fierce smile that curled the lip of the +savage, there spoke a language even more terrible than +the words that smile implied. Sir Everard could not +suppress an involuntary shudder; and when at length +Wacousta, after a short but violent struggle, succeeded +in again securing and bearing off his prize, the +wretchedness of soul of the former was indescribable. + +"You see 'tis vain to struggle against your destiny, +Clara de Haldimar," sneered the warrior. "Ours is but a +rude nuptial couch, it is true; but the wife of an Indian +chief must not expect the luxuries of Europe in the heart +of an American wilderness." + +"Almighty Heaven! where am I?" exclaimed the wretched +girl, again unclosing her eyes to all the horror of her +position; for again she lay at the side, and within the +encircling arm, of her enemy. "Oh, Sir Everard Valletort, +I thought I was with you, and that you had saved me from +this monster. Where is my brother?--Where are Frederick +and Madeline?--"Why have they deserted me?--Ah! my +heart will break. I cannot endure this longer, and live." + +"Clara, Miss de Haldimar," groaned Sir Everard, in a +voice of searching agony; "could I lay down my life for +you, I would; but you see these bonds. Oh God! oh God! +have pity on the innocent; and for once incline the heart +of yon fierce monster to the whisperings of mercy." As +he uttered the last sentence, he attempted to sink on +his knees in supplication to Him he addressed, but the +tension of the cord prevented him; yet were his hands +clasped, and his eyes upraised to heaven, while his +countenance beamed with an expression of fervent enthusiasm. + +"Peace, babbler! or, by Heaven! that prayer shall be your +last," vociferated Wacousta. "But no," he pursued to +himself, dropping at the same time the point of his +upraised tomahawk; "these are but the natural writhings +of the crushed worm; and the longer protracted they are, +the more complete will be my vengeance." Then turning to +the terrified girl,--"You ask, Clara de Haldimar, where +you are? In the tent of your mother's lover, I reply,--at +the side of him who once pressed her to his heart, even +as I now press you, and with a fondness that was only +equalled by her own. Come, dear Clara," and his voice +assumed a tone of tenderness that was even more revolting +than his natural ferocity, "let me woo you to the affection +she once possessed. It was a heart of fire in which her +image stood enshrined,--it is a heart of fire still, and +well worthy of her child." + +"Never, never!" shrieked the agonised girl. "Kill me, +murder me, if you will; but oh! if you have pity, pollute +not my ear with the avowal of your detested love. But +again I repeat, it is false that my mother ever knew you. +She never could have loved so fierce, so vindictive a +being as yourself." + +"Ha! do you doubt me still?" sternly demanded the savage. +Then drawing the shuddering girl still closer to his vast +chest,--"Come hither, Clara, while to convince you I +unfold the sad history of my life, and tell you more of +your parents than you have ever known. When," he pursued +solemnly, "you have learnt the extent of my love for the +one, and of my hatred for the other, and the wrongs I +have endured from both, you will no longer wonder at the +spirit of mingled love and vengeance that dictates my +conduct towards yourself. Listen, girl," he continued +fiercely, "and judge whether mine are injuries to be +tamely pardoned, when a whole life has been devoted to +the pursuit of the means of avenging them." + +Irresistibly led by a desire to know what possible +connection could have existed between her parents and +this singular and ferocious man, the wretched girl gave +her passive assent. She even hoped that, in the course +of his narrative, some softening recollections would pass +over his mind, the effect of which might be to predispose +him to mercy. Wacousta buried his face for a few moments +in his large hand, as if endeavouring to collect and +concentrate the remembrances of past years. His countenance, +meanwhile, had undergone a change; for there was now a +shade of melancholy mixed with the fierceness of expression +usually observable there. This, however, was dispelled +in the course of his narrative, and as various opposite +passions were in turn powerfully and severally developed. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"It is now four and twenty years," commenced Wacousta, +"since your father and myself first met as subalterns in +the regiment he now commands, when, unnatural to say, an +intimacy suddenly sprang up between us which, as it was +then to our brother officers, has since been a source of +utter astonishment to myself. Unnatural, I repeat, for +fire and ice are not more opposite than were the elements +of which our natures were composed. He, all coldness, +prudence, obsequiousness, and forethought. I, all +enthusiasm, carelessness, impetuosity, and independence. +Whether this incongruous friendship--friendship! no, I +will not so far sully the sacred name as thus to term +the unnatural union that subsisted between us;--whether +this intimacy, then, sprang from the adventitious +circumstance of our being more frequently thrown together +as officers of the same company,--for we were both attached +to the grenadiers,--or that my wild spirit was soothed +by the bland amenity of his manners, I know not. The +latter, however, is not improbable; for proud, and haughty, +and dignified, as the colonel NOW is, such was not THEN +the character of the ensign; who seemed thrown out of +one of Nature's supplest moulds, to fawn, and cringe, +and worm his way to favour by the wily speciousness of +his manners. Oh God!" pursued Wacousta, after a momentary +pause, and striking his palm against his forehead, "that +I ever should have been the dupe of such a cold-blooded +hypocrite! + +"I have said our intimacy excited surprise among our +brother officers. It did; for all understood and read +the character of your father, who was as much disliked +and distrusted for the speciousness of his false nature, +as I was generally esteemed for the frankness and warmth +of mine. No one openly censured the evident preference +I gave him in my friendship; but we were often sarcastically +termed the Pylades and Orestes of the regiment, until my +heart was ready to leap into my throat with impatience +at the bitterness in which the taunt was conceived; and +frequently in my presence was allusion made to the blind +folly of him, who should take a cold and slimy serpent +to his bosom only to feel its fangs darted into it at +the moment when most fostered by its genial heat. All, +however, was in vain. On a nature like mine, innuendo +was likely to produce an effect directly opposite to that +intended; and the more I found them inclined to be severe +on him I called my friend, the more marked became my +preference. I even fancied that because I was rich, +generous, and heir to a title, their observations were +prompted by jealousy of the influence he possessed over +me, and a desire to supplant him only for their interests' +sake. Bitterly have I been punished for the illiberality +of such an opinion. Those to whom I principally allude +were the subalterns of the regiment, most of whom were +nearly of our own age. One or two of the junior captains +were also of this number; but, by the elders (as we termed +the seniors of that rank) and field officers, Ensign de +Haldimar was always regarded as a most prudent and +promising young officer. + +"What conduced, in a great degree, to the establishment +of our intimacy was the assistance I always received from +my brother subaltern in whatever related to my military +duties. As the lieutenant of the company, the more +immediate responsibility attached to myself; but being +naturally of a careless habit, or perhaps considering +all duty irksome to my impatient nature that was not duty +in the field, I was but too often guilty of neglecting +it. On these occasions my absence was ever carefully +supplied by your father, who, in all the minutiae of +regimental economy, was surpassed by no other officer in +the corps; so that credit was given to me, when, at the +ordinary inspections, the grenadiers were acknowledged +to be the company the most perfect in equipment and +skilful in manoeuvre. Deeply, deeply," again mused +Wacousta, "have these services been repaid. + +"As you have just learnt, Cornwall is the country of my +birth. I was the eldest of the only two surviving children +of a large family; and, as heir to the baronetcy of the +proud Mortons, was looked up to by lord and vassal as +the future perpetuator of the family name. My brother +had been designed for the army; but as this was a profession +to which I had attached my inclinations, the point was +waved in my favour, and at the age of eighteen I first +joined the ---- regiment, then quartered in the Highlands +of Scotland. During my boyhood I had ever accustomed +myself to athletic exercises, and loved to excite myself +by encountering danger in its most terrific forms. Often +had I passed whole days in climbing the steep and +precipitous crags which overhang the sea in the +neighbourhood of Morton Castle, ostensibly in the pursuit +of the heron or the seagull, but self-acknowledgedly for +the mere pleasure of grappling with the difficulties they +opposed to me. Often, too, in the most terrific tempests, +when sea and sky have met in one black and threatening +mass, and when the startled fishermen have in vain +attempted to dissuade me from my purpose, have I ventured, +in sheer bravado, out of sight of land, and unaccompanied +by a human soul. Then, when wind and tide have been +against me on my return, have I, with my simple sculls +alone, caused my faithful bark to leap through the foaming +brine as though a press of canvass had impelled her on. +Oh, that this spirit of adventure had never grown with +my growth and strengthened with my strength!" sorrowfully +added the warrior, again apostrophising himself: "then +had I never been the wretch I am. + +"The wild daring by which my boyhood had been marked was +again powerfully awakened by the bold and romantic scenery +of the Scottish Highlands; and as the regiment was at +that time quartered in a part of these mountainous +districts, where, from the disturbed nature of the times, +society was difficult of attainment, many of the officers +were driven from necessity, as I was from choice, to +indulge in the sports of the chase. On one occasion a +party of four of us set out early in the morning in +pursuit of deer, numbers of which we knew were to be met +with in the mountainous tracts of Bute and Argyleshire. +The course we happened to take lay through a succession +of dark deep glens, and over frowning rocks; the +difficulties of access to which only stirred up my dormant +spirit of enterprise the more. We had continued in this +course for many hours, overcoming one difficulty only to +be encountered by another, and yet without meeting a +single deer; when, at length, the faint blast of a horn +was heard far above our heads in the distance, and +presently a noble stag was seen to ascend a ledge of +rocks immediately in front of us. To raise my gun to my +shoulder and fire was the work of a moment, after which +we all followed in pursuit. On reaching the spot where +the deer had first been seen, we observed traces of blood, +satisfying us he had been wounded; but the course taken +in his flight was one that seemed to defy every human +effort to follow in. It was a narrow pointed ledge, +ascending boldly towards a huge cliff that projected +frowningly from the extreme summit, and on either side +lay a dark, deep, and apparently fathomless ravine; to +look even on which was sufficient to appal the stoutest +heart, and unnerve the steadiest brain. For me, however, +long accustomed to dangers of the sort, it had no terror. +This was a position in which I had often wished once more +to find myself placed, and I felt buoyant and free as +the deer itself I intended to pursue. In vain did my +companions (and your father was one) implore me to abandon +a project so wild and hazardous. I bounded forward, and +they turned shuddering away, that their eyes might not +witness the destruction that awaited me. Meanwhile, +balancing my long gun in my upraised hands, I trod the +dangerous path with a buoyancy and elasticity of limb, +a lightness of heart, and a fearlessness of consequences, +that surprised even myself. Perhaps it was to the latter +circumstance I owed my safety, for a single doubt of my +security might have impelled a movement that would not +have failed to have precipitated me into the yawning gulf +below. I had proceeded in this manner about five hundred +yards, when I came to the termination of the ledge, from +the equally narrow transverse extremity of which branched +out three others; the whole contributing to form a figure +resembling that of a trident. Pausing here for a moment, +I applied the hunting horn, with which I was provided, +to my lips. This signal, announcing my safety, was speedily +returned by my friends below in a cheering and lively +strain, that seemed to express at once surprise and +satisfaction; and inspirited by the sound, I prepared to +follow up my perilous chase. Along the ledge I had +quitted I had remarked occasional traces where the stricken +deer had passed; and the same blood-spots now directed +me at a point where, but for these, I must have been +utterly at fault. The centre of these new ridges, and +the narrowest, was that taken by the animal, and on that +I once more renewed my pursuit. As I continued to advance +I found the ascent became more precipitous, and the +difficulties opposed to my progress momentarily more +multiplied. Still, nothing daunted, I continued my course +towards the main body of rock that now rose within a +hundred yards. How. this was to be gained I knew not; +for it shelved out abruptly from the extreme summit, +overhanging the abyss, and presenting an appearance which +I cannot more properly render than by comparing it to +the sounding-boards placed over the pulpits of our English +churches. Still I was resolved to persevere to the close, +and I but too unhappily succeeded." Again Wacousta paused. +A tear started to his eye, but this he impatiently brushed +away with his swarthy hand. + +"It was evident to me," he again resumed, "that there +must be some opening through which the deer had effected +his escape to the precipitous height above; and I felt +a wild and fearful triumph in following him to his cover, +over passes which it was my pleasure to think none of +the hardy mountaineers themselves would have dared to +venture upon with impunity. I paused not to consider of +the difficulty of bearing away my prize, even if I +succeeded in overtaking it. At every step my excitement +and determination became stronger, and I felt every fibre +of my frame to dilate, as when, in my more boyish days, +I used to brave, in my gallant skiff, the mingled fury +of the warring elements of sea and storm. Suddenly, while +my mind was intent only on the dangers I used then to +hold in such light estimation, I found my further progress +intercepted by a fissure in the crag. It was not the +width of this opening that disconcerted me, for it exceeded +not ten feet; but I came upon it so unadvisedly, that, +in attempting to check my forward motion, I had nearly +lost my equipoise, and fallen into the abyss that now +yawned before and on either side of me. To pause upon +the danger, would, I felt, be to ensure it. Summoning +all my dexterity into a single bound, I cleared the chasm; +and with one buskined foot (for my hunting costume was +strictly Highland) clung firmly to the ledge, while I +secured my balance with the other. At this point the +rock became gradually broader, so that I now trod the +remainder of the rude path in perfect security, until I +at length found myself close to the vast mass of which +these ledges were merely ramifications or veins: but +still I could discover no outlet by which the wounded +deer could have escaped. While I lingered, thoughtfully, +for a moment, half in disappointment, half in anger, and +with my back leaning against the rock, I fancied I heard +a rustling, as of the leaves and branches of underwood, +on that part which projected like a canopy, far above +the abyss. I bent my eye eagerly and fixedly on the spot +whence the sound proceeded, and presently could distinguish +the blue sky appearing through an aperture, to which was, +the instant afterwards, applied what I conceived to be +a human face. No sooner, however, was it seen than +withdrawn; and then the rustling of leaves was heard +again, and all was still as before. + +"Why did my evil genius so will it," resumed Wacousta, +after another pause, during which he manifested deep +emotion, "that I should have heard those sounds and seen +that face? But for these I should have returned to my +companions, and my life might have been the life--the +plodding life--of the multitude; things that are born +merely to crawl through existence and die, knowing not +at the moment of death why or how they have lived at all. +But who may resist the destiny that presides over him +from the cradle to the grave? for, although the mass may +be, and are, unworthy of the influencing agency of that +Unseen Power, who will presume to deny there are those +on whom it stamps its iron seal, even from the moment of +their birth to that which sees all that is mortal of them +consigned to the tomb? What was it but destiny that +whispered to me what I had seen was the face of a woman? +I had not traced a feature, nor could I distinctly state +that it was a human countenance I had beheld; but mine +was ever an imagination into which the wildest improbability +was scarce admitted that it did not grow into conviction +in the instant. + +"A new direction was now given to my feelings. I felt a +presentiment that my adventure, if prosecuted, would +terminate in some extraordinary and characteristic manner; +and obeying, as I ever did, the first impulse of my heart, +I prepared to grapple once more with the difficulties +that yet remained to be surmounted. In order to do this, +it was necessary that my feet and hands should be utterly +without incumbrance; for it was only by dint of climbing +that I could expect to reach that part of the projecting +rock to which my attention had been directed. Securing +my gun between some twisted roots that grew out of and +adhered to the main body of the rock, I commenced the +difficult ascent; and, after considerable effort, found +myself at length immediately under the aperture. My +progress along the lower superficies of this projection +was like that of a crawling reptile. My back hung suspended +over the chasm, into which one false movement of hand or +foot, one yielding of the roots entwined in the rock, +must inevitably have precipitated me; and, while my toes +wormed themselves into the tortuous fibres of the latter, +I passed hand over hand beyond my head, until I had +arrived within a foot or two of the point I desired to +reach. Here, however, a new difficulty occurred. A slight +projection of the rock, close to the aperture, impeded +my further progress in the manner hitherto pursued; and, +to pass this, I was compelled to drop my whole weight, +suspended by one vigorous arm, while, with the other, I +separated the bushes that concealed the opening. A +violent exertion of every muscle now impelled me upward, +until at length I had so far succeeded as to introduce +my head and shoulders through the aperture; after which +my final success was no longer doubtful. If I have been +thus minute in the detail of the dangerous nature of this +passage," continued Wacousta, gloomily, "it is not without +reason. I would have you to impress the whole of the +localities upon your imagination, that you may the better +comprehend, from a knowledge of the risks I incurred, +how little I have merited the injuries under which I have +writhed for years." + +Again one of those painful pauses with which his narrative +was so often broken, occurred; and, with an energy that +terrified her whom he addressed, Wacousta pursued--"Clara +de Haldimar, it was here--in this garden--this paradise +--this oasis of the rocks in which I now found myself, +that I first saw and loved your mother. Ha! you start: +you believe me now.--Loved her!" he continued, after +another short pause--"oh, what a feeble word is love to +express the concentration of mighty feelings that flowed +like burning lava through my veins! Who shall pretend to +give a name to the emotion that ran thrillingly--madly +through my excited frame, when first I gazed on her, who, +in every attribute of womanly beauty, realised all my +fondest fancy ever painted?