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Title: Wacousta (Volume III)
       or The Prophecy

Author: John Richardson

Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4911]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on March 25, 2002]

Edition: 10

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WACOUSTA (VOLUME III) ***




This etext was produced by Gardner Buchanan with help from
Charles Franks and the distributed proofers.





WACOUSTA;
  or
THE PROPHECY.

Volume Three of Three




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 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








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