--Listen to me, Clara," he +pursued, in a fiercer tone, and with a convulsive pressure +of the form he still encircled:--"If, in my younger days, +my mind was alive to enterprise, and loved to contemplate +danger in its most appalling forms, this was far from +being the master passion of my soul; nay, it was the +strong necessity I felt of pouring into some devoted +bosom the overflowing fulness of my heart, that made me +court in solitude those positions of danger with which +the image of woman was ever associated. How often, while +tossed by the raging elements, now into the blue vault +of heaven, now into the lowest gulfs of the sea, have I +madly wished to press to my bounding bosom the being of +my fancy's creation, who, all enamoured and given to her +love, should, even amid the danger that environed her, +be alive but to one consciousness,--that of being with +him on whom her life's hope alone reposed! How often, +too, while bending over some dark and threatening precipice, +or standing on the utmost verge of some tall projecting +cliff, my aching head (aching with the intenseness of +its own conceptions) bared to the angry storm, and my +eye fixed unshrinkingly on the boiling ocean far beneath +my feet, has my whole soul--my every faculty, been bent +on that ideal beauty which controlled every sense! Oh, +imagination, how tyrannical is thy sway--how exclusive +thy power--how insatiable thy thirst! Surrounded by +living beauty, I was insensible to its influence; for, +with all the perfection that reality can attain on earth, +there was ever to be found some deficiency, either physical +or moral, that defaced the symmetry and destroyed the +loveliness of the whole; but, no sooner didst thou, with +magic wand, conjure up one of thy embodiments, than my +heart became a sea of flame, and was consumed in the +vastness of its own fires. + +"It was in vain that my family sought to awaken me to a +sense of the acknowledged loveliness of the daughters of +more than one ancient house in the county, with one of +whom an alliance was, in many respects, considered +desirable. Their beauty, or rather their whole, was +insufficient to stir up into madness the dormant passions +of my nature; and although my breast was like a glowing +furnace, in which fancy cast all the more exciting images +of her coinage to secure the last impress of the heart's +approval, my outward deportment to some of the fairest +and loveliest of earth's realities was that of one on +whom the influence of woman's beauty could have no power. +From my earliest boyhood I had loved to give the rein to +these feelings, until they at length rendered me their +slave. Woman was the idol that lay enshrined within my +inmost heart; but it was woman such as I had not yet met +with, yet felt must somewhere exist in the creation. For +her I could have resigned title, fortune, family, every +thing that is dear to man, save the life, through which +alone the reward of such sacrifice could have been tasted, +and to this phantom I had already yielded up all the +manlier energies of my nature; but, deeply as I felt the +necessity of loving something less unreal, up to the +moment of my joining the regiment, my heart had never +once throbbed for created woman. + +"I have already said that, on gaining the summit of the +rock, I found myself in a sort of oasis of the mountains. +It was so. Belted on every hand by bold and precipitous +crags, that seemed to defy the approach even of the +wildest animals, and putting utterly at fault the +penetration and curiosity of man, was spread a carpet of +verdure, a luxuriance of vegetation, that might have put +to shame the fertility of the soft breeze-nourished +valleys of Italy and Southern France. Time, however, is +not given me to dwell on the mingled beauty and wildness +of a scene, so consonant with my ideas of the romantic +and the picturesque. Let me rather recur to her (although +my heart be lacerated once more in the recollection) who +was the presiding deity of the whole,--the being after +whom, had I had the fabled power of Prometheus, I should +have formed and animated the sharer of that sweet wild +solitude, nor once felt that fancy, to whom I was so +largely a debtor, had in aught been cheated of what she +had, for a series of years, so rigidly claimed. + +"At about twenty yards from the aperture, and on a bank, +formed of turf, covered with moss, and interspersed with +roses and honeysuckles, sat this divinity of the oasis. +She, too, was clad in the Highland dress, which gave an +air of wildness and elegance to her figure that was in +classic harmony with the surrounding scenery. At the +moment of my appearance she was in the act of dressing +the wounded shoulder of a stag, that had recently been +shot; and from the broad tartan riband I perceived attached +to its neck, added to the fact of the tameness of the +animal, I presumed that this stag, evidently a favourite +of its mistress, was the same I had fired at and wounded. +The rustling I made among the bushes had attracted her +attention; she raised her eyes from the deer, and, +beholding me, started to her feet, uttering a cry of +terror and surprise. Fearing to speak, as if the sound +of my own voice were sufficient to dispel the illusion +that fascinated both eye and heart into delicious tension +on her form, yet with my soul kindled into all that wild +uncontrollable love which had been the accumulation of +years of passionate imagining, I stood for some moments +as motionless as the rock out of which I appeared to +grow. It seemed as though I had not the power to think +or act, so fully was every faculty of my being filled +with the consciousness that I at length gazed upon her +I was destined to love for ever. + +"It was this utter immobility on my own part, that ensured +me a continuance of the exquisite happiness I then enjoyed. +The first movement of the startled girl had been to fly +towards her dwelling, which stood at a short distance, +half imbedded in the same clustering roses and honey-suckles +that adorned her bank of moss; but when she remarked my +utter stillness, and apparent absence of purpose, she +checked the impulse that would have directed her departure, +and stopped, half in curiosity, half in fear, to examine +me once more. At that moment all my energies appeared to +be restored; I threw myself into an attitude expressive +of deep contrition for the intrusion of which I had been +unconsciously guilty, and dropping on one knee, and +raising my clasped hands, inclined them towards her in +token of mingled deprecation of her anger, and respectful +homage to herself. At first she hesitated,--then gradually +and timidly retrod her way to the seat she had so abruptly +quitted in her alarm. Emboldened by this movement, I made +a step or two in advance, but no sooner had I done so +than she again took to flight. Once more, however, she +turned to behold me, and again I had dropped on my knee, +and was conjuring her, with the same signs, to remain +and bless me with her presence. Again she returned to +her seat, and again I advanced. Scarcely less timid, +however, than the deer, which followed her every movement, +she fled a third time,--a third time looked back, and +was again induced, by my supplicating manner, to return. +Frequently was this repeated, before I finally found +myself at the feet, and pressing the hand--(oh God! what +torture in the recollection!)--yes, pressing the hand of +her for whose smile I would, even at that moment, have +sacrificed my soul; and every time she fled, the classic +disposition of her graceful limbs, and her whole natural +attitude of alarm, could only be compared with those of +one of the huntresses of Diana, intruded on in her woodland +privacy by the unhallowed presence of some daring mortal. +Such was your mother, Clara de Haldimar; yes, even such +as I have described her was Clara Beverley." + +Again Wacousta paused, and his pause was longer than +usual, as, with his large hand again covering his face, +he seemed endeavouring to master the feelings which these +recollections had called up. Clara scarcely breathed. +Unmindful of her own desolate position, her soul was +intent only on a history that related so immediately to +her beloved mother, of whom all that she had hitherto +known was, that she was a native of Scotland, and that +her father had married her while quartered in that country. +The deep emotion of the terrible being before her, so +often manifested in the course of what he had already +given of his recital, added to her knowledge of the facts +just named, scarcely left a doubt of the truth of his +statement on her mind. Her ear was now bent achingly +towards him, in expectation of a continuance of his +history, but he still remained in the same attitude of +absorption. An irresistible impulse caused her to extend +her hand, and remove his own from his eyes: they were +filled with tears; and even while her mind rapidly embraced +the hope that this manifestation of tenderness was but +the dawning of mercy towards the children of her he had +once loved, her kind nature could not avoid sympathizing +with him, whose uncouthness of appearance and savageness +of nature was, in some measure, lost sight of in the fact +of the powerful love he yet apparently acknowledged. + +But no sooner did Wacousta feel the soft pressure of her +hand, and meet her eyes turned on his with an expression +of interest, than the most rapid transition was effected +in his feelings. He drew the form of the weakly resisting +girl closer to his heart; again imprinted a kiss upon +her lips; and then, while every muscle in his iron frame +seemed quivering with emotion, exclaimed,--"By Heaven! +that touch, that glance, were Clara Beverley's all over! +Oh, let me linger on the recollection, even such as they +were, when her arms first opened to receive me in that +sweet oasis of the Highlands. Yes, Clara," he proceeded +more deliberately, as he scanned her form with an eye +that made her shudder, "such as your mother was, so are +you; the same delicacy of proportion; the same graceful +curvature of limb, only less rounded, less womanly. But +you must be younger by about two years than she then was. +Your age cannot exceed seventeen; and time will supply +what your mere girlhood renders you deficient in." + +There was a cool licence of speech--a startling freedom +of manner--in the latter part of this address, that +disappointed not less than it pained and offended the +unhappy Clara. It seemed to her as if the illusion she +had just created, were already dispelled by his language, +even as her own momentary interest in the fierce man had +also been destroyed from the same cause. She shuddered; +and sighing bitterly, suffered her tears to force themselves +through her closed lids upon her pallid cheek. This +change in her appearance seemed to act as a check on the +temporary excitement of Wacousta. Again obeying one of +these rapid transitions of feeling, for which he was +remarkable, he once more assumed an expression of +seriousness, and thus continued his narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"It boots not now, Clara, to enter upon all that succeeded +to my first introduction to your mother. It would take +long to relate, not the gradations of our passion, for +that was like the whirlwind of the desert, sudden and +devastating from the first; but the burning vow, the +plighted faith, the reposing confidence, the unchecked +abandonment that flew from the lips, and filled the heart +of each, sealed, as they were, with kisses, long, deep, +enervating, even such as I had ever pictured that divine +pledge of human affection should be. Yes, Clara de +Haldimar, your mother was the child of nature THEN. +Unspoiled by the forms, unvitiated by the sophistries of +a world with which she had never mixed, her intelligent +innocence made the most artless avowals to my enraptured +ear,--avowals that the more profligate minded woman of +society would have blushed to whisper even to herself. +And for these I loved her to my own undoing. + +"Blind vanity, inconceivable folly!" continued Wacousta, +again pressing his forehead with force; "how could I be +so infatuated as not to perceive, that although her heart +was filled with a new and delicious passion, it was less +the individual than the man she loved. And how could it +be otherwise, since I was the first, beside her father, +she had ever seen or recollected to have seen? Still, +Clara de Haldimar," he pursued, with haughty energy, "I +was not always the rugged being I now appear. Of surpassing +strength I had ever been, and fleet of foot, but not then +had I attained to my present gigantic stature; neither +was my form endowed with the same Herculean rudeness; +nor did my complexion wear the swarthy hue of the savage; +nor had my features been rendered repulsive, from the +perpetual action of those fierce passions which have +since assailed my soul. My physical faculties had not +yet been developed to their present grossness of maturity, +neither had my moral energies acquired that tone of +ferocity which often renders me hideous, even in my own +eyes. In a word, the milk of my nature (for, with all my +impetuosity of character, I was generous-hearted and +kind) had not yet been turned to gall by villainy and +deceit. My form had then all that might attract--my +manners all that might win--my enthusiasm of speech all +that might persuade--and my heart all that might interest +a girl fashioned after nature's manner, and tutored in +nature's school. In the regiment, I was called the handsome +grenadier; but there was another handsomer than I,--a +sly, insidious, wheedling, false, remorseless villain. +That villain, Clara de Haldimar, was your father. + +"But wherefore," continued Wacousta, chafing with the +recollection, "wherefore do I, like a vain and puling +schoolboy, enter into this abasing contrast of personal +advantages? The proud eagle soars not more above the +craven kite, than did my soul, in all that was manly and +generous, above that of yon false governor; and who should +have prized those qualities, if it were not the woman +who, bred in solitude, and taught by fancy to love all +that was generous and noble in the heart of man, should +have considered mere beauty of feature as dust in the +scale, when opposed to sentiments which can invest even +deformity with loveliness? In all this I may appear vain; +I am only just. + +"I have said that your mother had been brought up in +solitude, and without having seen the face of another +man than her father. Such was the case;--Colonel Beverley, +of English name, but Scottish connections, was an old +gentleman of considerable eccentricity of character. He +had taken a part in the rebellion of 1715; but sick and +disgusted with an issue by which his fortunes had been +affected, and heart-broken by the loss of a beloved wife, +whose death had been accelerated by circumstances connected +with the disturbed nature of the times, he had resolved +to bury himself and child in some wild, where the face +of man, whom he loathed, might no more offend his sight. +This oasis of the mountains was the spot selected for +his purpose; for he had discovered it some years previously, +on an occasion, when, closely pursued by some of the +English troops, and separated from his followers, he had +only effected his escape by venturing on the ledges of +rock I have already described. After minute subsequent +search, at the opposite extremity of the oblong belt of +rocks that shut it in on every hand, he had discovered +an opening, through which the transport of such +necessaries as were essential to his object might be +effected; and, causing one of his dwelling houses to be +pulled down, he had the materials carried across the +rocks on the shoulders of the men employed to re-erect +them in his chosen solitude. A few months served to +complete these arrangements, which included a garden +abounding in every fruit and flower that could possibly +live in so elevated a region; and; this, in time, under +his own culture, and that of his daughter, became the +Eden it first appeared to me. + +"Previous to their entering on this employment, the +workmen had been severally sworn to secresy; and when +all was declared ready for his reception, the colonel +summoned them a second time to his presence; when, after +making a handsome present to each, in addition to his +hire, he found no difficulty in prevailing on them to +renew their oath that they would preserve the most +scrupulous silence in regard to the place of his retreat. +He then took advantage of a dark and tempestuous night +to execute his project; and, attended only by an old +woman and her daughter, faithful dependants of the family, +set out in quest of his new abode, leaving all his +neighbours to discuss and marvel at the singularity of +his disappearance. True to his text, however, not even +a boy was admitted into his household: and here they had +continued to live, unseeing and unseen by man, except +when a solitary and distant mountaineer occasionally +flitted among the rocks below in pursuit of his game. +Fruits and vegetables composed their principal diet; but +once a fortnight the old woman was dispatched through +the opening already mentioned, which was at other times +so secured by her master, that no hand but his own could +remove the intricate fastenings. This expedition had +for its object the purchase of bread and animal food at +the nearest market; and every time she sallied forth an +oath was administered to the crone, the purport of which +was, not only that she would return, unless prevented by +violence or death, but that she would not answer any +questions put to her, as to who she was, whence she came, +or for whom the fruits of her marketing were intended. + +"Meanwhile, wrapped up in his books, which were chiefly +classic authors, or writers on abstruse sciences, the +misanthropical colonel paid little or no attention to +the cultivation of the intellect of his daughter, whom +he had merely instructed in the elementary branches of +education; in all which, however, she evinced an aptitude +and perfectability that indicated quickness of genius +and a capability of far higher attainments. Books he +principally withheld from her, because they brought the +image of man, whom he hated, and wished she should also +hate, too often in flattering colours before her; and +had any work treating of love been found to have crept +accidentally into his own collection, it would instantly +and indignantly have been committed to the flames. + +"Thus left to the action of her own heart--the guidance +of her own feelings--it was but natural your mother should +have suffered her imagination to repose on an ideal +happiness, which, although in some degree destitute of +shape and character, was still powerfully felt. Nature +is too imperious a law-giver to be thwarted in her +dictates; and however we may seek to stifle it, her +inextinguishable voice will make itself heard, whether +it be in the lonely desert or in the crowded capital. +Possessed of a glowing heart and warm sensibilities, +Clara Beverley felt the energies of her being had not +been given to her to be wasted on herself. In her dreams +by night, and her thoughts by day, she had pictured a +being endowed with those attributes which were the fruit +of her own fertility of conception. If she plucked a +flower, (and all this she admitted at our first interview," +groaned Wacousta,) "she was sensible of the absence of +one to whom that flower might be given. If she gazed at +the star-studded canopy of heaven, or bent her head over +the frowning precipices by which she was every where +surrounded, she felt the absence of him with whom she +could share the enthusiasm excited by the contemplation +of the one, and to whom she could impart the mingled +terror and admiration produced by the dizzying depths of +the other. What dear acknowledgments (alas! too deceitful,) +flowed from her guileless lips, even during that first +interview. With a candour and unreservedness that spring +alone from unsophisticated manners and an untainted heart, +she admitted, that the instant she beheld me, she felt +she had found the being her fancy had been so long tutored +to linger on, and her heart to love. She was sure I was +come to be her husband (for she had understood from her +aged attendant that a man who loved a woman wished to be +her husband); and she was glad her pet stag had been +wounded, since it had been the means of procuring her +such happiness. She was not cruel enough to take pleasure +in the sufferings of the poor animal; for she would nurse +it, and it would soon be well again; but she could not +help rejoicing in its disaster, since that circumstance +had been the cause of my finding her out, and loving her +even as she loved me. And all this was said with her head +reclining on my chest, and her beautiful countenance +irradiated with a glow that had something divine in the +simplicity of purpose it expressed. + +"On my demanding to know whether it was not her face I +had seen at the opening in the cliff, she replied that +it was. Her stag often played the truant, and passed +whole hours away from her, rambling beyond the precincts +of the solitude that contained its mistress; but no sooner +was the small silver bugle, which she wore across her +shoulder, applied to her lips, than 'Fidelity' (thus she +had named him) was certain to obey the call, and to come +bounding up the line of cliff to the main rock, into +which it effected its entrance at a point that had escaped +my notice. It was her bugle I had heard in the course of +my pursuit of the animal; and, from the aperture through +which I had effected my entrance, she had looked out to +see who was the audacious hunter she had previously +observed threading a passage, along which her stag itself +never appeared without exciting terror in her bosom. The +first glimpse she had caught of my form was at the moment +when, after having sounded my own bugle, I cleared the +chasm; and this was a leap she had so often trembled to +see taken by 'Fidelity,' that she turned away and shuddered +when she saw it fearlessly adventured on by a human being. +A feeling of curiosity had afterwards induced her to +return and see if the bold hunter had cleared the gulf, +or perished in his mad attempt; but when she looked +outward from the highest pinnacle of her rocky prison, +she could discover no traces of him whatever. It then +occurred to her, that, if successful in his leap, his +progress must have been finally arrested by the impassable +rock that terminated the ridge; in which case she might +perchance obtain a nearer sight of his person. With this +view she had removed the bushes enshrouding the aperture; +and, bending low to the earth, thrust her head partially +through it. Scarcely had she done so, however, when she +beheld me immediately, though far beneath her, with my +back reposing against the rock, and my eyes apparently +fixed on hers. + +"Filled with a variety of opposite sentiments, among +which unfeigned alarm was predominant, she had +instantaneously removed her head; and, closing the aperture +as noiselessly as possible, returned to the moss-covered +seat on which I had first surprised her; where, while +she applied dressings of herbs to the wound of her +favourite, she suffered her mind to ruminate on the +singularity of the appearance of a man so immediately in +the vicinity of their retreat. The supposed impracticability +of the ascent I had accomplished, satisfied, even while +(as she admitted) it disappointed her. I must of necessity +retrace my way over the dangerous ridge. Great, therefore, +was her surprise, when, after having been attracted by +the rustling noise of the bushes over the aperture, she +presently saw the figure of the same hunter emerge from +the abyss it overhung. Terror had winged her flight; but +it was terror mingled with a delicious emotion entirely +new to her. It was that emotion, momentarily increasing +in power, that induced her to pause, look back, hesitate +in her course, and finally be won, by my supplicating +manner, to return and bless me with her presence. + +"Two long and delicious hours," pursued Wacousta, after +another painful pause of some moments, "did we pass in +this manner; exchanging thought, and speech, and heart, +as if the term of our acquaintance had been coeval with +the first dawn of our intellectual life; when suddenly +a small silver toned bell was heard from the direction +of the house, hid from the spot--on which we sat by the +luxuriant foliage of an intervening laburnum. This sound +seemed to dissipate the dreamy calm that had wrapped the +soul of your mother into forgetfulness. She started +suddenly up, and bade me, if I loved her, begone; as that +bell announced her required attendance on her father, +who, now awakened from the mid-day slumber in which he +ever indulged, was about to take his accustomed walk +around the grounds; which was little else, in fact, than +a close inspection of the walls of his natural castle. +I rose to obey her; our eyes met, and she threw herself +into my extended arms. We whispered anew our vows of +eternal love. She called me her husband, and I pronounced +the endearing name of wife. A burning kiss sealed the +compact; and, on her archly observing that the sleep of +her father continued about two hours at noon, and that +the old woman and her daughter were always occupied within +doors, I promised to repeat my visit every second day +until she finally quitted her retreat to be my own for +life. Again the bell was rung; and this time with a +violence that indicated impatience of delay. I tore +myself from her arms, darted to the aperture, and kissing +my hand in reply to the graceful waving of her scarf as +she half turned in her own flight, sunk finally from her +view; and at length, after making the same efforts, and +mastering the same obstacles that had marked and opposed +my advance, once more found myself at the point whence +I had set out in pursuit of the wounded deer. + +"Many were the congratulations I received from my +companions, whom I found waiting my return. They had +endured the three hours of my absence with intolerable +anxiety and alarm; until, almost despairing of beholding +me again, they had resolved on going back without me. +They said they had repeatedly sounded their horns; but +meeting with no answer from mine, had been compelled to +infer either that I had strayed to a point whence return +to them was impracticable, or that I must have perished +in the abyss. I readily gave in to the former idea; +stating I had been led by the traces of the wounded deer +to a considerable distance, and over passes which it had +proved a work of time and difficulty to surmount, yet +without securing my spoil. All this time there was a glow +of animation on my cheek, and a buoyancy of spirit in my +speech, that accorded ill, the first, with the fatigue +one might have been supposed to experience in so perilous +a chase; the second, with the disappointment attending +its result. Your father, ever cool and quick of penetration, +was the first to observe this; and when he significantly +remarked, that, to judge from my satisfied countenance, +my time had been devoted to the pursuit of more interesting +game, I felt for a moment as if he was actually master +of my secret, and was sensible my features underwent a +change. I, however, parried the attack, by replying +indifferently, that if he should have the hardihood to +encounter the same dangers, he would, if successful, +require no other prompter than the joy of self-preservation +to lend the same glow of satisfaction to his own features. +Nothing further was said on the subject; but conversing +on indifferent topics, we again threaded the mazes of +rock and underwood we had passed at an early hour, and +finally gained the town in which we were quartered. + +"During dinner, as on our way home, although my voice +occasionally mixed with the voices of my companions, my +heart was far away, and full of the wild but innocent +happiness in which it had luxuriated. At length, the more +freely to indulge in the recollection, I stole at an +early hour from the mess-room, and repaired to my own +apartments. In the course of the morning, I had hastily +sketched an outline of your mother's features in pencil, +with a view to assist me in the design of a miniature I +purposed painting from memory. This was an amusement of +which I was extremely and in which I had attained +considerable excellence; being enabled, from memory alone, +to give a most correct representation of any object that +particularly fixed my attention. She had declared utter +ignorance of the art herself, her father having studiously +avoided instructing her in it from some unexplained +motive; yet as she expressed the most unbounded admiration +of those who possessed it, it was my intention to surprise +her with a highly finished likeness of herself at my next +visit. With this view I now set to work; and made such +progress, that before I retired to rest I had completed +all but the finishing touches, to which I purposed devoting +a leisure hour or two by daylight on the morrow. + +"While occupied the second day in its completion, it +occurred to me I was in orders for duty on the following, +which was that of my promised visit to the oasis; and I +despatched my servant with my compliments to your father, +and a request that he would be so obliging as to take my +guard for me on the morrow, and I would perform his duty +when next his name appeared on the roster. Some time +afterwards I heard the door of the room in which I sat +open, and some one enter. Presuming it to be my servant, +returned from the execution of the message with which he +had just been charged, I paid no attention to the +circumstance; but finding, presently, he did not speak, +I turned round with a view of demanding what answer he +had brought. To my surprise, however, I beheld not my +servant, but your father. He was standing looking over +my shoulder at the work on which I was engaged; and +notwithstanding in the instant he resumed the cold, quiet, +smirking look that usually distinguished him, I thought +I could trace the evidence of some deep emotion which my +action had suddenly dispelled. He apologised for his +intrusion, although we were on those terms that rendered +apology unnecessary, but said he had just received my +message, and preferred coming in person to assure me how +happy he should feel to take my duty, or to render me +any other service in his power. I thought he laid unusual +emphasis on the last sentence; yet I thanked him warmly, +stating that the only service I should now exact of him +would be to take my guard, as I was compelled to be absent +nearly the whole of the following morning. He observed, +with a smile, he hoped I was not going to venture my neck +on those dangerous precipices a second time, after the +narrow escape I had had on the preceding day. As he spoke, +I thought his eye met mine with a sly yet scrutinizing +glance; and, not wishing to reply immediately to his +question, I asked him what he thought of the work with +which I was endeavouring to beguile an idle hour. He took +it up, and I watched the expression of his handsome +countenance with the anxiety of a lover who wishes that +all should think his mistress beautiful as he does himself. +It betrayed a very indefinite sort of admiration; and +yet it struck me there was an eagerness in his dilating +eye that contrasted strongly with the calm and unconcern +of his other features. At length I asked him, laughingly, +what he thought of my Cornish cousin. He replied, cautiously +enough, that since it was the likeness of a cousin, and +he dwelt emphatically on the word, he could not fail to +admire it. Candour, however, compelled him to admit, that +had I not declared the original to be one so closely +connected with me, he should have said the talent of so +perfect an artist might have been better employed. +Whatever, however, his opinion of the lady might be, +there could be no question that the painting was exquisite; +yet, he confessed, he could not but be struck with the +singularity of the fact of a Cornish girl appearing in +the full costume of a female Highlander. This, I replied, +was mere matter of fancy and association, arising from +my having been so much latterly in the habit of seeing +that dress principally worn. He smiled one of his then +damnable soft smiles of assent, and here the conversation +terminated, and he left me. + +"The next day saw me again at the side of your mother, +who received me with the same artless demonstrations of +affection. There was a mellowed softness in her countenance, +and a tender languor in her eye, I had not remarked the +preceding day. Then there was more of the vivacity and +playfulness of the young girl; now, more of the deep +fervour and the composed serenity of the thoughtful woman. +This change was too consonant to my taste--too flattering +to my self-love--not to be rejoiced in; and as I pressed +her yielding form in silent rapture to my own, I more +than ever felt she was indeed the being for whom my +glowing heart had so long yearned. After the first full +and unreserved interchange of our souls' best feelings, +our conversation turned upon lighter topics; and I took +an opportunity to produce the fruit of my application +since we had parted. Never shall I forget the surprise +and delight that animated her beautiful countenance when +first she gazed upon the miniature. The likeness was +perfect, even to the minutest shading of her costume; +and so forcibly and even childishly did this strike her, +that it was with difficulty I could persuade her she was +not gazing on some peculiar description of mirror that +reflected back her living image. She expressed a strong +desire to retain it; and to this I readily assented: +stipulating only to retain it until my next visit, in +order that I might take an exact copy for myself. With +a look of the fondest love, accompanied by a pressure on +mine of lips that distilled dewy fragrance where they +rested, she thanked me for a gift which she said would +remind her, in absence, of the fidelity with which her +features had been engraven on my heart. She admitted, +moreover, with a sweet blush, that she herself had not +been idle. Although her pencil could not call up my +image in the same manner, her pen had better repaid her +exertions; and, in return for the portrait, she would +give me a letter she had written to beguile her loneliness +on the preceding day. As she spoke she drew a sealed +packet from the bosom of her dress, and placing it in my +hand, desired me not to read it until I had returned to +my home. But there was an expression of sweet confusion +in her lovely countenance, and a trepidation in her +manner, that, half disclosing the truth, rendered me +utterly impatient of the delay imposed; and eagerly +breaking the seal, I devoured rather than read its +contents. + +"Accursed madness of recollection!" pursued Wacousta, +again striking his brow violently with his hand,--"why +is it that I ever feel thus unmanned while recurring to +those letters? Oh! Clara de Haldimar, never did woman +pen to man such declarations of tenderness and attachment +as that too dear but faithless letter of your mother +contained. Words of fire, emanating from the guilelessness +of innocence, glowed in every line; and yet every sentence +breathed an utter unconsciousness of the effect those +words were likely to produce. Mad, wild, intoxicated, I +read the letter but half through; and, as it fell from +my trembling hand, my eye turned, beaming with the fires +of a thousand emotions, upon that of the worshipped +writer. That glance was more than her own could meet. +A new consciousness seemed to be stirred up in her soul. +Her eye dropped beneath its long and silken fringe--her +cheek became crimson--her bosom heaved--and, all +confidingness, she sank her head upon my chest, which +heaved scarcely less wildly than her own. + +"Had I been a cold-blooded villain--a selfish and +remorseless seducer," continued Wacousta with vehemence +--"what was to have prevented my triumph at that moment? +But I came not to blight the flower that had long been +nurtured, though unseen, with the life-blood of my own +being. Whatever I may be NOW, I was THEN the soul of +disinterestedness and honour; and had she reposed on the +bosom of her own father, that devoted and unresisting +girl could not have been pressed there with holier +tenderness. But even to this there was too soon a term. +The hour of parting at length arrived, announced, as +before, by the small bell of her father, and I again tore +myself from her arms; not, however, without first +securing the treasured letter, and obtaining a promise +from your mother that I should receive another at each +succeeding visit." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +"Nearly a month passed away in this manner; and at each +interview our affection seemed to increase. The days of +our meeting were ever days of pure and unalloyed happiness; +while the alternate ones of absence were, on my part, +occupied chiefly with reading the glowing letters given +me at each parting by your mother. Of all these, however, +there was not one so impassioned, so natural, so every +way devoted, as the first. Not that she who wrote them +felt less, but that the emotion excited in her bosom by +the manifestation of mine on that occasion, had imparted +a diffidence to her style of expression, plainly indicating +the source whence it sprung. + +"One day, while preparing to set out on my customary +excursion, a report suddenly reached me that the route +had arrived for the regiment, who were to march from ---- +within three days. This intelligence I received with +inconceivable delight; for it had been settled between +your mother and myself, that this should be the moment +chosen for her departure. It was not to be supposed (and +I should have been both pained and disappointed had it +been otherwise,) that she would consent to abandon her +parent without some degree of regret; but, having foreseen +this objection from the first, I had gradually prepared +her for the sacrifice. This was the less difficult, as +he appeared never to have treated her with affection, +--seldom with the marked favour that might have been +presumed to distinguish the manner of a father towards +a lovely and only daughter. Living for himself and the +indulgence of his misanthropy alone, he cared little for +the immolation of his child's happiness on its unhallowed +shrine; and this was an act of injustice I had particularly +dwelt upon; upheld in truth, as it was, by the knowledge +she herself possessed, that no consideration could induce +him to bestow her hand on any one individual of a race +he so cordially detested; and this was not without +considerable weight in her decision. + +"With a glowing cheek, and a countenance radiant with +happiness, did your mother receive my proposal to prepare +for her departure on the following day. She was sufficiently +aware, even through what I had stated myself, that there +were certain ceremonies of the Church to be performed, +in order to give sanctity to our union, and ensure her +own personal respectability in the world; and these, I +told her, would be solemnised by the chaplain of the +regiment. She implicitly confided in me; and she was +right; for I loved her too well to make her my mistress, +while no barrier existed to her claim to a dearer title. +And had she been the daughter of a peasant, instead of +a high-born gentleman, finding her as I had found her, +and loving her as I did love her, I should have acted +precisely in the same way. + +"The only difficulty that now occurred was the manner of +her flight. The opening before alluded to as being the +point whence the old woman made her weekly sally to the +market town, was of so intricate and labyrinthian a +character that none but the colonel understood the secret +of its fastenings; and the bare thought of my venturing +with her on the route by which I had hitherto made my +entry into the oasis, was one that curdled my blood with +fear. I could absolutely feel my flesh to contract whenever +I painted the terrible risk that would be incurred in +adopting a plan I had once conceived,--namely, that of +lashing your mother to my back, while I again effected +my descent to the ledge beneath, in the manner I had +hitherto done. I felt that, once on the ridge, I might, +without much effort, attain the passage of the fissure +already described; for the habit of accomplishing this +leap had rendered it so perfectly familiar to me, that +I now performed it with the utmost security and ease; +but to imagine our united weight suspended over the abyss, +as it necessarily must be in the first stage of our +flight, when even the dislodgment of a single root or +fragment of the rock was sufficient to ensure the horrible +destruction of her whom I loved better than my own life, +had something too appalling in it to suffer me to dwell +on the idea for more than a moment. I had proposed, as +the most feasible and rational plan, that the colonel +should be compelled to give us egress through the secret +passage, when we might command the services of the old +woman to guide us through the passes that led to the +town; but to this your mother most urgently objected, +declaring that she would rather encounter any personal +peril that might attend her escape, in a different manner, +than appear to be a participator in an act of violence +against her parent whose obstinacy of character she +moreover knew too well to leave a hope of his being +intimidated into the accomplishment of our object, even +by a threat of death itself. This plan I was therefore +compelled to abandon; and as neither of us were able to +discover the passage by which the deer always effected +its entrance, I was obliged to fix upon one, which it +was agreed should be put in practice on the following +day. + +"On my return, I occupied myself with preparations for +the reception of her who was so speedily to become my +wife. Unwilling that she should be seen by any of my +companions, until the ceremony was finally performed, I +engaged apartments in a small retired cottage, distant +about half a mile from the furthest extremity of the +town, where I purposed she should remain until the regiment +finally quitted the station. This point secured, I +hastened to the quarters of the chaplain, to engage his +services for the following evening; but he was from home +at the time, and I repaired to my own rooms, to prepare +the means of escape for your mother. These occupied me +until a very late hour; and when at length I retired to +rest, it was only to indulge in the fondest imaginings +that ever filled the heart of a devoted lover. Alas! +(and the dark warrior again sighed heavily) the day-dream +of my happiness was already fast drawing to a close. + +"At half an hour before noon, I was again in the oasis; +your mother was at the wonted spot; and although she +received me with her sunniest smiles, there were traces +of tears upon her cheek. I kissed them eagerly away, and +sought to dissipate the partial gloom that was again +clouding her brow. She observed it pained me to see her +thus, and she made a greater effort to rally. She implored +me to forgive her weakness; but it was the first time +she was to be separated from her parent; and conscious +as she was that it was to be for ever, she could not +repress the feeling that rose, despite of herself, to +her heart. She had, however, prepared a letter, at my +suggestion, to be left on her favourite moss seat, where +it was likely she would first be sought by her father, +to assure him of her safety, and of her prospects of +future happiness; and the consciousness that he would +labour under no harrowing uncertainty in regard to her +fate, seemed, at length, to soothe and satisfy her heart. + +"I now led her to the aperture, where I had left the +apparatus provided for my purpose: this consisted of a +close netting, about four feet in depth, with a board +for a footstool at the bottom, and furnished at intervals +with hoops, so as to keep it full and open. The top of +this netting was provided with two handles, to which were +attached the ends of a cord many fathoms in length; the +whole of such durability, as to have borne weights equal +to those of three ordinary sized men, with which I had +proved it prior to my setting out. My first care was to +bandage the eyes of your mother, (who willingly and +fearlessly submitted to all I proposed,) that she might +not see, and become faint with seeing, the terrible chasm +over which she was about to be suspended. I then placed +her within the netting, which, fitting closely to her +person, and reaching under her arms, completely secured +her; and my next urgent request was, that she would not, +on any account, remove the bandage, or make the slightest +movement, when she found herself stationary below, until +I had joined her. I then dropped her gently through the +aperture, lowering fathom after fathom of the rope, the +ends of which I had firmly secured round the trunk of a +tree, as an additional safeguard, until she finally came +on a level with that part of the cliff on which I had +reposed when first she beheld me. As she still hung +immediately over the abyss, it was necessary to give a +gradual impetus to her weight, to enable her to gain the +landing-place. I now, therefore, commenced swinging her +to and fro, until she at length came so near the point +desired, that I clearly saw the principal difficulty was +surmounted. The necessary motion having been given to +the balance, with one vigorous and final impulsion I +dexterously contrived to deposit her several feet from +the edge of the lower rock, when, slackening the rope on +the instant, I had the inexpressible satisfaction to see +that she remained firm and stationary. The waving of her +scarf immediately afterwards (a signal previously agreed +upon), announced she had sustained no injury in this +rather rude collision with the rock, and I in turn +commenced my descent. + +"Fearing to cast away the ends of the rope, lest their +weight should by any chance effect the balance of the +footing your mother had obtained, I now secured them +around my loins, and accomplishing my descent in the +customary manner, speedily found myself once more at the +side of my heart's dearest treasure. Here the transport +of my joy was too great to be controlled; I felt that +NOW my prize was indeed secured to me for ever; and I +burst forth into the most passionate exclamations of +tenderness, and falling on my knees, raised my hands to +Heaven in fervent gratitude for the success with which +my enterprise had been crowned. Another would have been +discouraged at the difficulties still remaining; but with +these I was become too familiar, not to feel the utmost +confidence in encountering them, even with the treasure +that was equally perilled with myself. For a moment I +removed the bandage from the eyes of your mother, that +she might behold not only the far distant point whence +she had descended, but the frowning precipice I had daily +been in the habit of climbing to be blest with her +presence. She did so,--and her cheek paled, for the first +time, with a sense of the danger I had incurred; then +turning her soft and beautiful eyes on mine, she smiled +a smile that seemed to express how much her love would +repay me. Again our lips met, and we were happy even in +that lonely spot, beyond all language to describe. Once +more, at length, I prepared to execute the remainder of +my task; and I again applied the bandage to her eyes, +saying that, although the principal danger was over, +still there was another I could not bear she should look +upon. Again she smiled, and with a touching sweetness of +expression that fired my blood, observing at the same +time she feared no danger while she was with me, but that +if my object was to prevent her from looking at me, the +most efficient way certainly was to apply a bandage to +her eyes. Oh! woman, woman!" groaned Wacousta, in fierce +anguish of spirit, "who shall expound the complex riddle +of thy versatile nature? + +"Disengaging the rope from the handles of the netting, +I now applied to these a broad leathern belt taken from +the pouches of two of my men, and stooping with my back +to the cherished burden with which I was about to charge +myself, passed the centre of the belt across my chest, +much in the manner in which, as you are aware, Indian +women carry their infant children. As an additional +precaution, I had secured the netting round my waist by +a strong lacing of cord, and then raising myself to my +full height, and satisfying myself of the perfect freedom +of action of my limbs, seized a long balancing pole I +had left suspended against the rock at my last visit, +and commenced my descent of the sloping ridge. On +approaching the horrible chasm, a feeling of faintness +came over me, despite of the confidence with which I had +previously armed myself. This, however, was but momentary. +Sensible that every thing depended on rapidity of movement, +I paused not in my course; but, quickening my pace as I +gradually drew nearer, gave the necessary impetus to my +motion, and cleared the gap with a facility far exceeding +what had distinguished my first passage, and which was +the fruit of constant practice alone. Here my balance +was sustained by the pole; and at length I had the +inexpressible satisfaction to find myself at the very +extremity of the ridge, and immediately at the point +where I had left my companions in my first memorable +pursuit. Alas!" continued the warrior, again interrupting +himself with one of those fierce exclamations of impatient +anguish that so frequently occurred in his narrative, +"what subject for rejoicing was there in this? Better +far we had been dashed to pieces in the abyss, than I +should have lived to curse the hour when first my spirit +of adventure led me to traverse it." Again he resumed:-- + +"In the deep transport of my joy, I once more threw myself +on my knees in speechless thanksgiving to Providence for +the complete success of my undertaking. Your mother, whom +I had previously released from her confinement, did the +same; and at that moment the union of our hearts seemed +to be cemented by a divine influence, manifested in the +fulness of the gratitude of each. I then raised her from +the earth, imprinting a kiss upon her fair brow, that +was hallowed by the purity of the feeling I had so recently +indulged in; and throwing over her shoulders the mantle +of a youth, which I had secreted near the spot, enjoined +her to follow me closely in the path I was about to +pursue. As she had hitherto encountered no fatigue, and +was, moreover, well provided with strong buskins I had +brought for the purpose, I thought it advisable to +discontinue the use of the netting, which must attract +notice, and cause us, perhaps, to be followed, in the +event of our being met by any of the hunters that usually +traversed these parts. To carry her in my arms, as I +should have preferred, might have excited the same +curiosity, and I was therefore compelled to decide upon +her walking; reserving to myself, however, the sweet task +of bearing her in my embrace over the more difficult +parts of our course. + +"I have not hitherto found it necessary to state," +continued Wacousta, his brow lowering with fierce and +gloomy thought, "that more than once, latterly, on my +return from the oasis, which was usually at a stated +hour, I had observed a hunter hovering near the end of +the ledge, yet quickly retreating as I advanced. There +was something in the figure of this man that recalled to +my recollection the form of your father; but ever, on my +return to quarters, I found him in uniform, and exhibiting +any thing but the appearance of one who had recently been +threading his weary way among rocks and fastnesses. +Besides, the improbability of this fact was so great, +that it occupied not my attention beyond the passing +moment. On the present occasion, however, I saw the same +hunter, and was more forcibly than ever struck by the +resemblance to my friend. Prior to my quitting the point +where I had liberated your mother from the netting, I +had, in addition to the disguise of the cloak, found it +necessary to make some alteration in the arrangement of +her hair; the redundancy of which, as it floated gracefully +over her polished neck, was in itself sufficient to betray +her sex. With this view I had removed her plumed bonnet. +It was the first time I had seen her without it; and so +deeply impressed was I by the angel-like character of +the extreme feminine beauty she, more than ever, then +exhibited, that I knelt in silent adoration for some +moments at her feet, my eyes and countenance alone +expressing the fervent and almost holy emotion of my +enraptured soul. Had she been a divinity, I could not +have worshipped her with a purer feeling. While I yet +knelt, I fancied I heard a sound behind me; and, turning +quickly, beheld the head of a man peering above a point +of rock at some little distance. He immediately, on +witnessing my action, sank again beneath it, but not in +sufficient time to prevent my almost assuring myself that +it was the face of your father I had beheld. My first +impulse was to bound forward, and satisfy myself who it +really was who seemed thus ever on the watch to intercept +my movements; but a second rapid reflection convinced +me, that, having been discovered, it was most likely the +intruder had already effected his retreat, and that any +attempt at pursuit might not only alarm your mother, but +compromise her safety. I determined, however, to tax your +father with the fact on my return to quarters; and, from +the manner in which he met the charge, to form my own +conclusion. + +"Meanwhile we pursued our course; and after an hour's +rather laborious exertion, at length emerged from the +succession of glens and rocks that lay in our way; when, +skirting the valley in which the town was situated, we +finally reached the cottage where I had secured my lodging. +Previous to entering it, I had told your mother, that +for the few hours that would intervene before the marriage +ceremony could be performed, I should, by way of lulling +the curiosity of her hostess, introduce her as a near +relative of my own. This I did accordingly; and, having +seen that every thing was comfortably arranged for her +convenience, and recommending her strongly to the care +of the old woman, I set off once more in search of the +chaplain of the regiment Before I could reach his residence, +however, I was met by a sergeant of my company, who came +running towards me, evidently with some intelligence of +moment. He stated, that my presence was required without +delay. The grenadiers, with the senior subaltern, were +in orders for detachment for an important service; and +considerable displeasure had been manifested by the +colonel at my absence, especially as of late I had greatly +neglected my military duties. He had been looking for +me every where, he said, but without success, when Ensign +de Haldimar had pointed out to him in what direction it +was likely I might be found. + +"At a calmer moment, I should have been startled at the +last observation; but my mind was too much engrossed with +the principal subject of my regret, to pay any attention +to the circumstance. It was said the detachment would be +occupied in this duty a week or ten days, at least; and +how was I to absent myself from her whom I so fondly +loved for this period, without even being permitted first +to see and account to her for my absence? There was +torture in the very thought; and in the height of my +impatience, I told the sergeant he might give my compliments +to the colonel, and say I would see the service d--d +rather than inconvenience myself by going out on this +duty at so short a notice; that I had private business +of the highest importance to myself to transact, and +could not absent myself. As the man, however, prepared +coolly to depart, it suddenly occurred to me, that I +might prevail on your father to take my duty now, as on +former occasions he had willingly done, and I countermanded +my message to the colonel; desiring him, however, to find +out Ensign de Haldimar, and say that I requested to see +him immediately at my quarters, whither I was now proceeding +to change my dress. + +"With a beating heart did I assume an uniform that +appeared, at that moment, hideous in my eyes; yet I was +not without a hope I might yet get off this ill-timed +duty. Before I had completed my equipment, your father +entered; and when I first glanced my eye full upon his, +I thought his countenance exhibited evidences of confusion. +This immediately reminded me of the unknown hunter, and +I asked him if he was not the person I described. His +answer was not a positive denial, but a mixture of raillery +and surprise that lulled my doubts, enfeebled as they +were by the restored calm of his features. I then told +him that I had a particular favour to ask of him, which, +in consideration of our friendship, I trusted he would +not refuse; and that was, to take my duty in the expedition +about to set forth. His manner implied concern; and he +asked, with a look that had much deliberate expression +in it, 'if I was aware that it was a duty in which blood +was expected to be shed? He could not suppose that any +consideration would induce me to resign my duty to another +officer, when apprised of this fact.' All this was said +with the air of one really interested in my honour; but +in my increasing impatience, I told him I wanted none of +his cant; I simply asked him a favour, which he would +grant or decline as he thought proper. This was a harshness +of language I had never indulged in; but my mind was sore +under the existing causes of my annoyance, and I could +not bear to have my motives reflected on at a moment when +my heart was torn with all the agonies attendant on the +position in which I found myself placed. His cheek paled +and flushed more than once, before he replied, 'that in +spite of my unkindness his friendship might induce him +to do much for me, even as he had hitherto done, but that +on the present occasion it rested not with him. In order +to justify himself he would no longer disguise the fact +from me, that the colonel had declared, in the presence +of the whole regiment, I should take my duty regularly +in future, and not be suffered to make a convenience of +the service any longer. If, however, he could do any +thing for me during my absence, I had but to command him. + +"While I was yet giving vent, in no very measured terms, +to the indignation I felt at being made the subject of +public censure by the colonel, the same sergeant came +into the room, announcing that the company were only +waiting for me to march, and that the colonel desired my +instant presence. In the agitation of my feelings, I +scarcely knew what I did, putting several portions of my +regimental equipment on so completely awry, that your +father noticed and rectified the errors I had committed; +while again, in the presence of the sergeant, I expressed +the deepest regret he could not relieve me from a duty +that was hateful to the last degree. + +"Torn with agony at the thought of the uncertainty in +which I was compelled to leave her, whom I so fondly +adored, I had now no. other alternative than to make a +partial confidant of your father. I told him that in the +cottage which I pointed out he would find the original +of the portrait he had seen me painting on a former +occasion,--the Cornish cousin, whose beauty he professed +to hold so cheaply. More he should know of her on my +return; but at present I confided her to his honour, and +begged he would prove his friendship for me by rendering +her whatever attention she might require in her humble +abode. With these hurried injunctions he promised to +comply; and it has often occurred to me since, although +I did not remark it at the time, that while his voice +and manner were calm, there was a burning glow upon his +handsome cheek, and a suppressed exultation in his eye, +that I had never observed on either before. I then quitted +the room; and hastening to my company with a gloom on--my +brow that indicated the wretchedness of my inward spirit, +was soon afterwards on the march from ----." + +Again the warrior seemed agitated with the most violent +emotion; he buried his face in his hands; and the silence +that ensued was longer than any he had previously indulged +in. At length he made an effort to arouse himself; and +again exhibiting his swarthy features, disclosed a brow, +not clouded, as before, by grief, but animated with the +fiercest and most appalling passions, while he thus +impetuously resumed. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"If, hitherto, Clara de Haldimar, I have been minute in +the detail of all that attended my connection with your +mother, it has been with a view to prove to you how deeply +I have been injured; but I have now arrived at a part of +my history, when to linger on the past would goad me into +madness, and render me unfit for the purpose to which I +have devoted myself. Brief must be the probing of wounds, +that nearly five lustres have been insufficient to heal; +brief the tale that reveals the infamy of those who have +given you birth, and the utter blighting of the fairest +hopes of one whose only fault was that of loving, "not +too wisely, but too well." + +"Will you credit the monstrous truth," he added, in a +fierce but composed whisper, while he bent eagerly over +the form of the trembling yet attentive girl, "when I +tell you that, on my return from that fatal expedition, +during my continuance on which her image had never once +been absent from my mind, I found Clara Beverley the wife +of De Haldimar? Yes," continued Wacousta, his wounded +feeling and mortified pride chafing, by the bitter +recollection, into increasing fury, while his countenance +paled in its swarthiness, "the wife, the wedded wife of +yon false and traitorous governor! Well may you look +surprised, Clara de Haldimar: such damnable treachery as +this may startle his own blood in the veins of another, +nor find its justification even in the devotedness of +woman's filial piety. To what satanic arts so calculating +a villain could have had recourse to effect his object +I know not; but it is not the less true, that she, from +whom my previous history must have taught you to expect +the purity of intention and conduct of an angel, became +his wife,--and I a being accursed among men. Even as our +common mother is said to have fallen in the garden of +Eden, tempted by the wily beauty of the devil, so did +your mother fall, seduced by that of the cold, false, +traitorous De Haldimar. "Here the agitation of Wacousta +became terrific. The labouring of his chest was like that +of one convulsed with some racking agony and the swollen +veins and arteries of his head seemed to threaten the +extinction of life in some fearful paroxysm. At length +he burst into a violent fit of tears, more appalling, in +one of his iron nature, than the fury which had preceded +it,--and it was many minutes before he could so far +compose himself as to resume. + +"Think not, Clara de Haldimar, I speak without the proof. +Her own words confessed, her own lips avowed it, and yet +I neither slew her, nor her paramour, nor myself. On my +return to the regiment I had flown to the cottage, on +the wings of the most impatient and tender love that ever +filled the bosom of man for woman. To my enquiries the +landlady replied, that my cousin had been married two +days previously, by the military chaplain, to a handsome +young officer, who had visited her soon after my departure, +and was constantly with her from that moment; and that +immediately after the ceremony they had left, but she +knew not whither. Wild, desperate, almost bereft of +reason, and with a heart bounding against my bosom, as +if each agonising throb were to be its last, I ran like +a maniac back into the town, nor paused till I found +myself in the presence of your father. My mind was a +volcano, but still I attempted to be calm, even while I +charged him, in the most outrageous terms, with his +villainy. Deny it he could not; but, far from excusing +it, he boldly avowed and justified the step he had taken, +intimating, with a smile full of meaning, there was +nothing in a connection with the family of De Haldimar +to reflect disgrace on the cousin of Sir Reginald Morton; +and that; the highest compliment he could pay his friend +was to attach himself to one whom that friend had declared +to be so near a relative of his own. There was a coldness +of taunt in these remarks, that implied his sense of the +deception I had practised on him, in regard to the true +nature of the relationship; and for a moment, while my +hand firmly grasped the hilt of my sword, I hesitated +whether I should not cut him down at my feet: I had +self-command, however, to abstain from the outrage, and +I have often since regretted I had. My own blood could +have been but spilt in atonement for my just revenge; +and as for the obloquy attached to the memory of the +assassin, it could not have been more bitter than that +which has followed me through life. But what do I say?" +fiercely continued the warrior, an exulting ferocity +sparkling in his eye, and animating his countenance; "had +he fallen, then my vengeance were but half complete. No; +it is now he shall feel the deadly venom in his heart, +that has so long banqueted on mine. + +"Determined to know from her own lips," he pursued, to +the shuddering Clara, whose hopes, hitherto strongly +excited, now, began again to fade beneath the new aspect +given to the strange history of this terrible man;-- +"determined to satisfy myself from her own acknowledgment, +whether all I had heard was not an imposition, I summoned +calmness enough to desire that your mother might confirm +in person the alienation of her affection, as nothing +short of that could convince me of the truth. He left +the room, and presently re-appeared, conducting her in +from another: I thought she looked more beautiful than +ever, but, alas! I had the inexpressible horror to +discover, before a word was uttered, that all the fondness +of her nature was indeed transferred to your father. How +I endured the humiliation of that scene has often been +a source of utter astonishment to myself; but I did endure +it. To my wild demand, how she could so soon have forgotten +her vows, and falsified her plighted engagements, she +replied, timidly and confusedly, she had not yet known +her own heart; but if she had pained me by her conduct, +she was sorry for it, and hoped I would forgive her. She +would always be happy to esteem me as a friend, but she +loved her Charles far, far better than she had ever loved +me. This damning admission, couched in the same language +of simplicity that had first touched and won my affection, +was like boiling lead upon my brain. In a transport of +madness I sprang towards her, caught her in my arms, and +swore she should accompany me back to the oasis--when I +had taken her there, to be regained by my detested rival, +if he could; but that he should not eat the fruit I had +plucked at so much peril to myself. She struggled to +disengage herself, calling on your father by the most +endearing epithets to free her from my embrace. He +attempted it, and I struck him senseless to the floor at +a single blow with the flat of my sabre, which in my +extreme fury I had unsheathed. Instead, however, of +profiting by the opportunity thus afforded to execute my +threat, a feeling of disgust and contempt came over me, +for the woman, whose inconstancy had been the cause of +my committing myself in this ungentlemanly manner; and +bestowing deep but silent curses on her head, I rushed +from the house in a state of frenzy. How often since have +I regretted that I had not pursued my first impulse, and +borne her to some wild, where, forgetting one by whose +beauty of person her eye alone had been seduced, her +heart might have returned to its allegiance to him who +had first awakened the sympathies of her soul, and would +have loved her with a love blending the fiercest fires +of the eagle with the gentlest devotedness of the dove. +But destiny had differently ordained. + +"Did my injuries end here?" pursued the dark warrior, as +his eye kindled with rage. "No: for weeks I was insensible +to any thing but the dreadful shock my soul had sustained. +A heavy stupor weighed me down, and for a period it was +supposed my reason was overthrown: no such mercy was +reserved for me. The regiment had quitted the Highlands, +and were now stationary in ----, whither I had accompanied +it in arrest. The restoration of my faculties was the +signal for new persecutions. Scarcely had the medical +officers reported me fit to sustain the ordeal, when a +court-martial was assembled to try me on a variety of +charges. Who was my prosecutor? Listen, Clara," and he +shook her violently by the arm. "He who had robbed me of +all that gave value to life, and incentive to honour,--he +who, under the guise of friendship, had stolen into the +Eden of my love, and left it barren of affection. In a +word, yon detested governor, to whose inhuman cruelty +even the son of my brother has, by some strange fatality +of coincidence, so recently fallen a second sacrifice. +Curses, curses on him," he pursued, with frightful +vehemence, half rising as he spoke, and holding forth +his right arm in a menacing attitude; "but the hour of +retribution is at hand, and revenge, the exclusive passion +of the gods, shall at length be mine. In no other country +in the world--under no other circumstances than the +present--could I have so secured it. + +"What were the charges preferred against me?" he continued, +with a violence that almost petrified the unhappy girl. +"Hear them, and judge whether I have not cause for the +inextinguishable hate that rankles at my heart. Every +trifling disobedience of orders--every partial neglect +of duty that could be raked up--was tortured into a +specific charge; and, as I have already admitted I had +latterly transgressed not a little in this respect, these +were numerous enough. Yet they were but preparatory to +others of greater magnitude. Next succeeded one that +referred to the message I had given, and countermanded, +to the sergeant of my company, when in the impatience of +my disappointment I had desired him to tell the colonel +I would see the service d--d rather than inconvenience +myself at that moment for it. This was unsupported by +other evidence, however, and therefore failed in the +proof. But the web was too closely woven around to admit +of my escaping.--Will you, can you believe any thing half +so atrocious, as that your father should have called on +this same man not only to prove the violent and +insubordinate language I had used in reference to the +commanding officer in my own rooms, but also to substantiate +a charge of cowardice, grounded on the unwillingness I +had expressed to accompany the expedition, and the +extraordinary trepidation I had evinced, while preparing +for the duty, manifested, as it was stated to be, by the +various errors he had rectified in my equipment with his +own hand? Yes, even this pitiful charge was one of the +many preferred; but the severest was that which he had +the unblushing effrontery to make the subject of public +investigation, rather than of private redress--the blow +I had struck him in his own apartments. And who was his +witness in this monstrous charge?--your mother, Clara. +Yea, I stood as a criminal in her presence; and yet she +came forward to tender an evidence that was to consign +me to a disgraceful sentence. My vile prosecutor had, +moreover, the encouragement, the sanction of his colonel +throughout, and by him he was upheld in every contemptible +charge his ingenuity could devise. Do you not anticipate +the result?--I was found guilty, and dismissed the service. + +"How acted my brother officers, when, previously to the +trial, I alluded to the damnable treachery of your father? +Did they condemn his conduct, or sympathise with me in +my misfortune?--No; they shrugged their shoulders, and +coldly observed, I ought to have known better than to +trust one against whom they had so often cautioned me; +but that as I had selected him for my friend, I should +have bestowed a whole, and not a half confidence upon +him. He had had the hypocrisy to pretend to them he had +violated no trust, since he had honourably espoused a +lady whom I had introduced to him as a cousin, and in +whom I appeared to have no other interest than that of +relationship. Not, they said, that they believed he +actually did entertain that impression; but still the +excuse was too plausible, and had been too well studied +by my cunning rival, to be openly refuted. As for the +mere fact of his supplanting me, they thought it an +excellent thing,--a ruse d'amour for which they never +would have given him credit; and although they admitted +it was provoking enough to be ousted out of one's mistress +in that cool sort of way, still I should not so far have +forgotten myself as to have struck him while he was +unarmed, when it was so easy to have otherwise fastened +an insult on him. Such," bitterly pursued Wacousta, "was +the consolation I received from men, who, a few short +weeks before, had been sedulous to gain and cultivate my +friendship,--but even this was only vouchsafed antecedent +to my trial. When the sentence was promulgated, announcing +my dismissal from the service, every back was turned upon +me, as though I had been found guilty of some dishonourable +action or some disgraceful crime; and, on the evening of +the same day, when I threw from me for ever an uniform +that I now loathed from my inmost soul, there was not +one among those who had often banqueted at my expense, +who had the humanity to come to me and say, 'Sir Reginald +Morton, farewell.' + +"What agonies of mind I endured,--what burning tears I +nightly shed upon a pillow I was destined to press in +freezing loneliness,--what hours of solitude I passed, +far from the haunts of my fellow-men, and forming plans +of vengeance,--it would take much longer time to relate +than I have actually bestowed on my unhappy history. To +comprehend their extent and force, you must understand +the heart of fire in which the deep sense of injury had +taken root; but the night wears away, and briefly told +must be the remainder of my tale. The rebellion of +forty-five saw me in arms in the Scottish ranks; and, in +one instance, opposed to the regiment from which I had +been so ignominiously expelled. Never did revenge glow +like a living fire in the heart of man as it did in mine; +for the effect of my long brooding in solitude had been +to inspire me with a detestation, not merely for those +who had been most rancorous in their enmity, but for +every thing that wore the uniform, from the commanding +officer down to the meanest private. Every blow that I +dealt, every life that I sacrificed, was an insult washed +away from my attainted honour; but him whom I most sought +in the melee I never could reach. At length the corps to +which I had attached myself was repulsed; and I saw, with +rage in my heart, that my enemy still lived to triumph +in the fruit of his villainy. + +"Although I was grown considerably in stature at this +period, and was otherwise greatly altered in appearance, +I had been recognised in the action by numbers of the +regiment; and, indeed, more than once I had, in the +intoxication of my rage, accompanied the blow that slew +or maimed one of my former associates with a declaration +of the name of him who inflicted it. The consequence was, +I was denounced as a rebel and an outlaw, and a price +was put upon my head. Accustomed, however, as I had ever +been, to rocks and fastnesses, I had no difficulty in +eluding the vigilance of those who were sent in pursuit +of me; and thus compelled to live wholly apart from my +species, I at length learned to hate them, and to know +that man is the only enemy of man upon earth. + +"A change now came ever the spirit of my vengeance; for +about this period your mother died. I had never ceased +to love, even while I despised her; and notwithstanding, +had she, after her flagrant inconstancy, thrown herself +into my arms, I should have rejected her with scorn, +still I was sensible no other woman could ever supply +her place in my affection. She was, in truth, the only +being I had ever looked upon with fondness; and deeply +even as I had been injured by her, I wept her memory with +many a scalding tear. This, however, only increased my +hatred for him who had rioted in her beauty, and supplanted +me in her devotedness. I had the means of learning, +occasionally, all that passed in the regiment; and the +same account that brought me the news of your mother's +death also gave me the intelligence that three children +had been the fruit of her union with De Haldimar. How," +pursued Wacousta, with bitter energy, "shall I express +the deep loathing I felt for those children? It seemed +to me as if their existence had stamped a seal of infamy +on my own brow; and I hated them, even in their childhood, +as the offspring of an abhorred, and, as it appeared to +me, an unnatural union. I heard, moreover (and this gave +me pleasure), that their father doated on them; and from +that moment I resolved to turn his cup of joy into +bitterness, even as he had turned mine. I no longer sought +his life; for the jealousy that had half impelled that +thirst existed no longer: but, deeming his cold nature +at least accessible through his parental affection, I +was resolved that in his children he should suffer a +portion of the agonies he had inflicted on me. I waited, +however, until they should be grown up to an age when +the heart of the parent would be more likely to mourn +their loss; and then I was determined my vengeance should +be complete. + +"Circumstances singularly favoured my design. Many years +afterwards, the regiment formed one of the expedition +against Quebec under General Wolfe. They were commanded +by your father, who, in the course of promotion, had +obtained the lieutenant-colonelcy; and I observed by the +army list, that a subaltern of the same name, whom I +presumed to be his eldest son, was in the corps. Here +was a field for my vengeance beyond any I could have +hoped for. I contrived to pass over into Cornwall, the +ban of outlawry being still unrepealed; and having procured +from my brother a sum sufficient for my necessities, and +bade him an eternal farewell, embarked in a fishing-boat +for the coast of France, whence I subsequently took a +passage to this country. At Montreal I found the French +general, who gladly received my allegiance as a subject +of France, and gave me a commission in one of the provincial +corps that usually served in concert with our Indian +allies. With the general I soon became a favourite; and, +as a mark of his confidence at the attack on Quebec, he +entrusted me with the command of a detached irregular +force, consisting partly of Canadians and partly of +Indians, intended to harass the flanks of the British +army. This gave me an opportunity of being at whatever +point of the field I might think most favourable to my +design; and I was too familiar with the detested uniform +of the regiment not to be able to distinguish it from +afar. In a word, Clara, for I am weary of my own tale, +in that engagement I had an opportunity of recognising +your brother. He struck me by his martial appearance as +he encouraged his grenadiers to the attack of the French +columns; and, as I turned my eye upon him in admiration, +I was stung to the soul by his resemblance to his father. +Vengeance thrilled throughout every fibre of my frame at +that moment. The opportunity I had long sought was at +length arrived; and already, in anticipation, I enjoyed +the conquest his fall would occasion to my enemy. I rushed +within a few feet of my victim; but the bullet aimed at +his heart was received in the breast of a faithful soldier, +who had flown to intercept it. How I cursed the meddler +for his officiousness!" + +"Oh, that soldier was your nephew," eagerly interrupted +Clara, pointing towards her companion, who had fallen +into a profound slumber, "the husband of this unfortunate +woman. Frank Halloway (for by that name was he alone +known in the regiment) loved my brother as though he had +been of the same blood. He it was who flew to receive +the ball that was destined for another. But I nursed him +on his couch of suffering, and with my own hands prepared +his food and dressed his wound. Oh, if pity can touch +your heart (and I will not believe that a heart that once +felt as you say yours has felt can be inaccessible to +pity), let the recollection of your nephew's devotedness +to my mother's child disarm you of vengeance, and induce +you to restore us!" + +"Never!" thundered Wacousta,--"never! The very circumstance +you have now named is an additional incentive to my +vengeance. My nephew saved the life of your brother at +the hazard of his own; and how has he been rewarded for +the generous deed? By an ignominious death, inflicted, +perhaps, for some offence not more dishonouring than +those which have thrown me an outcast upon these wilds; +and that at the command and in the presence of the father +of him whose life he was fool enough to preserve. Yet, +what but ingratitude of the grossest nature could a Morton +expect at the hands of the false family of De Haldimar! +They were destined to be our bane, and well have they +fulfilled the end for which they were created." + +"Almighty Providence!" aspirated the sinking Clara, as +she turned her streaming eyes to heaven; "can it be that +the human heart can undergo such change? Can this be the +being who once loved my mother with a purity and tenderness +of affection that angels themselves might hallow with +approval; or is all that I have heard but a bewildering +dream?" + +"No, Clara," calmly and even solemnly returned the warrior; +"it is no dream, but a reality--a sad, dreadful, +heart-rending reality; yet, if I am that altered being, +to whom is the change to be ascribed? Who turned the +generous current of my blood into a river of overflowing +gall? Who, when my cup was mantling with the only bliss +I coveted upon earth, traitorously emptied it, and +substituted a heart-corroding poison in its stead? Who +blighted my fair name, and cast me forth an alien in the +land of my forefathers? Who, in a word, cut me off from +every joy that existence can impart to man? Who did all +this? Your father! But these are idle words. What I have +been, you know; what I now am, and through what agency +I have been rendered what I now am, you know also. Not +more fixed is fate than my purpose. Your brother dies +even on the spot on which my nephew died; and you, Clara, +shall be my bride; and the first thing your children +shall be taught to lisp shall be curses on the vile name +of De Haldimar!" + +"Once more, in the name of my sainted mother, I implore +you to have mercy," shrieked the unhappy Clara. "Oh!" +she continued, with vehement supplication, "let the days +of your early love be brought back to' your memory, that +your heart may be softened; and cut yourself not wholly +off from your God, by the commission of such dreadful +outrages. Again I conjure you, restore us to my father." + +"Never!" savagely repeated Wacousta. "I have passed years +of torture in the hope of such an hour as this; and now +that fruition is within my grasp, may I perish if I forego +it! Ha, sir!" turning from the almost fainting Clara to +Sir Everard, who had listened with deep attention to the +history of this extraordinary man;--"for this," and he +thrust aside the breast of his hunting coat, exhibiting +the scar of a long but superficial wound,--"for this do +you owe me a severe reckoning. I would recommend you, +however,"--and he spoke in mockery,--"when next you drive +a weapon into the chest of an unresisting enemy, to be +more certain of your aim. Had that been as true as the +blow from the butt of your rifle, I should not have lived +to triumph in this hour. I little deemed," he pursued, +still addressing the nearly heart-broken officer in the +same insolent strain, "that my intrigue with that dark-eyed +daughter of the old Canadian would have been the means +of throwing your companion so speedily into my power, +after his first narrow escape. Your disguise was well +managed, I confess; and but that there is an instinct +about me, enabling me to discover a De Haldimar, as a +hound does the deer, by scent, you might have succeeded +in passing for what you. appeared. But" (and his tone +suddenly changed its irony for fierceness) "to the point, +sir. That you are the lover of this girl I clearly +perceive, and death were preferable to a life embittered +by the recollection that she whom we love reposes in the +arms of another. No such kindness is meant you, however. +To-morrow you shall return to the fort; and, when there, +you may tell your colonel, that, in exchange for a certain +miniature and letters, which, in the hurry of departure, +I dropped in his apartment, some ten days since, Sir +Reginald Morton, the outlaw, has taken his daughter Clara +to wife, but without the solemnisation of those tedious +forms that bound himself in accursed union with her +mother. Oh! what would I not give," he continued, bitterly, +"to witness the pang inflicted on his false heart, when +first the damning truth arrests his ear. Never did I know +the triumph of my power until now; for what revenge can +be half so sweet as that which attains a loathed enemy +through the dishonour of his child? But, hark! what mean +those sounds?" + +A loud yelling was now heard at some distance in rear of +the tent. Presently the bounding of many feet on the turf +was distinguishable; and then, at intervals, the peculiar +cry that announces the escape of a prisoner. Wacousta +started to his feet, and fiercely grasping his tomahawk, +advanced to the front of the tent, where he seemed to +listen for a moment attentively, as if endeavouring to +catch the direction of the pursuit. + +"Ha! by Heaven!" he exclaimed, "there must be treachery +in this, or yon slippery captain would not so soon be at +his flight again, bound as I had bound him." Then uttering +a deafening yell, and rushing past Sir Everard, near whom +he paused an instant, as if undecided whether he should +not first dispose of him, as a precautionary measure, he +flew with the speed of an antelope in the direction in +which he was guided by the gradually receding sounds. + +"The knife, Miss de Haldimar," exclaimed Sir Everard, +after a few moments of breathless and intense anxiety. +"See, there is one in the belt that Ellen Halloway has +girt around her loins. Quick, for Heaven's sake, quick; +our only chance of safety is in this." + +With an activity arising from her despair, the unhappy +Clara sprang from the rude couch on which she had been +left by Wacousta, and, stooping over the form of the +maniac, extended her hand to remove the weapon from her +side; but Ellen, who had been awakened from her long +slumber by the yells just uttered, seemed resolute to +prevent it. A struggle for its possession now ensued +between these frail and delicate beings; in which Clara, +however, had the advantage, not only from the recumbent +position of her opponent, but from the greater security +of her grasp. At length, with a violent effort, she +contrived to disengage it from the sheath, around which +Ellen had closely clasped both her hands; but, with the +quickness of thought, the latter were again clenched +round the naked blade, and without any other evident +motive than what originated in the obstinacy of her +madness, the unfortunate woman fiercely attempted to +wrest it away. In the act of doing so, her hands were +dreadfully cut; and Clara, shocked at the sight of the +blood she had been the means of shedding, lost all the +energy she had summoned, and sunk senseless at the feet +of the maniac, who now began to utter the most piteous +cries. + +"Oh, God! we are lost," exclaimed Sir Everard; "the voice +of that wretched woman has alarmed our enemy, and even +now I hear him approaching. Quick, Clara, give me the +knife. But no, it is now too late; he is here." + +At that instant, the dark form of a warrior rushed +noiselessly to the spot on which he stood. The officer +turned his eyes in desperation on his enemy, but a single +glance was sufficient to assure him it was not Wacousta. +The Indian paused not in his course, but passing close +round the tree to which the baronet was attached, made +a circular movement, that brought him in a line with the +direction that had been taken by his enemy; and again +they were left alone. + +A new fear now oppressed the heart of the unfortunate +Valletort, even to agony: Clara still lay senseless, +speechless, before him; and his impression was, that, in +the struggle, Ellen Halloway had murdered her. The latter +yet continued her cries; and, as she held up her hands, +he could see by the fire-light they were covered with +blood. An instinctive impulse caused him to bound forward +to the assistance of the motionless Clara; when, to his +infinite surprise and joy, he discovered the cord, which +had bound him to the tree, to be severed. The Indian who +had just passed had evidently been his deliverer; and a +sudden flash of recollection recalled the figure of the +young warrior that had escaped from the schooner and was +supposed to have leaped into the canoe of Oucanasta at +the moment when Madeline de Haldimar was removed into +that of the Canadian. + +In a transport of conflicting feelings, Sir Everard now +raised the insensible Clara from the ground; and, having +satisfied himself she had sustained no serious injury, +prepared for a flight which he felt to be desperate, if +not altogether hopeless. There was not a moment to be +lost, for the cries of the wretched Ellen increased in +violence, as she seemed sensible she was about to be left +utterly alone; and ever and anon, although afar off, yet +evidently drawing nearer, was to be heard the fierce +denouncing yell of Wacousta. The spot on which the officer +stood, was not far from that whence his unfortunate friend +had commenced his flight on the first memorable occasion; +and as the moon shone brightly in the cloudless heavens, +there could be no mistake in the course he was to pursue. +Dashing down the steep, therefore, with all the speed +his beloved burden would enable him to attain, he made +immediately for the bridge, over which his only chance +of safety lay. + +It unfortunately happened, however, that, induced either +by the malice of her insanity, or really terrified at +the loneliness of her position, the wretched Ellen Halloway +had likewise quitted the tent, and now followed close in +the rear of the fugitives, still uttering the same piercing +cries of anguish. The voice of Wacousta was also again +heard in the distance; and Sir Everard had the inexpressible +horror to find that, guided by the shrieks of the maniac +woman, he was now shaping his course, not to the tent +where he had left his prisoners, but in an oblique +direction towards the bridge; where he evidently hoped +to intercept them. Aware of the extreme disadvantages +under which be laboured in a competition of speed with +his active enemy, the unhappy officer would have here +terminated the struggle, had he not been partially +sustained by the hope that the detachment prayed for by +De Haldimar, through the friendly young chief, to whom +he owed his own liberation, might be about this time on +its way to attempt their rescue. This thought supported +his faltering resolution, although nearly exhausted with +his efforts--compelled, as he was, to sustain the motionless +form of the slowly reviving Clara; and he again braced +himself to the unequal flight The moon still shone +beautifully bright, and he could now distinctly see the +bridge over which he was to pass; but notwithstanding he +strained his eyes as he advanced, no vestige of a British +uniform was to be seen in the open space that lay beyond. +Once he turned to regard his pursuers. Ellen was a few +yards only in his rear; and considerably beyond her rose, +in tall relief against the heavens, the gigantic form of +the warrior. The pursuit of the latter was now conducted +with a silence that terrified even more than the yells +he had previously uttered; and he gained so rapidly on +his victims, that the tread of his large feet was now +distinctly audible. Again the officer, with despair in +his heart, made the most incredible exertions to reach +the bridge, without seeming to reflect that, even when +there, no security was offered him against his enemy. +Once, as he drew nearer, he fancied he saw the dark heads +of human beings peering from under that part of the arch +which had afforded cover to De Haldimar and himself oh +the memorable occasion of their departure with the +Canadian; and, convinced that the warriors of Wacousta +had been sent there to lie in ambuscade and intercept +his retreat, his hopes were utterly paralysed; and although +he stopped not, his flight was rather mechanical than +the fruit of any systematic plan of escape. + +He had now gained the extremity of the bridge, with Ellen +Halloway and Wacousta close in his rear, when suddenly +the heads of many men were once more distinguishable, +even in the shadow of the arch that overhung the sands +of the river. Three individuals detached themselves from +the group and leaping upon the further extremity of the +bridge, moved rapidly to meet him. Meanwhile the baronet +had stopped suddenly, as if in doubt whether to advance +or to recede. His suspense was but momentary. Although +the persons of these men were disguised as Indian warriors, +the broad moonlight that beamed full on their countenances, +disclosed the well-remembered features of Blessington, +Erskine, and Charles de Haldimar. The latter sprang before +his companions, and, uttering a cry of joy, sank in +speechless agony on the neck of his still unconscious +sister. + +"For God's sake, free me, De Haldimar!" exclaimed the +excited baronet, disengaging his charge from the embrace +of his friend. This is no moment for congratulation. +Erskine, Blessington, see you not who is behind me? Be +upon your guard; defend your lives!" And as he spoke, he +rushed forward with" feint and tottering steps to place +his companions between the unhappy girl and the danger +that threatened her. + +The swords of the officers were drawn; but instead of +advancing upon the formidable being, who stood as if +paralysed at this unexpected rencontre, the two seniors +contented themselves with assuming a defensive +attitude,--retiring slowly and gradually towards the +other extremity of the bridge. + +Overcome by his emotion, Charles de Haldimar had not +noticed this action of his companions, and stood apparently +riveted to the spot. The voice of Blessington calling on +him by name to retire, seemed to arouse the dormant +consciousness of the unhappy maniac. She uttered a +piercing shriek, and, springing forward, sank on her +knees at his feet, exclaiming, as she forcibly detained +him by his dress,-- + +"Almighty Heaven! where am I? surely that was Captain +Blessington's kind voice I heard; and you--you are Charles +de Haldimar. Oh! save my husband; plead for him with +your father!----but no," she continued wildly,--"he is +dead--he is murdered! Behold these hands all covered with +his blood! Oh!----" + +"Ha! another De Haldimar!" exclaimed Wacousta, recovering +his slumbering energies, "this spot seems indeed fated +for our meeting. More than thrice have I been balked of +my just revenge, but now will I secure it. Thus, Ellen, +do I avenge your husband's and my nephew's death. My own +wrongs demand another sacrifice. But, ha! where is she? +where is Clara? where is my bride?" + +Bounding over the ill-fated De Haldimar, who lay, even +in death, firmly clasped in the embrace of the wretched +Ellen, the fierce man dashed furiously forward to renew +his pursuit of the fugitives. But suddenly the extremity +of the bridge was filled with a column of armed men, that +kept issuing from the arch beneath. Sensible of his +danger, he sought to make good his retreat; but when he +turned for the purpose, the same formidable array met +his view at the opposite extremity; and both parties now +rapidly advanced in double quick time, evidently with a +view of closing upon and taking him prisoner. In this +dilemma, his only hope was in the assistance that might +be rendered him by his warriors. A yell, so terrific as +to be distinctly heard in the fort itself, burst from +his vast chest, and rolled in prolonged echoes through +the forest. It was faintly answered from the encampment, +and met by deep but noiseless curses from the exasperated +soldiery, whom the sight of their murdered officer was +momentarily working into frenzy. + +"Kill him not, for your lives!--I command you, men, kill +him not!" muttered Captain Blessington with suppressed +passion, as his troops were preparing to immolate him on +their clustering bayonets. "Such a death were, indeed, +mercy to such a villain." + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Wacousta in bitter scorn; "who is there +of all your accursed regiment who will dare to take him +alive?" Then brandishing his tomahawk around him, to +prevent their finally closing, he dealt his blows with +such astonishing velocity, that no unguarded point was +left about his person; and more than one soldier was +brought to the earth in the course of the unequal struggle." + +"By G--d!" said Captain Erskine, "are the two best +companies of the regiment to be kept at bay by a single +desperado? Shame on ye, fellows! If his hands are too +many for you, lay him by the heels." + +This ruse was practised with success. In attempting to +defend himself from the attack of those who sought to +throw him down, the warrior necessarily left his upper +person exposed; when advantage was taken to close with +him and deprive him of the play of his arms. It was not, +however, without considerable difficulty, that they +succeeded in disarming and binding his hands; after which +a strong cord being fastened round his waist, he was +tightly lashed to a gun, which, contrary to the original +intention of the governor, had been sent out with the +expedition. The retreat of the detachment then commenced +rapidly; but it was not without being hotly pursued by +the band of warriors the yell of Wacousta had summoned +in pursuit, that they finally gained the fort: under what +feelings of sorrow for the fate of an officer so beloved, +we leave it to our readers to imagine. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The morning of the next day dawned on few who had pressed +their customary couches--on none, whose feverish pulse +and bloodshot eye failed to attest the utter sleeplessness +in which the night had been passed. Numerous groups of +men were to be seep assembling after the reveille, in +various parts of the barrack square--those who had borne +a part in the recent expedition commingling with those +who had not, and recounting to the latter, with mournful +look and voice, the circumstances connected with the +bereavement of their universally lamented officer. As +none, however, had seen the blow struck that deprived +him of life, although each had heard the frantic +exclamations of a voice that had been recognised for +Ellen Halloway's, much of the marvellous was necessarily +mixed up with truth in their narrative,--some positively +affirming Mr. de Haldimar had not once quitted his party, +and declaring that nothing short of a supernatural agency +could have transported him unnoticed to the fatal spot, +where, in their advance, they had beheld him murdered. +The singular appearance of Ellen Halloway also, at that +moment, on the very bridge on which she had pronounced +her curse on the family of De Haldimar, and in company +with the terrible and mysterious being who had borne her +off in triumph on that occasion to the forest, and under +circumstances calculated to excite the most superstitious +impressions, was not without its weight in determining +their rude speculations; and all concurred in opinion, +that the death of the unfortunate young officer was a +judgment on their colonel for the little mercy he had +extended to the noble-hearted Halloway. + +Then followed allusion to their captive, whose gigantic +stature and efforts at escape, tremendous even as the +latter were, were duly exaggerated by each, with the very +laudable view of claiming a proportionate share of credit +for his own individual exertions; and many and various +were the opinions expressed as to the manner of death he +should be made to suffer. Among the most conspicuous of +the orators were those with whom our readers have already +made slight acquaintance in our account of the sortie by +Captain Erskine's company for the recovery of the supposed +body of Frederick de Haldimar. One was for impaling him +alive, and setting him up to rot on the platform above +the gate. Another for blowing him from the muzzle of a +twenty-four pounder, into the centre of the first band +of Indians that approached the fort, that thus perceiving +they had lost the strength and sinew of their cunning +war, they might be the more easily induced to propose +terms of peace. A third was of opinion he ought to be +chained to the top of the flag-staff, as a target, to be +shot at with arrows only, contriving never to touch a +mortal part. A fourth would have had him tied naked over +the sharp spikes that constituted the chevaux-de-frize +garnishing the sides of the drawbridge. Each devised some +new death--proposed some new torture; but all were of +opinion, that simply to be shot, or even to be hanged, +was too merciful a punishment for the wretch who had so +wantonly and inhumanly butchered the kind-hearted, +gentle-mannered officer, whom they had almost all known +and loved from his very boyhood; and they looked forward, +with mingled anxiety and vengeance, to the moment when, +summoned as it was expected he shortly would be, before +the assembled garrison, he would be made to expiate the +atrocity with his blood. + +While the men thus gave indulgence to their indignation +and their grief, their officers were even mere painfully +affected. The body of the ill-fated Charles had been +borne to his apartment, where, divested of its disguise, +it had again been inducted in such apparel as was deemed +suited to the purpose. Extended on the very bed on which +he lay at the moment when she, whose maniac raving, and +forcible detention, had been the immediate cause of his +destruction, had preferred her wild but fruitless +supplication for mercy, he exhibited, even in death, the +same delicate beauty that had characterised him on that +occasion; yet, with a mildness and serenity of expression +on his still, pale features, strongly in contrast with +the agitation and glow of excitement that then distinguished +him. Never was human loveliness in death so marked as in +Charles de Haldimar; and but for the deep wound that, +dividing his clustering locks, had entered from the very +crown of the head to the opening of his marble brow, one +ignorant of his fate might have believed he but profoundly +slept. Several women of the regiment were occupied in +those offices about the corpse, which women alone are +capable of performing at such moments, and as they did +so, suffered their tears to flow silently yet abundantly +over him, who was no longer sensible either of human +grief or of human joy. Close at the head of the bed stood +an old man, with his face buried in his hands; the latter +reposing against the wainscoting of the room. He, too, +wept, but his weeping was more audible, more painful, +and accompanied by suffocating sobs. It was the humble, +yet almost paternally attached servant of the defunct-- +the veteran Morrison. + +Around the bed were grouped nearly all the officers, +standing in attitudes indicative of anxiety and interest, +and gazing mournfully on the placid features of their +ill-fated friend. All, on entering, moved noiselessly +over the rude floor, as though fearful of disturbing the +repose of one who merely slumbered; and the same precaution +was extended to the brief but heartfelt expressions of +sorrow that passed, from one to the other, as they gazed +on all that remained of the gentle De Haldimar. At length +the preparations of the women having been completed, they +retired from the room, leaving one of their number only, +rather out of respect than necessity, to remain by the +corpse. When they were departed, this woman, the wife of +one of Blessington's sergeants, and the same who had been +present at the scene between Ellen Halloway and the +deceased, cut off a large lock of his beautiful hair, +and separating it into small tresses, handed one to each +of the officers. This considerate action, although +unsolicited on the part of the latter, deeply touched +them, as indicating a sense of the high estimation in +which the youth bad been held. It was a tribute to the +memory of him they mourned, of the purest kind; and each, +as he received his portion, acknowledged with a mournful +but approving look, or nod, or word, the motive that bad +prompted the offering. Nor was it a source of less +satisfaction, melancholy even as that satisfaction was, +to perceive that, after having set aside another lock, +probably for the sister of the deceased, she selected +and consigned to the bosom of her dress a third, evidently +intended for herself. The whole scene was in striking +contrast with the almost utter absence of all preparation +or concern that had preceded the interment of Murphy, on +a former occasion. In one, the rude soldier was mourned, +--in the other, the gentle friend was lamented; nor the +latter alone by the companions to whom intimacy had +endeared him, but by those humbler dependants, who knew +him only through those amiable attributes of character, +which were ever equally extended to all. Gradually the +officers now moved away in the same noiseless manner in +which they had approached, either in pursuance of their +several duties, or to make their toilet of the morning. +Two only of their number remained near the couch of death. + +"Poor unfortunate De Haldimar!" observed one of these, +in a low tone, as if speaking to himself; "too fatally, +indeed, have your forebodings been realised; and what I +considered as the mere despondency of a mind crashed into +feebleness by an accumulation of suffering, was, after +all, but the first presentiment of a death no human power +might avert. By Heaven! I would give up half my own being +to be able to reanimate that form once more,--but the +wish is vain." + +"Who shall announce the intelligence to his sister?" +sighed his companion. "Never will that already nearly +heart-broken girl be able to survive the shock of her +brother's death. Blessington, you alone are fitted to +such a task; and, painful as it is, you must undertake +it. Is the colonel apprised of the dreadful truth, do +you know?" + +"He is. It was told him at the moment of our arrival last +night; but from the little outward emotion displayed by +him, I should be tempted to infer he had almost anticipated +some such catastrophe." + +"Poor, poor Charles!" bitterly exclaimed Sir Everard +Valletort--for it was he. "What would I not give to recal +the rude manner in which I spurned you from me last night. +But, alas! what could I do, laden with such a trust, and +pursued, without the power of defence, by such an enemy? +Little, indeed, did I imagine what was so speedily to be +your doom! Blessington," he pursued, with increased +emotion, "it grieves me to wretchedness to think that +he, whom I loved as though he had been my twin brother, +should have perished with his last thoughts, perhaps, +lingering on the seeming unkindness with which I had +greeted him after so anxious an absence." + +"Nay, if there be blame, it must attach to me," sorrowfully +observed Captain Blessington. "Had Erskine and myself +not retired before the savage, as we did, our unfortunate +friend would in all probability have been alive at this +very hour. But in our anxiety to draw the former into +the ambuscade we had prepared for him, we utterly overlooked +that Charles was not retreating with us." + +"How happened it," demanded Sir Everard, his attention +naturally directed to the subject by the preceding remarks, +"that you lay thus in ambuscade, when the object of the +expedition, as solicited by Frederick de Haldimar, was +an attempt to reach us in the encampment of the Indians?" + +"It certainly was under that impression we left the fort; +but, on coming to the spot where the friendly Indian lay +waiting to conduct us, he proposed the plan we subsequently +adopted as the most likely, not only to secure the escape +of the prisoners, whom he pledged himself to liberate, +but to defend ourselves with advantage against Wacousta +and the immediate guard set over them, should they follow +in pursuit. Erskine approving, as well as myself, of +the plan, we halted at the bridge, and disposed of our +men under each extremity; so that, if attacked by the +Indians in front, we might be enabled to throw them into +confusion by taking them in rear, as they flung themselves +upon the bridge. The event seemed to answer our +expectations. The alarm raised in the encampment satisfied +us the young Indian had contrived to fulfil his promise; +and we momentarily looked for the appearance of those +whose flight we naturally supposed would be directed +towards the bridge. To our great surprise, however, we +remarked that the sounds of pursuit, instead of approaching +us, seemed to take an opposite direction, apparently +towards the point whence we had seen the prisoners +disembarked in the morning. At length, when almost tempted +to regret we had not pushed boldly on, in conformity with +our first intention, we heard the shrill cries of a woman; +and, not long afterwards, the sounds of human feet rushing +down the slope. What our sensations were, you may imagine; +for we all believed it to be either Clara or Madeline de +Haldimar fleeing alone, and pursued by our ferocious +enemies. To show ourselves would, we were sensible, be +to ensure the death of the pursued, before we could +possibly come up; and, although it was with difficulty +we repressed the desire to rush forward to the rescue, +our better judgment prevailed. Finally we saw you approach, +followed closely by what appeared to be a mere boy of an +Indian, and, at a considerable distance, by the tall +warrior of the Fleur de lis. We imagined there was time +enough for you to gain the bridge; and finding your more +formidable pursuer was only accompanied by the youth +already alluded to, conceived at that moment the design +of making him our prisoner. Still there were half a dozen +muskets ready to be levelled on him should he approach +too near to his fugitives, or manifest any other design +than that of simply recapturing them. How well our plan +succeeded you are aware; but, alas!" and he glanced +sorrowfully at the corpse, "why was our success to be +embittered by so great a sacrifice?" + +"Ah, would to Heaven that he at least had been spared," +sighed Sir Everard, as he took the wan white hand of his +friend in his own; "and yet I know not: he looks so calm, +so happy in death, it is almost selfish to repine he has +escaped the horrors that still await us in this dreadful +warfare. But what of Frederick and Madeline de Haldimar? +From the statement you have given, they must have been +liberated by the young Ottawa before he came to me; yet, +what could have induced them to have taken a course of +flight so opposite to that which promised their only +chance of safety?" + +"Heaven only knows," returned Captain Blessington. "I +fear they have again been recaptured by the savages; in +which case their doom is scarcely doubtful; unless, +indeed, our prisoner of last night be given up in exchange +for them." + +"Then will their liberty be purchased at a terrible +price," remarked the baronet. "Will you believe, +Blessington, that that man, whose enmity to our colonel +seems almost devilish, was once an officer in this very +regiment?" + +"You astonish me, Valletort.--Impossible! and yet it +has always been apparent to me they were once associates." + +"I heard him relate his history only last night to Clara, +whom he had the audacity to sully with proposals to become +his bride," pursued the baronet. "His tale was a most +extraordinary one. He narrated it, however, only up to +the period when the life of De Haldimar was attempted by +him at Quebec. But with his subsequent history we are +all acquainted, through the fame of his bloody atrocities +in all the posts that have fallen into the hands of +Ponteac. That man, savage and even fiendish as he now +is, was once possessed of the noblest qualities. I am +sorry to say it; but Colonel de Haldimar has brought this +present affliction upon himself. At some future period +I will tell you all." + +"Alas!" said Captain Blessington, "poor Charles, then, +has been made to pay the penalty of his father's errors; +and, certainly, the greatest of these was his dooming +the unfortunate Halloway to death in the manner he did." + +"What think you of the fact of Halloway +being the nephew of this extraordinary man, +and both of high family?" demanded Sir +Everard. + +"Indeed!" and was the latter, then, aware of the +connection?" + +"Not until last night," replied Sir Everard. "Some +observations made by the wretched wife of Halloway, in +the course of which she named his true name, (which was +that of the warrior also,) first indicated the fact to +the latter. But, what became of that unfortunate +creature?--was she brought in?" + +"I understand not," said Captain Blessington. "In the +confusion and hurry of securing our prisoner, and the +apprehension of immediate attack from his warriors, Ellen +was entirely overlooked. Some of my men say they left +her lying, insensible, on the spot whence they had raised +the body of our unfortunate friend, which they had some +difficulty in releasing from her convulsive embrace. But, +hark! there is the first drum for parade, and I have not +yet exchanged my Indian garb." + +Captain Blessington now quitted the room, and Sir Everard, +relieved from the restraining presence of his companions, +gave free vent to his emotion, throwing himself upon the +body of his friend, and giving utterance to the feelings +of anguish that oppressed his heart. + +He had continued some minutes in this position, when he +fancied he felt the warm tears of a human being bedewing +a hand that reposed on the neck of his unfortunate friend. +He looked up, and, to his infinite surprise, beheld Clara +de Haldimar standing before him at the opposite side of +the bed. Her likeness to her brother, at that moment, +was so striking, that, for a second or two, the +irrepressible thought passed through the mind of the +officer, it was not a living being he gazed upon, but +the immaterial spirit of his friend. The whole attitude +and appearance of the wretched girl, independently of +the fact of her noiseless entrance, tended to favour the +delusion. Her features, of an ashy paleness, seemed fixed, +even as those of the corpse beneath him; and, but for +the tears that coursed silently down her cheek, there +was scarcely an outward evidence of emotion. Her dress +was a simple white robe, fastened round her waist with +a pale blue riband; and over her shoulders hung her +redundant hair, resembling in colour, and disposed much +in the manner of that of her brother, which had been +drawn negligently down to conceal the wound on his brow. +For some moments the baronet gazed at her in speechless +agony. Her tranquil exterior was torture to him; for he, +feared it betokened some alienation of reason. He would +have preferred to witness the most hysteric convulsion +of grief, rather than that traitorous calm; and yet he +had not the power to seek to remove it. + +"You are surprised to see me here, mingling my grief with +yours, Sir Everard," she at length observed, with the +same calm mien, and in tones of touching sweetness. "I +came, with my father's permission, to take a last farewell +of him whose death has broken my heart. I expected to be +alone; but--Nay, do not go," she added, perceiving that +the officer was about to depart. "Had you not been here, +I should have sent for you; for we have both a sacred +duty to perform. May I not ask your hand?" + +More and more dismayed at her collected manner, the young +officer gazed at her with the deepest sorrow depicted in +every line of his own countenance. He extended his hand, +and Clara, to his surprise, grasped and pressed it firmly. + +"It was the wish of this poor boy that his Clara should +be the wife of his friend, Sir Everard. Did he ever +express such to you?" + +"It was the fondest desire of his heart," returned the +baronet, unable to restrain the emotion of joy that +mingled, despite of himself, with his worst apprehensions. + +"I need not ask how you received his proposal," continued +Clara, with the same calmness of manner. "Last night," +she pursued solemnly, "I was the bride of the murderer +of my brother, of the lover of my mother,--tomorrow night +I may be the bride of death; but to-night I am the bride +of my brother's friend. Yes, here am I come to pledge +myself to the fulfilment of his wish. If you deem a +heart-broken girl not unworthy of you, I am your wife, +Sir Everard; and, recollect, it is a solemn pledge, that +which a sister gives over the lifeless body of a brother, +beloved as this has been." + +"Oh, Clara--dearest Clara," passionately exclaimed the +excited young man, "if a life devoted to your happiness +can repay you for this, count upon it as you would upon +your eternal salvation. In you will I love both my friend +and the sister he has bequeathed to me. Clara, my +betrothed wife, summon all the energies of your nature +to sustain this cruel shock; and exert yourself for him +who will be to you both a brother and a husband." + +As he spoke he drew the unresisting girl towards him, +and, locking her in his embrace, pressed, for the first +time, the lips, which it had maddened him the preceding +night to see polluted by the forcible kisses of Wacousta. +But Clara shared not, but merely suffered his momentary +happiness. Her cheek wore not the crimson of excitement, +neither were her tears discontinued. She seemed as one +who mechanically submitted to what she had no power of +resistance to oppose; and even in the embrace of her +affianced husband, she exhibited the same deathlike calm +that had startled him at her first appearance. Religion +could not hallow a purer feeling than that which had +impelled the action of the young officer. The very +consciousness of the sacred pledge having been exchanged +over the corpse of his friend, imparted a holiness of +fervour to his mind; and even while he pressed her, whom +he secretly swore to love with all the affection of a +fond brother and a husband united, he felt that if the +spirit of him, who slept unconscious of the scene, were +suffered to linger near, it would be to hallow it with +approval. + +"And now," said Clara at length, yet without attempting +to disengage herself,--"now that we are united, I would +be alone with my brother. My husband, leave me." + +Deeply touched at the name of husband, Sir Everard could +not refrain from imprinting another kiss on the lips that +uttered it. He then gently disengaged himself from his +lovely but suffering charge, whom he deposited with her +head resting on the bed; and making a significant motion +of his hand to the woman, who, as well as old Morrison, +had been spectators of the whole scene, stole gently from +the apartment, under what mingled emotions of joy and +grief it would be difficult to describe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +It was the eighth hour of morning, and both officers and +men, quitting their ill-relished meal, were to be seen +issuing to the parade, where the monotonous roll of the +assemblee now summoned them. Presently the garrison was +formed in the order we have described in our first volume; +that is to say, presenting three equal sides of a square. +The vacant space fronted the guard-house, near one +extremity of which was to be seen a flight of steps +communicating with the rampart, where the flag-staff was +erected. Several men were employed at this staff, passing +strong ropes through iron pulleys that were suspended +from the extreme top, while in the basement of the staff +itself, to a height of about twenty feet, were stuck at +intervals strong wooden pegs, serving as steps to the +artillerymen for greater facility in clearing, when foul, +the lines to which the colours were attached. The latter +had been removed; and, from the substitution of a cord +considerably stronger than that which usually appeared +there, it seemed as if some far heavier weight was about +to be appended to it. Gradually the men, having completed +their unusual preparations, quitted the rampart, and the +flagstaff, which was of tapering pine, was left totally +unguarded. + +The "Attention!" of Major Blackwater to the troops, who +had been hitherto standing in attitudes of expectancy +that rendered the injunction almost superfluous, announced +the approach of the governor. Soon afterwards that officer +entered the area, wearing his characteristic dignity of +manner, yet exhibiting every evidence of one who had +suffered deeply. Preparation for a drum-head court-martial, +as in the first case of Halloway, had already been made +within the square, and the only actor wanting in the +drama was he who was to be tried. + +Once Colonel de Haldimar made an effort to command his +appearance, but the huskiness of his voice choked his +utterance, and he was compelled to pause. After the lapse +of a few moments, he again ordered, but in a voice that +was remarked to falter,-- + +"Mr. Lawson, let the prisoner be brought forth." + +The feeling of suspense that ensued between the delivery +and execution of this command was painful throughout the +ranks. All were penetrated with curiosity to behold a +man who had several times appeared to them under the most +appalling circumstances, and against whom the strongest +feeling of indignation had been excited for his barbarous +murder of Charles de Haldimar. It was with mingled awe +and anger they now awaited his approach. At length the +captive was seen advancing from the cell in which he had +been confined, his gigantic form towering far above those +of the guard of grenadiers by whom he was surrounded; +and with a haughtiness in his air, and insolence in his +manner, that told he came to confront his enemy with a +spirit unsubdued by the fate that too probably awaited +him. + +Many an eye was turned upon the governor at that moment. +He was evidently struggling for composure to meet the +scene he felt it to be impossible to avoid; and he turned +pale and paler as his enemy drew near. + +At length the prisoner stood nearly in the same spot +where his unfortunate nephew had lingered on a former +occasion. He was unchained; but his hands were firmly +secured behind his back. He threw himself into an attitude +of carelessness, resting on one foot, and tapping the +earth with the other; riveting his eye, at the same time, +with an expression of the most daring insolence, on the +governor, while his swarthy cheek was moreover lighted +up with a smile of the deepest scorn. + +"You are Reginald Morton the outlaw, I believe," at length +observed the governor in an uncertain tone, that, however, +acquired greater firmness as he proceeded,--"one whose +life has already been forfeited through his treasonable +practices in Europe, and who has, moreover, incurred the +penalty of an ignominious death, by acting in this country +as a spy of the enemies of England. What say you, Reginald +Morton, that you should not be convicted in the death +that awaits the traitor?" + +"Ha! ha! by Heaven, such cold, pompous insolence amuses +me," vociferated Wacousta. "It reminds me of Ensign de +Haldimar of nearly five and twenty years back, who was +then as cunning a dissembler as he is now." Suddenly +changing his ribald tone to one of scorn and rage:--"You +BELIEVE me, you say, to be Reginald Morton the outlaw. +Well do you know it. I am that Sir Reginald Morton, who +became an outlaw, not through his own crimes, but through +your villainy. Ay, frown as you may, I heed it not. You +may award me death, but shall not chain my tongue. To +your whole regiment do I proclaim you for a false, +remorseless villain." Then turning his flashing eye along +the ranks:--"I was once an officer in this corps, and +long before any of you wore the accursed uniform. That +man, that fiend, affected to be my friend; and under the +guise of friendship, stole into the heart I loved better +than my own life. Yes," fervently pursued the excited +prisoner, stamping violently with his foot upon the earth, +"he robbed me of my affianced wife; and for that I resented +an outrage that should have banished him to some lone +region, where he might never again pollute human nature +with his presence--he caused me to be tried by a +court-martial, and dismissed the service. Then, indeed, +I became the outlaw he has described, but not until then. +Now, Colonel de Haldimar, that I have proclaimed your +infamy, poor and inefficient as the triumph be, do your +worst--I ask no mercy. Yesterday I thought that years of +toilsome pursuit of the means of vengeance were about to +be crowned with success; but fate has turned the tables +on me and I yield." + +To all but the baronet and Captain Blessington this +declaration was productive of the utmost surprise. Every +eye was turned upon the colonel. He grew impatient under +the scrutiny, and demanded if the court, who meanwhile +had been deliberating, satisfied of the guilt of the +prisoner, had come to a decision in regard to his +punishment. An affirmative answer was given, and Colonel +de Haldimar proceeded. + +"Reginald Morton, with the private misfortunes of your +former life we have nothing to do. It is the decision of +this court, who are merely met out of form, that you +suffer immediate death by hanging, as a just recompense +for your double treason to your country. There," and he +pointed to the flag-staff, "will you be exhibited to the +misguided people whom your wicked artifices have stirred +up into hostility against us. When they behold your fate, +they will take warning from your example; and, finding +we have heads and arms not to suffer offence with impunity, +be more readily brought to obedience." + +"I understand your allusion," coolly rejoined Wacousta, +glancing earnestly at, and apparently measuring with his +eye, the dimensions of the conspicuous scaffold on which +he was to suffer. "You had ever a calculating head, De +Haldimar, where any secret villainy, any thing to promote +your own selfish ends, was to be gained by it; but your +calculation seems now, methinks, at fault" + +Colonel de Haldimar looked at him enquiringly. + +"You have STILL a son left," pursued the prisoner with +the same recklessness of manner, and in a tone denoting +allusion to him who was no more, that caused an universal +shudder throughout the ranks. "He is in the hands of the +Ottawa Indians, and I am the friend of their great chief, +inferior only in power among the tribe to himself. Think +you that he will see me hanged up like a dog, and fail +to avenge my disgraceful death?" + +"Ha! presumptuous renegade, is this the deep game you +have in view? Hope you then to stipulate for the +preservation of a life every way forfeited to the offended +justice of your country? Dare you to cherish the belief, +that, after the horrible threats so often denounced by +you, you will again be let loose upon a career of crime +and blood?" + +"None of your cant, de Haldimar, as I once observed to +you before," coolly retorted Wacousta, with bitter sarcasm. +"Consult your own heart, and ask if its catalogue of +crime be not far greater than my own: yet I ask not my +life. I would but have the manner of my fate altered, +and fain would die the death of the soldier I WAS before +you rendered me the wretch I AM. Methinks the boon is +not so great, if the restoration of your son be the +price." + +"Do you mean, then," eagerly returned the governor, "that +if the mere mode of your death be changed, my son shall +be restored?" + +"I do," was the calm reply. + +"What pledge have we of the fact? What faith can we repose +in the word of a fiend, whose brutal vengeance has already +sacrificed the gentlest life that ever animated human +clay?" Here the emotion of the governor almost choked, +his utterance, and considerable agitation and murmuring +were manifested in the ranks. + +"Gentle, said you?" replied the prisoner, musingly; "then +did he resemble his mother, whom I loved, even as his +brother resembles you whom I have had so much reason to +hate. Had I known the boy to be what you describe, I +might have felt some touch of pity even while I delayed +not to strike his death blow; but the false moonlight +deceived me, and the detested name of De Haldimar, +pronounced by the lips of my nephew's wife--that wife +whom your cold-blooded severity had widowed and driven +mad--was in itself sufficient to ensure his doom." + +"Inhuman ruffian!" exclaimed the governor, with increasing +indignation; "to the point. What pledge have you to offer +that my son will be restored?" + +"Nay, the pledge is easily given, and without much risk. +You have only to defer my death until your messenger +return from his interview with Ponteac. If Captain de +Haldimar accompany him back, shoot me as I have requested; +if he come not, then it is but to hang me after all." + +"Ha! I understand you; this is but a pretext to gain +time, a device to enable your subtle brain to plan some +mode of escape." + +"As you will, Colonel de Haldimar," calmly retorted +Wacousta; and again he sank into silence, with the air +of one utterly indifferent to results. + +"Do you mean," resumed the colonel, "that a request from +yourself to the Ottawa chief will obtain the liberation +of my son?" + +"Unless the Indian be false as yourself, I do." + +"And of the lady who is with him?" continued the colonel, +colouring with anger. + +"Of both." + +"How is the message to be conveyed?" + +"Ha, sir!" returned the prisoner, drawing himself up to +his full height, "now are you arrived at a point that is +pertinent. My wampum belt will be the passport, and the +safeguard of him you send; then for the communication. +There are certain figures, as you are aware, that, traced +on bark, answer the same purpose among the Indians with +the European language of letters. Let my hands be cast +loose," he pursued, but in a tone in which agitation and +excitement might be detected, "and if bark be brought +me, and a burnt stick or coal, I will give you not only +a sample of Indian ingenuity, but a specimen of my own +progress in Indian acquirements." + +"What, free your hands, and thus afford you a chance of +escape?" observed the governor, doubtingly. + +Wacousta bent his stedfast gaze on him for a few moments, +as if he questioned he had heard aright. Then bursting +into a wild and scornful laugh,--"By Heaven!" he exclaimed, +"this is, indeed, a high compliment you pay me at the +expense of these fine fellows. What, Colonel de Haldimar +afraid to liberate an unarmed prisoner, hemmed in by a +forest of bayonets? This is good; gentlemen," and he bent +himself in sarcastic reverence to the astonished troops, +"I beg to offer you my very best congratulations on the +high estimation in which you are held by your colonel." + +"Peace, sirrah!" exclaimed the governor, enraged beyond +measure at the insolence of him who thus held him up to +contempt before his men, "or, by Heaven, I will have your +tongue cut out!--Mr. Lawson, let what this fellow requires +be procured immediately." Then addressing Lieutenant +Boyce, who commanded the immediate guard over the prisoner, +--"Let his hands be liberated, sir, and enjoin your men +to be watchful of the movements of this supple traitor. +His activity I know of old to be great, and he seems to +have doubled it since he assumed that garb." + +The command was executed, and the prisoner stood, once +more, free and unfettered in every muscular limb. A deep +and unbroken silence ensued; and the return of the adjutant +was momentarily expected. Suddenly a loud scream was +heard, and the slight figure of a female, clad in white, +came rushing from the piazza in which the apartment of +the deceased De Haldimar was situated. It was Clara. +The guard of Wacousta formed the fourth front of the +square; but they were drawn up somewhat in the distance, +so as to leave an open space of several feet at the +angles. Through one of these the excited girl now passed +into the area, with a wildness in her air and appearance +that riveted every eye in painful interest upon her. She +paused not until she had gained the side of the captive, +at whose feet she now sank in an attitude expressive of +the most profound despair. + +"Tiger!--monster!" she raved, "restore my brother!--give +me back the gentle life you have taken, or destroy my +own! See, I am a weak defenceless girl: can you not +strike?--you who have no pity for the innocent. But +come," she pursued, mournfully, regaining her feet and +grasping his iron hand,--"come and see the sweet calm +face of him you have slain:--come with me, and behold +the image of Clara Beverley; and, if you ever loved her +as you say you did, let your soul be touched with remorse +for your crime." + +The excitement and confusion produced by this unexpected +interruption was great. Murmurs of compassion for the +unhappy Clara, and of indignation against the prisoner, +were no longer sought to be repressed by the men; while +the officers, quitting their places in the ranks, grouped +themselves indiscriminately in the foreground. One, more +impatient than his companions, sprang forward, and forcibly +drew away the delicate, hand that still grasped that of +the captive. It was Sir Everard Valletort. + +"Clara, my beloved wife!" he exclaimed, to the astonishment +of all who heard him, "pollute not your lips by further +communion with such a wretch; his heart is as inaccessible +to pity as the rugged rocks on which his spring-life was +passed. For Heaven's sake,--for my sake,--linger not +within his reach. There is death in his very presence." + +"Your wife, sir!" haughtily observed the governor, with +irrepressible astonishment and indignation in his voice; +"what mean you?--Gentlemen, resume your places in the +ranks.--Clara--Miss de Haldimar, I command you to retire +instantly to your apartment.--We will discourse of this +later, Sir Everard Valletort. I trust you have not dared +to offer an indignity to my child." + +While he was yet turned to that officer, who had taken +his post, as commanded, in the inner angle of the square, +and with a countenance that denoted the conflicting +emotions of his soul, he was suddenly startled by the +confused shout and rushing forward of the whole body, +both of officers and men. Before he had time to turn, a +loud and well-remembered yell burst upon his ear. The +next moment, to his infinite surprise and horror, he +beheld the bold warrior rapidly ascending the very staff +that had been destined for his scaffold, and with Clara +in his arms. + +Great was the confusion that ensued. To rush forward and +surround the flag-staff, was the immediate action of the +troops. Many of the men raised their muskets, and in the +excitement of the moment, would have fired, had they not +been restrained by their officers, who pointed out the +certain destruction it would entail on the unfortunate +Clara. With the rapidity of thought, Wacousta had snatched +up his victim, while the attention of the troops was +directed to the singular conversation passing between +the governor and Sir Everard Valletort, and darting +through one of the open angles already alluded to, had +gained the rampart before they had recovered from the +stupor produced by his daring action. Stepping lightly +upon the pegs, he had rapidly ascended to the utmost +height of these, before any one thought of following him; +and then grasping in his teeth the cord which was to have +served for his execution, and holding Clara firmly against +his chest, while he embraced the smooth staff with knees +and feet closely compressed around it, accomplished the +difficult ascent with an ease that astonished all who +beheld him. Gradually, as he approached the top, the +tapering pine waved to and fro; and at each moment it +was expected, that, yielding to their united weight, it +would snap asunder, and precipitate both Clara and himself, +either upon the rampart, or into the ditch beyond. + +More than one officer now attempted to follow the fugitive +in his adventurous course; but even Lieutenant Johnstone, +the most active and experienced in climbing of the party, +was unable to rise more than a few yards above the pegs +that afforded a footing, add the enterprise was abandoned +as an impossibility. At length Wacousta was seen to gain +the extreme summit. For a moment he turned his gaze +anxiously beyond the town, in the direction of the bridge; +and, after pealing forth one of his terrific yells, +exclaimed, exultingly, as he turned his eye upon his +enemy:-- + +"Well, colonel, what think you of this sample of Indian +ingenuity? Did I not tell you," he continued, in mockery, +"that, if my hands were but free, I would give you a +specimen of my progress in Indian acquirements?" + +"If you would avoid a death even more terrible than that +of hanging," shouted the governor, in a voice of mingled +rage and terror, "restore my daughter." + +"Ha! ha! ha!--excellent!" vociferated the savage. "You +threaten largely, my good governor; but your threats are +harmless as those of a weak besieging army before an +impregnable fortress. It is for the strongest, however, +to propose his terms.--If I restore this girl to life, +will you pledge yourself to mine?" + +"Never!" thundered Colonel de Haldimar, with unusual +energy.--"Men, procure axes; cut the flag-staff down, +since this is the only means left of securing yon insolent +traitor! Quick to your work: and mark, who first seizes +him shall have promotion on the spot." + +Axes were instantly procured, and two of the men now lent +themselves vigorously to the task. Wacousta seemed to +watch these preparations with evident anxiety; and to +all it appeared as if his courage had been paralysed by +this unexpected action. No sooner, however, had the axemen +reached the heart of the staff, than, holding Clara forth +over the edge of the rampart, he shouted,-- + +"One stroke more, and she perishes!" + +Instantaneously the work was discontinued. A silence of +a few moments ensued. Every eye was turned upward,--every +heart beat with terror to see the delicate girl, held by +a single arm, and apparently about to be precipitated +from that dizzying height. Again Wacousta shouted,-- + +"Life for life, De Haldimar! If I yield her shall I live?" + +"No terms shall be dictated to me by a rebel, in the +heart of my own fort," returned the governor. "Restore +my child, and we will then consider what mercy may be +extended to you." + +"Well do I know what mercy dwells in such a heart as +yours," gloomily remarked the prisoner; "but I come." + +"Surround the staff, men," ordered the governor, in a +low tone. "The instant he descends, secure him: lash him +in every limb, nor suffer even his insolent tongue to be +longer at liberty." + +"Boyce, for God's sake open the gate, and place men in +readiness to lower the drawbridge," implored Sir Everard +of the officer of the guard, and in a tone of deep emotion +that was not meant to be overheard by the governor. "I +fear the boldness of this vengeful man may lead him to +some desperate means of escape." + +While the officer whom he addressed issued a command, +the responsibility of which he fancied he might, under +the peculiar circumstances of the moment, take upon +himself, Wacousta began his descent, not as before, by +adhering to the staff, but by the rope which he held in +his left hand, while he still supported the apparently +senseless Clara against his right chest with the other. + +"Now, Colonel de Haldimar, I hope your heart is at rest," +he shouted, as he rapidly glided by the cord; "enjoy your +triumph as best may suit your pleasure." + +Every eye followed his movement with interest; every +heart beat lighter at the certainty of Clara being again +restored, and without other injury than the terror she +must have experienced in such a scene. Each congratulated +himself on the favourable termination of the terrible +adventure, yet were all ready to spring upon and secure +the desperate author of the wrong. Wacousta had now +reached the centre of the flag-staff. Pausing for a +moment, he grappled it with his strong and nervous feet, +on which he apparently rested, to give a momentary relief +to the muscles of his left arm. He then abruptly abandoned +his hold, swinging himself out a few yards from the staff, +and returning again, dashed his feet against it with a +force that caused the weakened mass to vibrate to its +very foundation. Impelled by his weight, and the violence +of his action, the creaking pine gave way; its lofty top +gradually bending over the exterior rampart until it +finally snapped asunder, and fell with a loud crash across +the ditch. + +"Open the gate, down with the drawbridge!" exclaimed the +excited governor. + +"Down with the drawbridge," repeated Sir Everard to the +men already stationed there ready to let loose at the +first order. The heavy chains rattled sullenly through +the rusty pulleys, and to each the bridge seemed an hour +descending. Before it had reached its level, it was +covered with the weight of many armed men rushing confusedly +to the front; and the foremost of these leaped to the +earth before it had sunk into its customary bed. Sir +Everard Valletort and Lieutenant Johnstone were in the +front, both armed with their rifles, which had been +brought them before Wacousta commenced his descent. +Without order or combination, Erskine, Blessington, and +nearly half of their respective companies, followed as +they could; and dispersing as they advanced, sought only +which could outstep his fellows in the pursuit. + +Meanwhile the fugitive, assisted in his fall by the +gradual rending asunder of the staff, had obeyed the +impulsion first given to his active form, until, suddenly +checking himself by the rope, he dropped with his feet +downward into the centre of the ditch. For a moment he +disappeared, then came again uninjured to the surface; +and in the face of more than fifty men, who, lining the +rampart with their muskets levelled to take him at +advantage the instant he should reappear, seemed to laugh +their efforts to scorn. Holding Clara before him as a +shield, through which the bullets of his enemies must +pass before they could attain him, he impelled his gigantic +form with a backward movement towards the opposite bank, +which he rapidly ascended; and, still fronting his enemies, +commenced his flight in that manner with a speed which +(considering the additional weight of the drenched garments +of both) was inconceivable. The course taken by him was +not through the town, but circuitously across the common +until he arrived on that immediate line whence, as we +have before stated, the bridge was distinctly visible +from the rampart; on which, nearly the whole of the +remaining troops, in defiance of the presence of their +austere chief, were now eagerly assembled, watching, with +unspeakable interest, the progress of the chase. + +Desperate as were the exertions of Wacousta, who evidently +continued this mode of flight from a conviction that the +instant his person was left exposed the fire-arms of his +pursuers would be brought to bear upon him, the two +officers in front, animated by the most extraordinary +exertions, were rapidly gaining upon him. Already was +one within fifty yards of him, when a loud yell was heard +from the bridge. This was fiercely answered by the fleeing +man, and in a manner that implied his glad sense of. +coming rescue. In the wild exultation of the moment, he +raised Clara high above his head, to show her in triumph +to the governor, whose person his keen eye could easily +distinguish among those crowded upon the rampart. In the +gratified vengeance of. that hour, he seemed utterly to +overlook the actions of those who were so near him. During +this brief scene, Sir Everard had dropped upon one knee, +and supporting his elbow on the other, aimed his rifle +at the heart of the ravisher of his wife. An exulting +shout burst from the pursuing troops. Wacousta bounded +a few feet in air, and placing his hand to his side, +uttered another yell, more appalling than any that had +hitherto escaped him. His flight was now uncertain and +wavering. He staggered as one who had received a mortal +wound; and discontinuing his unequal mode of retreat, +turned his back upon his pursuers, and threw all his +remaining energies into a final effort at escape. + +Inspirited by the success of his shot, and expecting +momentarily to see him fall weakened with the loss of +blood, the excited Valletort redoubled his exertions. To +his infinite joy, he found that the efforts of the fugitive +became feebler at each moment Johnstone was about twenty +paces behind him, and the pursuing party at about the +same distance from Johnstone. The baronet had now reached +his enemy, and already was the butt of his rifle raised +with both hands with murderous intent, when suddenly +Wacousta, every feature distorted with rage and pain, +turned like a wounded lion at bay, and eluding the blow, +deposited the unconscious form of his victim upon the +sward. Springing upon his infinitely weaker pursuer, he +grappled him furiously by the throat, exclaiming through +his clenched teeth:-- + +"Nay then, since you will provoke your fate--be it so. +Die like a dog, and be d--d, for having balked me--of my +just revenge!" + +As he spoke, he hurled the gasping officer to the earth +with a violence that betrayed the dreadful excitement of +his soul, and again hastened to assure himself of his +prize. + +Meanwhile, Lieutenant Johnstone had come up, and, seeing +his companion struggling as he presumed, with advantage, +with his severely wounded enemy, made it his first care +to secure the unhappy girl; for whose recovery the pursuit +had been principally instituted. Quitting his rifle, he +now essayed to raise her in his arms. She was without +life or consciousness, and the impression on his mind +was that she was dead. + +While in the act of raising her, the terrible Wacousta +stood at his side, his vast chest heaving forth a laugh +of mingled rage and contempt. Before the officer could +extricate, with a view of defending himself, his arms +were pinioned as though in a vice; and ere he could +recover from his surprise, he felt himself lifted up and +thrown to a considerable distance. When he opened his +eyes a moment afterwards, he was lying amid the moving +feet of his own men. + +From the instant of the closing of the unfortunate +Valletort with his enemy, the Indians, hastening to the +assistance of their chief, had come up, and a desultory +fire had already commenced, diverting, in a great degree, +the attention of the troops from the pursued. Emboldened +by this new aspect of things Wacousta now deliberately +grasped the rifle that had been abandoned by Johnstone; +and raising it to his shoulder, fired among the group +collected on the ramparts. For a moment he watched the +result of his shot, and then, pealing forth another fierce +yell, he hurled the now useless weapon into the very +heart of his pursuers; and again raising Clara in his +arms, once more commenced his retreat, which, under cover +of the fire of his party, was easily effected. + +"Who has fallen?" demanded the governor of his adjutant, +perceiving that some one had been hit at his side, yet +without taking his eyes off his terrible enemy. + +"Mr. Delme, sir," was the reply. "He has been shot through +the heart, and his men are bearing him from the rampart." + +"This must not be," resumed the governor with energy. +"Private feelings must no longer be studied at the expense +of the public good. That pursuit is hopeless; and already +too many of my officers have fallen. Desire the retreat +to be sounded, Mr. Lawson. Captain Wentworth, let one or +two covering guns be brought to bear upon the savages. +They are gradually increasing hi numbers; and if we delay, +the party will be wholly cut off." + +In issuing these orders, Colonel de Haldimar evinced a +composedness that astonished all who heard him. But +although his voice was calm, despair was upon his brow. +Still he continued to gaze fixedly on the retreating form +of his enemy, until he finally disappeared behind the +orchard of the Canadian of the Fleur de lis. + +Obeying the summons from the fort, the troops without +now commenced their retreat, bearing off the bodies of +their fallen officers and several of their comrades who +had fallen by the Indian fire. There was a show of +harassing them on their return; but they were too near +the fort to apprehend much danger. Two or three +well-directed discharges of artillery effectually checked +the onward progress of the savages; and, in the course +of a minute, they had again wholly disappeared. + +In gloomy silence, and with anger and disappointment in +their hearts, the detachment now re-entered the fort. +Johnstone was only severely bruised; Sir Everard Valletort +not dead. Both were conveyed to the same room, where they +were instantly attended by the surgeon, who pronounced +the situation of the latter hopeless. + +Major Blackwater, Captains Blessington and Erskine, +Lieutenants Leslie and Boyce, and Ensigns Fortescue and +Summers, were now the only regimental officers that +remained of thirteen originally comprising the strength +of the garrison. The whole of these stood grouped around +their colonel, who seemed transfixed to the spot he had +first occupied on the rampart, with his arms folded, and +his gaze bent in the direction in which he had lost sight +of Wacousta and his child. + +Hitherto the morning had been cold and cheerless, and +objects in the far distance were but indistinctly seen +through a humid atmosphere. At about half an hour before +mid-day the air became more rarified, and, the murky +clouds gradually disappearing, left the blue autumnal +sky without spot or blemish. Presently, as the bells of +the fort struck twelve, a yell as of a legion of devils +rent the air; and, riveting their gaze in that direction, +all beheld the bridge, hitherto deserted, suddenly covered +with a multitude of savages, among whom were several +individuals attired in the European garb, and evidently +prisoners. Each officer had a telescope raised to his +eye, and each prepared himself, shudderingly, for some +horrid consummation. Presently the bridge was cleared of +all but a double line of what appeared to be women, armed +with war-clubs and tomahawks. Along the line were now +seen to pass, in slow succession, the prisoners that had +previously been observed. At each step they took (and it +was evident they had been compelled to run the gauntlet), +a blow was inflicted by some one or other of the line, +until the wretched victims were successively despatched. +A loud yell from the warriors, who, although hidden from +view by the intervening orchards, were evidently merely +spectators in the bloody drama, announced each death. +These yells were repeated, at intervals, to about the +number of thirty, when, suddenly, the bridge was again +deserted as before. + +After the lapse of a minute, the tall figure of a warrior +was seen to advance, holding a female in his arms. No +one could mistake, even at that distance, the gigantic +proportions of Wacousta,--as he stood in the extreme +centre of the bridge, in imposing relief against the +flood that glittered like a sea of glass beyond. From +his chest there now burst a single yell; but, although +audible, it was fainter than any remembered ever to have +been heard from him by the garrison. He then advanced to +the extreme edge of the bridge; and, raising the form of +the female far above his head with his left hand, seemed +to wave her in vengeful triumph. A second warrior was +seen upon the bridge, and stealing cautiously to the same +point. The right hand of the first warrior was now raised +and brandished in air; in the next instant it descended +upon the breast of the female, who fell from his arms +into the ravine beneath. Yells of triumph from the Indians, +and shouts of execration from the soldiers, mingled +faintly together. At that moment the arm of the second +warrior was raised, and a blade was seen to glitter in +the sunshine. His arm descended, and Wacousta was observed +to stagger forward and fall. heavily into the abyss into +which his victim had the instant before been precipitated. +Another loud yell, but of disappointment and anger, was +heard drowning that of exultation pealed by the triumphant +warrior, who, darting to the open extremity of the bridge, +directed his flight along the margin of the river, where +a light canoe was ready to receive him. Into this he +sprang, and, seizing the paddle, sent the waters foaming +from its sides; and, pursuing his way across the river, +had nearly gained the shores of Canada before a bark was +to be seen following in pursuit. + +How felt--how acted Colonel de Haldimar throughout this +brief but terrible scene? He uttered not a word. With +his arms still folded across his breast, he gazed upon +the murder of his child; but he heaved not a groan, he +shed not a tear. A momentary triumph seemed to, irradiate +his pallid features, when he saw the blow struck that +annihilated his enemy; but it was again instantly shaded +by an expression of the most profound despair. + +"It is done, gentlemen," he at length remarked. "The +tragedy is closed, the curse of Ellen Halloway is fulfilled, +and I am--childless!--Blackwater," he pursued, endeavouring +to stifle the emotion produced by the last reflection, +"pay every attention to the security of the garrison, +see that the drawbridge is again properly chained up, +and direct that the duties of the troops be prosecuted +in every way as heretofore." + +Leaving his officers to wonder at and pity that apathy +of mind that could mingle the mere forms of duty with +the most heart-rending associations, Colonel de Haldimar +now quitted the rampart; and, with a head that was remarked +for the first time to droop over his chest, paced his +way musingly to his apartments. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Night had long since drawn her circling mantle over the +western hemisphere; and deeper, far deeper than the gloom +of that night was the despair which filled every bosom +of the devoted garrison, whose fortunes it has fallen to +our lot to record. A silence, profound as that of death, +pervaded the ramparts and exterior defences of the +fortress, interrupted only, at long intervals, by the +customary "All's well!" of the several sentinels; which, +after the awful events of the day, seemed to many who +now heard it as if uttered in mockery of their hopelessness +of sorrow. The lights within the barracks of the men +had been long since extinguished; and, consigned to a +mere repose of limb, in which the eye and heart shared +not, the inferior soldiery pressed their rude couches +with spirits worn out by a succession of painful +excitements, and frames debilitated, by much abstinence +and watching. It was an hour at which sleep was wont to +afford them the blessing of a temporary forgetfulness of +endurances that weighed the more heavily as they were +believed to be endless and without fruit; but sleep had +now apparently been banished from all; for the low and +confused murmur that met the ear from the several +block-houses was continuous and general, betraying at +times, and in a louder key, words that bore reference to +the tragic occurrences of the day. + +The only lights visible in the fort proceeded from the +guard-house and a room adjoining that of the ill-fated +Charles de Haldimar. Within the latter were collected, +with the exception of the governor, and grouped around +a bed on which lay one of their companions in a nearly +expiring state, the officers of the garrison, reduced +nearly one third in number since we first offered them +to the notice of our readers. The dying man was Sir +Everard Valletort, who, supported by pillows, was +concluding a narrative that had chained the earnest +attention of his auditory, even amid the deep and heartfelt +sympathy perceptible in each for the forlorn and hopeless +condition of the narrator. At the side of the unhappy +baronet, and enveloped in a dressing gown, as if recently +out of bed, sat, reclining in a rude elbow chair, one +whose pallid countenance denoted, that, although far less +seriously injured, he, too, had suffered severely:--it +was Lieutenant Johnstone. + +The narrative was at length closed; and the officer, +exhausted by the effort he had made in his anxiety to +communicate every particular to his attentive and surprised +companions, had sunk back upon his pillow, when, suddenly, +the loud and unusual "Who comes there?" of the sentinel +stationed on the rampart above the gateway, arrested +every ear. A moment of pause succeeded, when again was +heard the "Stand, friend!" evidently given in reply to +the familiar answer to the original challenge. Then were +audible rapid movements in the guard-house, as of men +aroused from temporary slumber, and hastening to the +point whence the voice proceeded. + +Silently yet hurriedly the officers now quitted the +bedside of the dying man, leaving only the surgeon and +the invalid Johnstone behind them; and, flying to the +rampart, stood in the next minute confounded with the +guard, who were already grouped round the challenging +sentinel, bending their gaze eagerly in the direction of +the road. + +"What now, man?--whom have you challenged?" asked Major +Blackwater. + +"It is I--De Haldimar," hoarsely exclaimed one of four +dark figures that, hitherto, unnoticed by the officers, +stood immediately beyond the ditch, with a burden deposited +at their feet. "Quick, Blackwater, let us in for God's +sake! Each succeeding minute may bring a scouting party +on our track. Lower the drawbridge!" + +"Impossible!" exclaimed the major: "after all that has +passed, it is more than my commission is worth to lower +the bridge without permission. Mr. Lawson, quick to the +governor, and report that Captain de Haldimar is here: +with whom shall he say?" again addressing the impatient +and almost indignant officer. + +"With Miss de Haldimar, Francois the Canadian, and one +to whom we all owe our lives," hurriedly returned the +officer; "and you may add," he continued gloomily, "the +corpse of my sister. But while we stand in parley here, +we are lost: Lawson, fly to my father, and tell him we +wait for entrance." + +With nearly the speed enjoined the adjutant departed. +Scarcely a minute elapsed when he again stood upon the +rampart, and advancing closely to the major, whispered +a few words in his ear. + +"Good God! can it be possible? When? How came this? but +we will enquire later. Open the gate; down with the +bridge, Leslie," addressing the officer of the guard. + +The command was instantly obeyed. The officers flew to +receive the fugitives; and as the latter crossed the +drawbridge, the light of a lantern, that had been brought +from the guard-room, flashed full upon the harassed +countenances of Captain and Miss de Haldimar, Francois +the Canadian, and the devoted Oucanasta. + +Silent and melancholy was the greeting that took place +between the parties: the voice spoke not; the hand alone +was eloquent; but it was in the eloquence of sorrow only +that it indulged. Pleasure, even in this almost despaired +of re-union, could not be expressed; and even the eye +shrank from mutual encounter, as if its very glance at +such a moment were sacrilege. Recalled to a sense of her +situation by the preparation of the men to raise the +bridge, the Indian woman was the first to break the +silence. + +"The Saganaw is safe within his fort, and the girl of +the pale faces will lay her head upon his bosom," she +remarked solemnly. "Oucanasta will go to her solitary +wigwam among the red skins." + +The heart of Madeline de Haldimar was oppressed by the +weight of many griefs; yet she could not see the generous +preserver of her life, and the rescuer of the body of +her ill-fated cousin, depart without emotion. Drawing a +ring, of some value and great beauty, from her finger, +which she had more than once observed the Indian to +admire, she placed it on her hand; and then, throwing +herself on the bosom of the faithful creature, embraced +her with deep manifestations of affection, but without +uttering a word. + +Oucanasta was sensibly gratified: she raised her large +eyes to heaven as if in thankfulness; and by the light +of the lantern, which fell upon her dark but expressive +countenance, tears were to be seen starting unbidden from +their source. + +Released from the embrace of her, whose life she had +twice preserved at imminent peril to her own, the Indian +again prepared to depart; but there was another, who, +like Madeline, although stricken by many sorrows, could +not forego the testimony of his heart's gratitude. +Captain de Haldimar, who, during this short scene, had +despatched a messenger to his room for the purpose, now +advanced to the poor girl, bearing a short but elegantly +mounted dagger, which he begged her to deliver as a token +of his friendship to the young chief her brother. He then +dropped on one knee at her feet, and raising her hand, +pressed it fervently against his heart; an action which, +even to the untutored mind of the Indian, bore evidence +only of the feeling that prompted it, A heavy sigh escaped +her labouring chest; and as the officer now rose and +quitted her hand, she turned slowly and with dignity from +him, and crossing the drawbridge, was in a few minutes +lost in the surrounding gloom. + +Our readers have, doubtless, anticipated the communication +made to Major Blackwater by the Adjutant Lawson. Bowed +down to the dust by the accomplishment of the curse of +Ellen Halloway, the inflexibility of Colonel de Haldimar's +pride was not proof against the utter annihilation wrought +to his hopes as a father by the unrelenting hatred of +the enemy his early falsehood and treachery had raised +up to him. When the adjutant entered his apartment, the +stony coldness of his cheek attested he had been dead +some hours. + +We pass over the few days of bitter trial that succeeded +to the restoration of Captain de Haldimar and his bride +to their friends; days, during which were consigned to +the same grave the bodies of the governor, his lamented +children, and the scarcely less regretted Sir Everard +Valletort. The funeral service was attempted by Captain +Blessington; but the strong affection of that excellent +officer, for three of the defunct parties at least, was +not armed against the trial. He had undertaken a task +far beyond his strength; and scarcely had commenced, ere +he was compelled to relinquish the performance of the +ritual to the adjutant. A large grave had been dug close +under the rampart, and near the fatal flag-staff, to +receive the bodies of their deceased friends; and, as +they were lowered successively into their last earthly +resting place, tears fell unrestrainedly over the bronzed +cheeks of the oldest soldiers, while many a female sob +blended with and gave touching solemnity to the scene. + +On the morning of the third day from this quadruple +interment, notice was given by one of the sentinels that +an Indian was approaching the fort, making signs as if +in demand for a parley. The officers, headed by Major +Blackwater, now become the commandant of the place, +immediately ascended the rampart, when the stranger was +at once recognised by Captain de Haldimar for the young +Ottawa, the preserver of his life, and the avenger of +the deaths of those they mourned, in whose girdle was +thrust, in seeming pride, the richly mounted dagger that +officer had caused to be conveyed to him through his no +less generous sister. A long conference ensued, in the +language of the Ottawas, between the parties just named, +the purport of which was of high moment to the garrison, +now nearly reduced to the last extremity. The young chief +had come to apprise them, that, won by the noble conduct +of the English, on a late occasion, when his warriors +were wholly in their power, Ponteac had expressed a +generous determination to conclude a peace with the +garrison, and henceforth to consider them as his friends. +This he had publicly declared in a large council of the +chiefs, held the preceding night; and the motive of the +Ottawa's coming was, to assure the English, that, on this +occasion, their great leader was perfectly sincere in a +resolution, at which he had the more readily arrived, +now that his terrible coadjutor and vindictive adviser +was no more. He prepared them for the coming of Ponteac +and the principal chiefs of the league to demand a council +on the morrow; and, with this final communication, again +withdrew. + +The Ottawa was right Within a week from that period the +English were to be seen once more issuing from their +fort; and, although many months elapsed before the wounds +of their suffering hearts were healed, still were they +grateful to Providence for their final preservation from +a doom that had fallen, without exception, on every +fortress on the line of frontier in which they lay. + +Time rolled on; and, in the course of years, Oucanasta +might be seen associating with and bearing curious +presents, the fruits of Indian ingenuity, to the daughters +of De Haldimar, now become the colonel of the ---- +regiment; while her brother, the chief, instructed his +sons in the athletic and active exercises peculiar to +his race. As for poor Ellen Halloway, search had been +made for her, but she never was heard of afterwards. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Wacousta (Volume III), by John Richardson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA (VOLUME III) *** + +This file should be named wcst310.txt or wcst310.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, wcst311.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wcst310a.txt + +This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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